Collectors’ Corner

The clear canopy makes Siku’s Messerschmitt immediately recognisable, even at just 4.8 cm long. Beneath it, the model’s narrow cabin follows the unusual shape of the real KR175. Its passengers sat one behind the other. The real car had two front wheels, a single rear wheel and motorcycle-style handlebar steering. A 173 cc, single-cylinder Fichtel & Sachs two-stroke drove the rear wheel through a chain. The KR175 appeared in 1953,…

The early Unimog was designed around work in the fields as well as travel on the road. Mercedes-Benz’s archive points out that its track width allowed it to run between rows of potatoes. The 411 arrived in 1956 as the successor to the 401 and 402. Its 30 hp engine offered more power, while all-wheel drive, differential locks and portal axles retained the Unimog’s off-road layout. Short and long wheelbases…