Hail to the Fire Chief
Every now and then an opportunity comes up to do a fun project that’s outside of what you usually do. To make it even more exciting, sometimes an OE manufacturer decides to use you to help them with a project. Sometimes you get really, really lucky and it ends up being your favorite OE manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz is bringing a new product to the United States for sale, and they wanted to use the 2014 SEMA show in Las Vegas to showcase this new product. This is the first time in the company’s history that a new product was debuted at this type of show. The new model is called the Metris and it is a minivan they wanted to show with aftermarket applications. Mercedes felt that World Motorsports was more than capable of building a vehicle that could have OEM-Mercedes quality and showcase a non-traditional use by an alternative industry. World Motorsports designed and built a Fire Chief truck for Mercedes-Benz to showcase in their SEMA booth.
The Fire Chief truck was such a success that it was designated to go on tour, even before the SEMA show ended. As the other vans went back to Mercedes-Benz USA, the World Motorsports Mercedes-Benz Metris Fire Chief Van was returned to World Motorsports so that it could be put to work attending other shows.
As a company World Motorsports was able to successfully meet the requirements Mercedes-Benz was looking to achieve. One of the requirements for their build was adding to the all-around performance of the Mercedes Metris to improve its usefulness as a first-responder vehicle. Mercedes knew World Motorsports was the best qualified to engineer quality products in a short time frame that would meet Mercedes’ specifications and reliability standards.
The teams at RADO were able to build some amazing aftermarket parts in a very short time to help complete this job as well. Keep an eye out for this fully operational vehicle as it may be at a show near you very soon.
Performance Modifications Made to the Vehicle
- Upgraded turbocharger by RADO
- Upgraded Front Mount Intercooler by RADO
- ECU Reprogramming by RADO
- Upgraded Transmission Cooler by RADO
- Upgraded Oil Cooler by RADO
- Upgrade Brakes by RADO
- Updated Suspension by H&R
- HRE TR1 Truck Line Wheels
- Continental DWS Tires
First Responder Modifications
- Whelen Lights and Sirens
- Motorola Communications Equipment and Lighting Controls
- H.O. Bostrom Jump Seats
- Smart Dock SCBA Quick-Release Brackets
- Scott Safety Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
- Data 911 Communications Center
- David Clark Intercom System
- Pelican Portable Lighting System
- Custom-Made Command Box
- MNStar Custom Wiring Harness
- Avery Dennison Wrap and Gold Leaf by Service Distribution Group
- Equipped with Custom Battery Charging System and 110 Power Conversion System
