Tour of Germany with vintage Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles

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Daimler Press Release  /  August 31, 2016

• 15th Tour of Germany to start at the Mercedes-Benz museum
• The tour will be headed by a 1960 Mercedes-Benz LP 333
• Patron: VDA President Matthias Wissmann

Stuttgart – The time has come round again for the historic commercial vehicles Tour of Germany: for the 15th time around 70 forwarding agents and transport companies will come together to set off on a ten-day tour of Germany.

Mercedes-Benz is represented with several truck models, all of which are at least 30 years old, and some of them are even pre-war models. Bastian Bernard will lead the historic convoy with his Mercedes-Benz LP 333 tractor from 1960, followed by an LP1624 COE tractor and 1624LS conventional tractor.

In addition to Mercedes-Benz trucks such as the LAK 329 pickup or the L 319 panel van, the Daimler Brand Setra is also represented with a type S 9 omnibus built in 1959.

The Tour of Germany will start on 1 September in Stuttgart where Gottlieb Daimler wrote truck history for the first time 120 years ago in 1896. The historic vehicles can be admired at the Mercedes-Benz museum from 2 p.m. onwards. And the drivers have plenty to look forward to as well: in the evening they can experience commercial vehicle history in the museum where they will be welcomed by Daimler in a festive setting.

The tour will start on Friday morning at 10 a.m. when the trucks set off from Stuttgart to Speyer. The start of the tour is a highlight in itself for every fan of vintage vehicles – and it can take two hours until all vehicles have rolled out of the museum courtyard.

The route will take the participants around 1200 km along old traffic axes towards the north. Individual stage destinations reflect the backbone of transport logistics and are situated on main trade routes which were very important in the past and remain so today. On 9 September the journey will end with a big closing event in Hamburg. As well as Mercedes-Benz, other vehicles from manufacturers represented in the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA) will take part in the convoy. Selected participating vehicles will also be on display at the IAA International Commercial Vehicle Show from 22 to 29 September 2016 in Hanover.

The publishing company ETM organises the Tour of Germany every two years together with the forwarding agent Fehrenkötter. The tour with historic commercial vehicles is under the patronage of VDA President Matthias Wissmann. The event aims to improve the image of the commercial vehicles industry and to promote mutual consideration between cars and commercial vehicles. In addition, the organisers want the spectators along the route to appreciate a piece of commercial vehicle history.

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[mrsmackpaul]

how cool is this