🚜 The Unimog That Could Have Been: A Post-Growth Parable
In the shadows of World War II, when Europe was rebuilding itself from the ashes, a curious machine was born — one that seemed to embody resilience, versatility, and an almost utopian ideal of engineering. It was the Unimog, a portmanteau of “UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät”, designed to be the do-it-all vehicle for post-war agriculture, infrastructure, and utility. Its designers envisioned a modular workhorse: repairable, adaptable, and capable of traversing any terrain. A mechanical expression of a better future.
For a while, that vision thrived.
But then came the fork in the road — the sale to Daimler-Benz.
And why? Because they had done too well. The original team fulfilled global demand so effectively that there was simply nothing left to sell. They went bankrupt not from failure, but from completion — a quiet success in a world that demands perpetual sales. In desperation, they sold the design to Daimler, who went on to integrate it into a system of proprietary production, planned obsolescence, and incremental monetization.
The Unimog lived on, yes, but no longer as the tool of the commons. It became a product line — not a platform.
What If…?
What if the Unimog story had gone differently?
What if, instead of selling out, its creators had followed a different path — one of liberation, not liquidation?
Imagine this:
The Unimog design files, production tools, and part schematics were released into the commons.
A foundation was formed, funded by modest licensing and community contributions.
Repair shops and rural cooperatives across Europe built and adapted their own Unimogs.
A culture of modular add-ons emerged: snow plows, winches, drilling rigs — shared and iterated openly.
The Unimog evolved as an ecosystem, not a commodity.
This would have made the Unimog not just the vehicle for post-war recovery, but the platform for post-growth resilience.
The Final Payday, Without the Final Sale
In the post-growth economy we imagine today, the idea isn’t to grow endlessly or cash out explosively — it’s to harvest the value created, share it sustainably, and then release it back into the world.
The Unimog’s creators could have done exactly this: paid themselves and their workers a final dividend, passed stewardship to a trust or cooperative, and gone on to build the next great project.
This isn't naïve idealism — it’s a strategy. A business model for a future that doesn’t eat its own tail.
Why Tell This Parable?
Because we lack these stories.
In a world obsessed with IPOs, unicorns, and exits, we forget to tell tales of entrances — of tools that enter the commons, of legacies that endure not through exclusivity, but openness.
The Unimog story, told this way, becomes a parable for what we might do next:
Build with permanence in mind.
Design for repair, not replacement.
Exit not through acquisition, but communitisation.
Leave behind not scarcity, but infrastructure.
🛠️ Let’s imagine the machines that could have been — so we can build the ones that still can be.
A Note on the Unimog Story — Clarifications and Corrections
After publishing this post, I received valuable feedback pointing out inaccuracies in my retelling of the Unimog’s origins and production history. It turns out that some commonly repeated elements in my narrative were more urban legend than fact.
The reality is that the Unimog was developed by an ex-Daimler-Benz engineer in collaboration with Erhard & Söhne, who lacked the capacity to produce it. Gebr. Boehringer manufactured the first 600 units before Daimler-Benz took over production around 1950, and both companies remained financially stable during that period. Daimler then developed the model further and continues producing Unimogs today.
While this correction adjusts the historical record, the core point of the post remains: the value of exploring “almost-there” innovation stories as inspiration for a post-growth, commons-based economy. I’m thankful for the community’s input, which helps ensure the dialogue stays accurate and rich.
I’ll be diving deeper into more verified cases of near-misses and alternative tech histories that could illuminate the path toward a resilient, open, and just future.
Thanks @gnaddrig@mastodon.social for reading and for helping keep the conversation honest!
This Post is build upon in 🛠️ Made to Order, Made to Last: The Workshop Economy After Growth
🦣 Let's discuss this post on Mastodon: @thilosch@mastodon.social