![]() Opening the door presents a further dose of utility as the interior of this passenger van is clad throughout in black, with the dashboard and all other plastics being of the hard (we call that durable) variety and the seats at least clad in leatherette (an optional extra, cloth is standard). Of course Mercedes has a very long and successful history of building all manner of utility vehicles, trucks, taxis, etc, but at first glance things such as the steel wheels and the unpainted black plastic bumpers can seem a little “off” to those not in the know. The second impression is that this is definitely a Utility Vehicle first and not a luxury cruiser as most Americans have been conditioned to think of Mercedes. Driving around my neighborhood I was constantly driving around low hanging trees (that I never considered as low-hanging previously) and I didn’t dare try to go into a drive-thru anything. The exterior measures 117″ inches tall, add the rear AC unit on top of that and it is more than 10 feet in height. Not surprisingly the first impression is of how large it is the 4×4 version rides about 3.5″ higher than the RWD version and with the high roof that allows people up to about 6’3″ to walk around inside with bumping their head (that 3.5″ figure is from the Mercedes website but it feels like more). ![]() I’ve seen people driving them around (they aren’t uncommon here in Colorado) and relished the opportunity to see what it was all about for myself. Several years ago Mercedes introduced a 4×4 version over here and then for 2019 a redesign occurred with many differences both cosmetically and under the skin, which is representative of the version we drove. Sales are currently at a high of around 30,000 units annually in the United States with many sold as work vans, commercial shuttles and the basis for medium-sized RVs, but more and more private individuals are purchasing them off the showroom floor to either just drive them as is or to convert them themselves into their own RV. Interestingly, the current line can also be purchased through and badged as a Freightliner if one prefers. ![]() A couple of years later it was also sold as a Dodge, and then finally as the real thing, a Mercedes-Benz complete with three-pointed star on both ends. The Sprinter is pretty much the grand-daddy of the new wave of “Euro-Vans” that has been sweeping the nation over the last few years, in fact over here it dates back to 2001 when it was originally sold as a Freightliner (a heavy truck brand owned by Mercedes). And if that’s not enough, there’s a longer one available with a 170″ wheelbase (as opposed to the 144″-er here) that adds another row for three more people (or one more teen) to spread out in. Bliss /blis/ noun : The definition in Webster’s should be “That feeling you get when on a road trip with the kids and you realize that they are separated by so much space that they can’t put peanut butter in each other’s ears or even reach each other.” And that is exactly what we have here in the form of a van that a fully upright human (well, most anyway) can walk around in and choose any one of 12 seating places.
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