This Mercedes-Benz 220D pickup never arrived in Asia
Did you know that between the years 1971 to 1976, Mercedes-Benz Argentina took a perfectly designed saloon, the Mercedes-Benz 220D, (Model W115) and re-manufactured it to be a pickup vehicle?
Yes, this was probably the first and only car based Mercedes pickup ‘vehicle’ ever to carry the luxury three pointed star on the bonnet.
At that time the importation of private cars was totally restricted because it was the time of the dictatorship in Argentina and due to regulations in force since the early 1970s, Mercedes-Benz, which at that time had Juan Manuel Fangio as Honorary President, he spotted a loop hole in the regulations and this below was it.
“The restrictions did not affect mechanical or body elements, so it could be assembled later in Argentina. There was an added problem, the law allowed the assembly of cars whenever it was a work vehicle and not a passenger car”.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz management did not stop this project. In 1971 the first eight units were built. With the imported parts of the sedan, the bodywork was cut at the height of the B-pillar and a 100 percent Argentina design and development cargo box was attached, thanks to an agreement with the “El detalle” bus factory.
So, in total, 1,044 units of this vehicle were sold, which was powered by the Benz 2.2-liter diesel engine that produced 65 hp.
Interestingly, despite its low volume the production did not stop and by 1975, with 353 units on the road, which is almost one unit a made in a day.
Many of them are still on Argentinian roads. There was even a double cab version which we believe would have been better to just import in a station wagon factory version.
We wonder why the buyers of this unusual and would have been expensive to purchase pickup vehicle opt to just get an American made Chevrolet or Ford pickup truck that would have served the needs better and at a lower asking price.
