For its anniversary, Liebherr faithfully recreates an icon that drove it closer to its customers

“This vehicle is a wonderful way of retelling and bringing the successful history of Liebherr fridges and freezers to life”, says Steffen Nagel, Managing Director Sales & Marketing at Liebherr-Hausgeräte GmbH. “At the same time it shows how deeply customer and service focus and active exchange with our customers are rooted in our company. This is the basis for our ability to flexibly adapt to changing markets, triumph in uncertain situations and successfully meet customer needs, all of which is becoming increasingly important.”

A brand on wheels: a van as an advert

Putting the right idea into practice at the right time, pursuing goals with unwavering determination and a solid instinct for recognising promising sectors were among the secrets of Hans Liebherr’s success. These laid the foundations for a large number of pioneering inventions, starting with the world’s first mobile tower crane, which marked the birth of the company in 1949. Shortly after, Hans Liebherr set up a production site for fridges in Ochsenhausen in southern Germany. In 1954, this was where the first fridges rolled off the production line. in 1958, just three years after the start of series production, the 100,000th fridge left the plant.

In the 1960s, increasing competition made it necessary to stand out from the company’s rivals and strengthen the brand. Liebherr came up with a unique marketing strategy: The specialists in refrigeration and freezing went to great lengths to transform various vehicles into ‘shop windows on wheels’, including the L319 van from Mercedes-Benz.

For years, the van showcased the latest refrigerators and freezers all across Germany, perfectly staged thanks to special platforms on the loading area. Large windows were installed on the sides and rear of the converted vehicle to provide the best possible view of the models. Sales partners were able to hire the L 319 and its sister vehicles from the sales department in Ochsenhausen in order to present the latest products to their customers directly on site. This offered customers a unique experience, allowing them to take a closer look at the products and be won over by their quality. Liebherr had its finger on the pulse of the times – the concept struck a chord and increased Liebherr’s brand presence through the attention it received.

The anniversary project: The return of an icon

For the 75th anniversary of the Group Liebherr-Hausgeräte made a spectacular idea a reality: the faithful reproduction of the historic L 319. The complex project was carried out by Werner Dreyer Kfz GmbH in Alfeld (Germany), a Mercedes-Benz workshop with five decades of experience that has specialised in the restoration of classic trucks since 1994. The Dreyer team devoted months of their time to overhauling a veteran L 319 truck, assembling, welding and painting it, repairing, replacing or rebuilding individual parts, overhauling the mechanics and retrofitting the electrics. At the 100th session of the IFA in Berlin (Germany) in September 2024, the brand new L 319 was revealed for the very first time.

On board the replica are several historical refrigerators and freezers, which the L 319 exhibited on its tours back in the day. These include the types KT (fridge with table top) and KS (fridge) from the 1962/63 fridge programme. At the back of the shop window is a KS 200, the top-of-the-range model at the time. Thanks to its large freezer compartment, this tall appliance offers plenty of usable space. Design was also of great importance at that time and the products impressed with glass floors or shelves with decorative trims and various design elements, for example. So Liebherr was at home in the premium segment from day one; and it lived up to its slogan at the time – ‘One of the best!’ (‘Einer der Besten!’).