- Legendary Ulm Howlers on the Road to Asia in a Troop
- Blumhardt trailer had to tow 20 tons
- Mammoth tour as a reference to German workmanship
Spectacular prototype history - WIKING follows with modelling accuracy! This red Magirus semi-trailer truck, which the traditional model makers are miniaturising 87-fold this time, has a remarkable history behind it. After the front-wheel drive generation of the Ulm-based truck manufacturer celebrated its premiere at the IAA in 1963 and heralded the start of Magirus' long-distance transport business, the Magirus managers followed up with an endurance test in 1965. Both the Magirus 235 D 22 tractor unit and the two-axle dump truck trailer from C. Blumhardt Fahrzeugwerke in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel set off on the imponderable route to Kabul on 8 March of that year. Accompanied by snowstorms and soggy roads that had never seen an asphalt machine before. "When their test semitrailer rolled into Kabul, the capital of the Afghan kingdom, in the first days of April 1965, this vehicle not only covered a 7018 km route - apart from a defective shock absorber - without any damage, it rather proved by this journey that the overland route from Europe to the heart of Asia can be mastered by the heaviest semitrailer trucks even in winter and in the rainy season," Magirus thus reported, not without pride. Even today, the founding spirit of the automobile manufacturers, who knew how to consolidate the good reputation of German workmanship through such expedition-like mammoth tours, still sparks from the lines.
WIKING boss had tractor and trailer miniaturised
At that time, the trailer, fully loaded with 20 tonnes, followed a mighty truck convoy from Munich to Kabul, which included another ten Magirus Eckhauber 200 D 16 . They were intended - also fully loaded - for the large construction site of the Mahipar power plant not far from Kabul. Siemens, Hochtief AG and A. Kunz & Co. had placed the order in order to have an efficient fleet of trucks on site. Eleven of the Ulm Howlers - among them the still series-produced front driver with the ultra-modern Transeuropa cab - were finally on the road for 28 days. They established the reputation of the air-cooled Deutz engines, which were to develop indestructible power on the Magirus chassis. The fact that WIKING boss Friedrich Peltzer had both original models miniaturised at the same time makes the combination of Magirus tractor and Blumhardt trailer so authentic. Once again, a testimony to German post-war truck history has been brought to life in model-making.
