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The Challenge

Take the ultimate off road vehicle and restore it to redesign and integrate a military

inspired body based on an original light reconnaissance vehicle that seamles sly

looks as if it was factory OEM: Original Equipm ent Manufacture. With these

insp irations of mil itary vehicle functionali ty, Khl sought to take a 1972 UNIMOG to a

new aesthetic height without compromise to a UNIMOG's orignal intended

capabilities: The UNIMOG is a vehicle designed to accomplish almost any task. This

is the meaning of its name, if you will excuse our German: UNIversal-MOtor-Gert--

universal m otor equipment. A UNIMOG drives itself to wherever and whatever the job

requirement put before it. With all the attachments available to it?s front/rear power

take offs (PTO) a Mog can operate any implement design from snow plows, hydraulic

arms, harvesters, and forestry tools.

The machine needed to be ab le to power its elf anywhere, anytime. The UNIMOG is

capable of crossing over the roughest ground attempted by any four by four. It has

unrivaled traction properties due to its flexible frame ensuring tire contact.

The UNIMOG is a 4x4 vehicle with exceptional ground clearance due to its un ique

portal gears. The cab design provides a driver with unprecedented visibility in order to

navigate and to operate auxiliary equipment. The gearing assures success in any

endeavor, climb, or crossing, including impressive abilities in fording water. Many

alpine towns us e the UNIMOG for an im pressive list of the m unicipalities needs, not

the least of which includes snowplowing clear the mountain roads. It is not an

exaggeration to say that a UNIMOG is truly the quintessential mountain vehicle.

A Khl Styled Alpine Truck

The Body

People think the body was factory spec! Some guess that Farina,

Ghia, or another legendary coach-builder may have developed the

body for Khl. No, it clearly demonstrates Khl's original and

authentic aesthetic sensabilities, using an innovative design that is

subtle yet clean, functional, and timeless.

"A car's elegance must be a symbol of nobility of soul. It must be

the means of elevating human s pirit, a conquest of heart and mind

over matter."

For our inspiration, we looked to the Willys-Overland?s Jeep and its

iconic successor, the Toyota Land Cruiser. These vehicles and

their military specifications provided ideas and direction we put to

use in the KHLMOG's bodywork. Using the inspiration that the

truck should disass emble to change its configuration, the

KHLMOG's truck body comes in removable panels and doors.

Though each part is custom made, this facilitates replacements

due to damages incurred in off road endeavors, and allows it totransform into a flatbed configuration. It is also convenient when

encountering obstacles where height or width consi derations occur

that the truck needs to surmount. In short, it is among the ultimate

expeditionary 4x4's.

"We are going wherever the motors take us, and we are going as

elegantly as we can."

The Cab

In order to extend the driver's position rearward and install

performance bucket seats, we blew out the cab towards the back.

To insure structural integrity we meticulously and painstakingly

reinforced the roof and rea r of the cab. In joining the rear of the cab

to the truck body, a fairing designed to aerodynamically stream thewind and channel water away from the cab shows a fluent purity of

line: the coolest curve on the KHLMOG. This fairing's gusseted

joinery provides the flexibili ty between the cab and body necess ary

for the off road performance capabilities provided by the flexible

frame.

The Body

Following military-type specifications for transformation, and

interchangeability, we designed the truck with removable panels.

First, the custom-made black aluminum roof rack and ladders

disassemble. Next, the roof lifts off. With the doors lifted from their

hinges , we may remove the front fairing attaching the cab to the

truck body. The two piece seal becomes water tight when the body

is together but easily comes apart with one piece staying with thetruck cab, and the one with the body-fairing staying at behind. Thus ,

the KHLMOG transforms from a hard body truck into a pickup s tyle

truck capable of hauling larger payloads where there is no concern

for inclement weather.

Mountain Men needed to be versatile: the ultimate Mountain

KHLMOG

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"A happy fusion of mechanics and art which contributes to render life in our present

time easier and more ennobled than at any previous time." The first step of an original

design is a sketch, in ink or colored crayon, on a piece of nine-by-12 paper. Then towork: We stripped it down. Next, we welded and soldered into place the metal

framework of the new cab fairing and the cube truck body. The pice de rsistance of

the KHLMOG is the coachwork, but keep in mind... an automobile has many parts.

The Chassis

In restoring the KHL UNIMOG's drive train, we put it into working orde r with a specific

modification. Unimog's do suffer one complaint from four by four and military vehicle

enthusiasts: The upright driver position and awkward gear shift location.

Due to a production UNIMOG transmissions' placement towards the rear of the cab,

changing gears is almost behind the seat! This is acceptable when driving in either a

single gear for a long time (as when an implement might be used) but not for the

needs of driving from mountain town to mountain town with long mountain passes . (It

is also not convenient or comfortable for any one during off road challenges with theirinherent gear shifting requirements.)

We used the MB 300E steering shaft and spider gears and s eamless ly integrated this

to the UNIMOG?s spider gearing. Along with the accompanying 300E?s steering

wheel, we successfully moved the driver?s pos ition well back. The transmiss ion stick

shift now resides rightly in a favorable shifting position.

The Steering Wheel

The padded steering wheel comes from a Mercedes Benz 300E and links to the

extended steering column from the MB 300E.

The Seats

The adjustable performance bucket seats provide needed comfort to drivers as tall as

six feet four inches. The KHLMOG makes a dri ver comfortable and relaxed, keeping

the driver from needless fatigue.

The Tires

Khl chose the Continental 365/80 R 20 MTB Radial for better transport and comfort

and improved gas m ileage due to their large diameter. Nevertheless, make no

mistake; these tires are stock UNIMOG off-road tires on 9 x 22.5 steel wheels.

Expeditionary 4X4 should adapt, transform and transcend all

obstacles. Exhaustive detail work completes the KHLMOG:

accessories, s eating, instrumentation.

Custom built aluminum roof rack: heavy-duty roof rack with cargo

basket and l adders . Adding capacity to carry enough cargo for any

enterprise.

The Headlights

The OEM high headlights operate by flipping a fuse. The placement

of them high above the everyday running lamps makes the use of a

forward implement (such as a snowplow) operable at night by

providing driving/operating lights when otherwise the implement

obscures them.

The Power Take Off

The Power Take Off's in the front and rear as shown in this

illustration can power a wide range of instruments m anufactured by

many companies.

The Fuel

We use biodies el to preserve the alpine environment when we

drive the KHLMOG. During the winter monthes we run a blend B-

20 diesel and Bio-fuel and in the summer we switch to the highest

Bio diesel blend available.

Bio Diesel

Bio diesel is available to us locally just down from KHL

headquarters in SLC, UT.

Hydraulic Awning System

There is one other design on the KHLMOG you might be

interested in: Our hydraulic awning system: it raises and lowers

with the sun. We followed windsurfing kite designs.

Look for the KHLMOG in Utah at Wasatch mountain ski resorts,

notably Snowbird (home of the Khl Has ) and Alta, and at various

events such as the Telluride Blue and Brews in Telluride, Colorado,or when the Khl bike team is racing. If you see us, stop by.

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