In 1944, with Germany facing serious food shortages in the aftermath waning months of World War II, Daimler-Benz AG engineer Albert Friedrich had the idea to create an agricultural implement that could not only help to plant and harvest crops, but drive them into town was well. Later known as the Unimog, an abbreviation of Universal Motor Geraet, or universal motorized device, the truck that would go on to become the world’s most versatile off-roader began testing 70 years ago this month.

Friedrich had been the head of aircraft development at Daimler-Benz, but in the postwar years turned his attention to the reconstruction effort. Returning to Stuttgart to help rebuild his former company, now forbidden from building aircraft (or even four-wheel drive vehicles), Friedrich laid out the plans for his envisioned do-it-all farming vehicle.

The most versatile vehicle ever made celebrates a birthday.