MAN DURING THE 1960s

In 1959, the company had seen over 10,000 chassis leave the Munich works while the Nuremberg facility was now devoted to engine production. Almost as soon as the Munich works had come on stream in 1955 design and development work had begun on a new series of trucks which would incorporate a completely new cab design. The long bonneted pre and post war vehicles were regarded by many as being out of date especially when being compared to the vehicles being produced by the American and other European motor manufacturers.

By 1956, styling sketches for the new cabs had developed into clay and wood models and following further refinement the first steel pressings were produced. The Munich works was equipped with new press tools to allow the cabs to be manufactured on site at a new plant built at the works. The new cab was a handsome design with soft curves, a one piece curved windscreen and was built in both normal and forward control versions and sleeper cabs were also available.

The chassis for the new range remained largely unchanged although the successful but