So while researching the Highwayman TV series, I kept coming across references to the high-tech, futuristic truck of another character, Jetto: low-slung, with the cab all the way forward of the front wheels and a flat top. The references called it a Steinwinter.
But Steinwinter isn’t exactly in the nearest reference book. In fact, there’s little about it on English-language websites; thank Google for its Translate service.
It appears an engineer from Stuttgart, Manfred Steinwinter, wrestled for quite some time with maximizing the load-handling ability of over-the-road truck and, inspired by German truck builder Büssing, designed a cab-under-load truck.
Steinwinter thus formed an eponymous company and apparently engaged Daimler-Benz for some technical assistance. (The prancing horse logo he chose for the company has nothing to do with Ferrari – it’s a tribute to the Stuttgart coat of arms.) The truck wouldn’t just enable larger loads; Steinwinter envisioned it as a modular platform, able to pull cargo trailers, double-decker bus-type trailers, or even run sans trailer as a family vehicle. Steinwinter envisioned about half a dozen total variants to start with. The cantilevered cab included two seats, with a wardrobe and bed in between. The engine (a 280 PS Mercedes OM422 V-8, backed with a ZF Ecosplit 16-speed transmission) was placed behind the front axle, under the fifth-wheel-type hitch, but could apparently be easily swapped out for other engines, depending on the envisioned use for the day. Wheelbase measured three meters (118 inches), though total length was more than twice that, at 6.5 meters (256 inches). Height measured 1.17 meters (46 inches).
Steinwinter succeeded in building at least one prototype (references indicate Drogmöller built it for him) and debuted it in 1987 at the International Automobile Exhibition (though there’s some scuttlebutt that it appeared in a European trucking magazine in 1984). The truck apparently seemed promising, and Steinwinter’s business plan sound, but from what we can gather, handling still needed to be sorted and Mercedes-Benz refused to provide backing, dooming the project.
How it became Jetto’s truck in the TV series – and who converted it – we’re not sure. We’re also wondering whether there’s a direct connection with a company called American Steinwinter, which apparently intended to market the Steinwinter (or, at least, another experimental German truck called the Steinwinter) in the United States and was involved in a series of lawsuits in the 1990s.
Rumor has it the truck still exists, though I’ve yet to determine where and in what condition.
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