Mercedes-Benz L 6500

The Mercedes-Benz L 6500 was a heavy two-axle lorry that Daimler-Benz built at its Gaggenau plant from 1935 to 1940. It was a bonneted truck with a flatbed body and was powered by the OM 57, a water-cooled six-cylinder inline pre-chamber diesel engine of 12.5 litres that produced about 99 to 110 kW, with a payload of 6.5 to 7 tonnes. The chassis used a ladder frame of channel-section steel with solid axles front and rear on semi-elliptic springs, single tyres at the front and twin tyres at the rear, hydraulically operated drum brakes with air-pressure assistance, and a four-speed gearbox with an auxiliary gear driving the rear wheels only. In 1938 the original cab was replaced by a steel-panel cab, and trucks built specially for the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, carried that service standard cab and used a throttled engine. The L 6500 had no predecessor model and was followed by the L 6600.