Flatbed truck (MB LP 333) "Dortmunder Union"

Flatbed truck (MB LP 333) 'Dortmunder Union'

When Dortmunds export beer travelled to faraway lands

In the fifties and sixties, the Dortmunder Union brewery ranked among the largest breweries of the time - not only in the Ruhr region but in Germany as a whole. No other brewery back then had Unions capacity to grow their business and with it the range of their beer - Dortmunder Export - far beyond the borders of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. And, they found that the Mercedes-Benz LP 333 was right for the job as it offered the perfect freight hauling abilities thanks to its ideal weight reserves. Ever since it first emerged from new moulds, the model of the Mercedes-Benz LP 333 with twin front axle has enjoyed great popularity and has now become one of the most sought-after classics in WIKINGs product range. And, WIKING, of course, wrote their own special chapter in this story when their legendary master model maker Alfred Kedzierski set out as early as the 1960s to design a miniaturised version of the Pullman cab-over-engine with twin front axles in the 1:87 scale. Alas, WIKING founder Friedrich Peltzer was not too fond of the idea for the model and rejected its implementation. WIKING is now bringing the historical records to life and is using new moulds to create the miniaturised Millipede in the style of the Kedzierski design. The Millipede with double front axle appeared as an emergency solution at the end of the 1950s, because of the Seebohm laws. Only because of the third axle was it possible to build a lorry with a permissible gross weight of 16 tons.

1958-61

Long-distance beer transporter from Dortmund

Driver's cab with radiator grille and flatbed white. Interior anthracite grey, steering wheel white. Chassis with cardan part in black. Wheel rims, bumper with double fenders front and rear traffic red. Folding top light grey. Radiator grille with frame and headlamp rings and with central ornamental strip and Mercedes-Benz star painted silver. Driver's cab with red ornamental strip and with side silver ornamental strips and door handles. Indicators orange. Bumper with silver-painted side ornamental strip, headlamps hand-painted silver. Tail lights imprinted traffic red. Union logo on the doors and red Dortmunder Union-Bier lettering on the sides of the flatbed. Red Union-Bier lettering on the rear of the flatbed. Front of roof with red Union-Bier lettering and bicolour Union logo in the middle of the word.