Schuco MAN 7t GL truck "Bundeswehr", olive green 1:87

MAN 7t GL truck "Bundeswehr", olive green 1:87

ABOUT MAN 7t GL TRUCK

The MAN Category 1 is a family of high-mobility off-road trucks developed by MAN SE for the German army. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the West German Technical Office for Armament and Military Purchases drew up requirements for a new range (or second generation) of vehicles for the army. Covering all weight classes and mobility levels, the Bundeswehrʼs second-generation requirement originally called for 62,000 vehicles (of all classes including cars and buses) including four-tonne 4×4, seven-tonne 6×6, and 10-tonne 8×8 trucks; 4×4 and 6×6 armoured amphibious load carriers; and an 8×8 amphibious reconnaissance vehicle.

To meet development and production demands, a joint venture led by MAN and including Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz (KHD), Rheinstahl-Henschel, Krupp (which later dropped out), and Büssing (acquired by MAN in 1971) was set up. In December 1975 MAN was awarded a contract to build 8,385 4×4, 6×6, and 8×8 Category 1 vehicles at a cost of DEM1,400 million; this production total was further reduced to 7,925 in 1979. The technical parent of these trucks is now Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV).

MAN manufactured a total of 3500 of the 7-ton MAN CAT 1 trucks for the German Army between 1977 and 1985. Compared to the 2-axle 5-tonner, the 3-axle 7-tonner has a more powerful, aircooled 320 BHP Deutz engine with an exhaust turbocharger and charge air cooling. The attachments are the same as those of the 5-tonner. These trucks were used as flatbed vehicles, equipment carriers for reconnaissance drones, carrier vehicles for the LARS light artillery rocket system, as container transporters and also as three-sided tippers.