High-Mobility Truck, D, 8 t (Gräf & Stift ZA 200)

By the end of the 1950s, several lighter trucks from Austrian production had already been introduced to the Army (Steyr types 380 and 480), while most of the heavy transport and recovery vehicles still in service dated back to WW2 and were handed over to the Austrian military by the departing allied (predominantly American) occupation forces. By that time the rebuilt Gräf & Stift truck manufacturing works in the 19th district of Vienna had developed a series of heavy-duty off-road trucks on 4x4 and 6x6 chassis, and starting with 1958 the transition was made from US-manufactured to Austrian vehicles.

The traditional type designation ZA 200 identifies this vehicle as a “Zugfahrzeug” (tractor), “Allrad” (6x6), “200PS” (200 HP). As Gräf & Stift after the war did not restart its engine production anymore (with the exception of a very short trial period with a proprietary 2-stroke diesel engine design), they entered into a cooperation agreement with Mercedes-Benz for their OM326 engine series (this cooperation lasted until Gräf & Stift was taken over by ÖAF, who traditionally had very close ties to MAN, so they would not continue with any Mercedes-Benz engines). The OM326 was a water-cooled, inline, 6-cylinder diesel engine, producing 200 HP from its 10.8 liter volume.

Gräf & Stift ZA 200 with double cab from a contemporary sales brochure
Gräf & Stift ZA 200 with double cab from a contemporary sales brochure

The early production models (such as ours) can be identified by the still installed civilian front bumper, which was only later replaced by the heavy-duty military version.

Gräf & Stift ZA 210 recovery vehicle
Gräf & Stift ZA 210 Recovery Vehicle

Our vehicle was one of the first models fitted with an interchangeable rear platform, either the standard cargo-type (as currently installed) or a radar-processing shelter as shown on the picture below:

Gräf & Stift ZA 200 with mounted radar-processing shelter
Gräf & Stift ZA 200 with mounted radar-processing shelter

Unfortunately there exists no more data sheet for the 6x6 version with short cab and no hydraulic loading crane, so the attached data sheet is the closest we could find to this vehicle.