In the 1950s, the Bundesbahn needed a shunting locomotive to replace six- and eight-coupled steam locomotives in this role. Development began in 1951 with the participation of all well-known manufacturers, who were to divide production among themselves. Finally, in 1955, a total of four prototypes were built by Krupp, Krauss-Maffei, MaK and Henschel with different engines.

The Maybach engine ultimately used in the series was a development of the GO 6, which had been used in the pre-war period in the SVT 137 series express DMUs. In contrast to the engines of shunting locomotives from other countries, this was turbocharged, but the boost pressure was limited to a moderate 0.4 bars. The hydraulic transmission did not transmit the power to the axles via individual cardan shafts as in the V 80, but to all axles via a single jackshaft and coupling rods. Despite the coupling rods, the middle axle could be shifted sideways by 30 mm for better running through curves.

Identical or at least very similar locomotives were sold to Belgium, Greece and Turkey. Just one year after the start of series production, the locomotives received approval for one-man operation. They were used not only in shunting service, but also in light line service. Of a total of 942 V 60s built, 319 were given a reinforced frame to increase traction, which increased the weight by almost five tonnes. These could be weighed down by a further six tonnes with additional ballast. In the 1960s, the locomotives with lighter frames showed that the frames were too light and had to be reinforced afterwards.

With the renumbering in 1968, the lighter version became the class 260 and the heavier one became the class 261. In the 1980s, some industrial locomotives were tested as possible successors to the V 60, but none were adopted. Nevertheless, at the same time there were already many decommissionings, with some locomotives being sold to private railways. Others were sold to state or private railways in Norway, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Algeria, Italy and Switzerland. To save on personnel costs, the locomotives were classified as light locomotives in 1987 to be able to use less trained personell and the class numbers were changed to 360 and 361, respectively.

In the 1990s, many locomotives from the classes 360 and 361 were equipped with remote controls and were thus redesignated as classes 364 and 365. They also received automatic shunting couplers and Caterpillar engines. The unconverted locomotives were retired by 2003. In 2015, 221 of the converted ones were still available.