The two-ton 4×4 of the SAMIL range: the Magirus-Deutz 130 M 7 FAL built in South Africa with a forward-control tilt cab, portal axles and permanent four-wheel drive, 5.34 m long on a 2,900 mm wheelbase and 7,700 kg gross. The Mk I had the air-cooled Deutz F6L 913 of 6,128 cc and 93 kW; the Mk II the water-cooled ADE 352N.
MODEL LINE20BUILT BYTruckmakers, Rosslyn, Pretoria, Magirus-Deutz, UlmPRODUCED1978–98OPERATED INSouth Africa, NamibiaPRODUCTIONNot published for this model aloneLAYOUT4 wheels · 114″
The record
The SAMIL 20 replaced the Unimog as the South African Army's light logistic truck during the Border War. The cargo body seats ten troops back to back on a removable centre bench and has locks for a 20-foot container; the spare wheel sits between cab and body with a hand crane to lift it, and the differentials on both axles and in the transfer box lock pneumatically.
The chassis carried light workshops, field offices, forward command posts, ambulances, battery chargers and refuellers, the Kwêvoël mine-protected cab, and the Bulldog and Rhino personnel carriers. The air-cooled Deutz did not suit the heat and dust of South West Africa, which led to the Mk II with the Atlantis Diesel Engines 352N, a licence-built Mercedes-Benz OM 352, and more South African components. Production of the range ended in 1998.
PRODUCTION RUNNot published for this model alone; the SAMIL fleet peaked at about 12,000 two-, five- and ten-ton trucks
COUNTRY OF ORIGINSouth Africa
OPERATED INSouth Africa, Namibia
STATUSout of production
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINE20
FAMILY20
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE114″
BODY STYLECargo and troop carrier
VARIANTS2
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Body styles & colours
Body style
Factory colours
Dark Earth
Light Stone
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
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