A German army truck le. gl. Einheits – LKW – Diesel from WW2. Six cylinders, 6.2 L, 80 HP, 70 km/h

Victory museum, Moscow.

The Einheitsdiesel (officially leichter geländegängiger Einheits-Lkw 2,5 t, or light standard off-road truck, 2.5 tonnes) is a standardised truck developed for the German Wehrmacht ahead of World War II. It was built until 1940 and used throughout the war.

The engine, called the type HWa 526 D (80 PS), resulted from a joint development contract awarded to MAN, Henschel and Humboldt-Deutz while the chassis design came mainly from Henschel. In contrast to the planned medium offroad truck, all three axles of the Einheitsdiesel had single wheels. Because of its all-wheel drive, the truck proved very popular and highly mobile. Drawbacks included complex technology for the time and a small payload.

One of the main goals the HWA achieved with the HWA 526 D engine was that all components were interchangeable even though manufactured by a number of different companies.

The Einheitsdiesel was used as a platform for a range of different bodies, with most receiving a simple truck bed made of sheet steel. Notable variants included a mobile field kitchen and a special measurement and equipment carrier version called Kfz. 63 with side access panels. There were also mobile workshops and a large number of communications vehicles such as radio and telephone trucks, antenna mast carriers and acoustic location / sound ranging trucks.

Large manufacturers were involved in the production of the Einheitsdiesel:

Büssing-NAG (3500 units)
Daimler-Benz (550 units)
FAUN (700 units)
Henschel (1500 units)
Magirus (2500 units)
MAN (1795 units)

Other companies to support the program included Borgward, Krupp and Vomag. Production ran over four years from 1937 to 1940, during which about 12,300 units were built. In 1940, more modern trucks achieving the same payload with only two axles became available and Einheitsdiesel production was halted in favor of these new models.

Read more: History of trucks with Jim Andrews ...