Ten cylinders, 16-litre displacement: the LPS 1632

Story

Unsurpassed.

The cubic cab set standards in truck design, and the V10 diesel engine was a powerpack few thought possible. So it had to be a 1632 for Michael Kluck.


In the early 1970s, one particular combination of numbers made something of an impression: 1632. The cubic cab had a tilting function for the first time, and beneath it was the first Mercedes-Benz V10 engine, which had a displacement of almost 16 litres. “The drivers almost burst with pride,” states Michael Kluck from Hanover. He was right in the thick of things: his aunt was in charge of a haulage firm, and he spent more time growing up in cabs and the workshop than in his bedroom or at the playground. “We drove the route between Hanover and Passau. Having 80 hp more than the previous vehicles slashed nearly three hours off the journey time,” claims haulier Kluck. Incidentally, the development of the 400 engine series was founded on a legal initiative: the West German government was planning to prescribe eight horsepower per tonne of gross combination weight as of 1972. In the case of a 38-tonner, this would have been at least 304 hp.

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