Join us as Andre discovers a spectacular Mercedes Unimog collection and learn how these older military beast trucks get transformed into modern expedition rigs! In this video, he visits Couch Off-Road Engineering in Colorado. Now, if you think this is just a garage or maybe even a modest warehouse with a couple old Unimogs sitting inside, we have a pleasant surprise for you.
The “compound”, as it were, is actually a combination of factory, garage, a collection, and a proving ground for these unconventional off-road vehicles. Whether it’s expedition trucks or full-blown, prepper-approved survival machines, there’s a good chance Jay Couch has built it over the past two decades that his company’s been in operation.
Even past the first group of Unimogs, this 33-minute video has more surprises in store once you actually see Couch Off-Road’s garage. In that has to be one of my favorite Unimogs of the bunch — the “race truck”. Starring in the documentary “This Is Breslau”, this rig was the first and so far only American entry into the grueling Breslau Rallye. Bam Bam is a 1785 U1700 Unimog, and so tough it jumped over 80 feet (accidentally, Jay says) at 53 mph during the race, and it still worked. As you’d expect, it has beefed up suspension to handle that, as well as methanol injection and water fording ability up to 8 feet. Yes, feet.
In short, it’s awesome.
There’s plenty more to check out from Couch Off-Road Engineering’s work, so check that out in the full video below.