If you thought the Cadillac truck that we featured a few weeks ago was the ultimate luxury hauler, then you should get a load of what reader Robert J. just forwarded to us. The seller states that it started life as a 1963 Mercedes 220SEb, but someone grafted in a truck bed. We have never seen anything like it and they claim that it’s the only one. The conversion looks well done though. It is located in Indianapolis and bidding is currently at $2k here on eBay.
The auction listing does not provide many details about the condition of the car, but it actually looks pretty good in the photos. We are still trying to figure out what they did with the fintails. These cars were known for their subtle fins which Mercedes thought would appeal to American buyers. It appears that they were about chopped off or filled in when converted to a truck. Any ideas of what is really going on here?
The interior looks clean enough for a Benz-amino. Not quite as flashy as the Cadillac, but still luxurious and comfortable for the time period. The four-speed on the column and the thermometer gauges are nice touches to. With its mini-truck proportions there is not much room left behind the seats though.
Someone put a lot of time and money into this one and we sort of want it. Just think, you could own a German classic and still make trips to Home Depot. It will be interesting to see where the bidding goes on this one. A special thanks goes out to Robert for sending this in.
The lack of close ups or pictures altogether of the bed area is a red flag for me. Neat idea for a promotional vehicle though.
It’s been done on a Jaguar XJ 6 & a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow here in Aus.
Both looked more elegent than this one.
I’m sorry. It looks like something’s missing back there.
There is, the rest of the car :-)
That’s exactly what I was thinking
It’s odd looking, especially from the side, but the conversion looks to have been done neatly, and with dual exhaust, elegant interior, and four-on-the-tree it’s hard to complain if the reserve is reasonable.
It looks pretty well done, considering what the goal was. …But, Wish they could have done the vinyl wrap onto the body a bit different? …and for some reason, I am seeing 57 Chevy brushed aluminum sails added to the back panels, just to further confuse the presentation!
Much more elegant then the Cad.
To me it looks like the quarters rocker and fender around the door have a thick layer of fill. the tapered off to the edge of the door all around. The missing fins are hopefully done better and not a hack job. It would look a bunch better if thay had left the fins.
Flower car, perhaps?
The proportions are bad and the rockers etc. look to be filled rust. Wouldn’t you take pictures of the bed without the cover if it was done right?
WOULD MAKE A COOL FLOWER CAR FOR A FUNERAL HOME IF LIKE THE GUYS ABOVE ME SAY IT WAS DONE RIGHT AND NOT FULL OF FILLER.
I agree with you guys, I “sense” a lot of Bondo, and a close up of the license plate was not what I was hoping to see. The tonneau cover should be off. It does look like a fun car though.
~ i would guess that the tonneau extended down almost to the bumper means no tailgate. that might be inconvenient if you intend to actually use it as a pick up. certainly won’t see another at the Calgary Stampede.
~ it might have been much more successful with longer coupe doors.
. but would anyone actually do that??
Looks a little wavy. There was a similar Mercedes and a BMW 1600 pickup running around Portland OR at one time, back when these were old used cars and no one thought twice about chopping them. The BMW belonged to a repair outfit that used it for machine shop and parts runs.
I just saw that BMW on Monday. On Sandy Blvd. @ Fremont St.
Still a parts hauler.
Have not seen the MB in some time……..
Mercedes actually made a prototype car like this one. I live in the Santa Barbara area and occasionally see it around town. It is Red and Black with chrome strips across the fins. The designer who built it is driving it around town. Mercedes let him have it or buy it. They actually considered building version. The one I see here is a 220 style like a 63 or so.
Shawn M.
A somewhat similar Benz pick up was used by a Merc dealer in downtown St Louis for many years. It was white, built on a 240 platform as I recall. The proportions of this one are a bit wonky and having no photos of the bed leave a big question. Go to all this trouble and hack off the fins? Pass.
It’s surprising that there are so many Mercedes truck conversion out there! Check this one out. The auction already ended, but I wanted to mention it because it is actually a production Mercedes truck from 1955!
To pull this off convincingly, one has to study the details on this car.
I have done that for 30+ years and some of the major points to consider are:
1. Rear section, keep the taillights or change to wagon lights to open the tail gate to floor level.(?), finish or transition towards sides/fins, rear tailgate.
2. Roof section to resemble more the sedan rear window.
3. make the welded-shut rear doors less obvious
4. make the bed of the truck flat/level throughout and make the shock towers disappear.
All of which have not been solved aesthetically in this one.
Not an easy task, and I think it can be done better.
As for the claim for this to be the only one, I don’t think so……..
Auction not over 15 hours to go just under $3k….(?)
I have seen newer Mercedes cars that had been modified in a similar way. They were quite common here in Denmark in the mid 80’s. I think some firm specialized in converting them. They disappeared quickly though. Haven’t really seen them since. Maybe they weren’t such a great idea after all.
….don’t ask me why, but (with it’s dark shades and morbid lines) it would be no surprise to discover that this vehicle was once a flower car in the funeral procession of Kim Jong-il