Mercedes-Benz's squat little Unimog trucks have proven their expeditionary prowess yet again with the announcement that a U 5023 truck has set a new altitude record for wheeled vehicles, reaching 6,694 m (21,962 ft) above sea level.
The mission: install four emergency radios at high-altitude campsites around the Ojos de Salado in Chile – the tallest active volcano on the planet, summiting at 6,893 m (22,615 ft) and rising out of the Atacama desert. The trucks: a pair of specially prepped Unimogs with extreme off-road tires and big winch units.
In order to handle the steep, mountainous terrain without toppling, the trucks were also fitted with a system allowing them to move weight forward and backward to modify the vehicles' centers of gravity.
![A special system allowed the team to shift weight forward and backward to help balance the Unimogs' center of gravity](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/9c79907/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3648x2736+0+0/resize/1280x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F55%2Fd6%2Fe3c210634c62a9400d1301c77573%2F20c0014-003.jpg)
Expedition leader Matthias Jesche broke his own altitude record, which he set in an older Mercedes Zetros in 2014. Getting up that high wasn't strictly necessary for the mission – the team had all four radios installed by the time the Unimogs got up to the Amistad high-altitude camp at 6,100 m (20,013 ft). But, hey, as long as you're there, you might as well take a little time to make history, eh?
Frankly, we're impressed that the Unimog's Euro 6-compliant, 4-cylinder gasoline engine was able to breathe up that high. We'd be huffing and puffing at half that altitude. Enjoy the photos, they're spectacular.
Source: Daimler