Mercedes-Benz Lo 2750 Platform Truck, Clear Finish

Daimler-Benz made its name with diesel lorries in the early 1930s. Its Lo 2000 of 1932 was the first truck with a diesel engine to be built in significant numbers, and the Lo 2750 followed from the Gaggenau works between 1933 and 1936: a payload of two and three-quarter tonnes, hydraulic brakes on all four wheels, and the OM 65, a 4.9-litre four-cylinder diesel with Bosch injection and a pre-chamber, giving 65 hp at 2,000 rpm. The name told an operator exactly what he was buying: L for lorry, O for omnibus, since the chassis could also carry a bus body, and 2750 for the payload in kilograms. Almost 3,500 were built.

CMC's clear-finish version leaves the metal unpainted and sealed in transparent lacquer, so the cab, bonnet, wings and chassis show their bare, brushed surfaces against a real-wood platform. The wooden drop-sides and tailgate fold down, the three-part bonnet lifts away to reveal the diesel, and the stainless radiator wears a screw-off star cap. The doors open on a cab with black seats and a large black wheel; the fuel cap and toolbox open, the spare wheel comes off, and the trafficator works. Zinc alloy, stainless steel, copper, wood, leather and rubber go into its 2,059 parts, with IIIA-12501 plates front and rear. CMC builds it at 1:18.