From 1955, MaK offered the 400 C model with three axles and an engine power of 400 hp, whose area of application roughly corresponded to that of the WR 360 C 14. Like its big and small sisters, it had a long and a short hood for the engine, tank and other equipment, between which the cab was elevated above the gearbox. As with most MaK locomotives of the first generation, the power came from a relatively slow-running marine diesel with a rated speed of only 750 rpm. From 1961 the more powerful MaK 450 C with 450 hp was also available.

Of the 34 MaK 400 C built, 18 were built in the 1,067 mm gauge (Cape gauge) and delivered to Nigeria to the state railway and the port administration. The 16 standard-gauge 400 C, as well as the 24 built 450 C, came primarily to private and small railways and to industrial companies. Some locomotives were scrapped as early as the 1980s, but others were able to achieve a significantly longer service life. As of 2019, several locomotives are still being used commercially, others are running on museum railways or have been sold abroad. In 2019, at the age of 64, the prototype locomotive of the 400 C was still in regular use on the Kleinbahn Leeste.