Get Lost In The Wilderness With This Mercedes 310 Adventure Wagon
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to go exploring, this Merc might be all the incentive you need.
Forget the Instagram fame or the twee branding that is the #VanLife phenomenon sweeping the internet. Those poseurs are spending their time in Volkswagen Busses with their pug for the likes and the followers. No, if you want to travel off the beaten path, buy this Mercedes 310 overlander. You’d be vanning royalty.
This Mercedes is stout enough to take you to remote reaches of the world where smartphones wouldn’t dare tread. With no connection to the outside world, you’re putting trust in yourself, and trusting that this 25-year old German four-wheeled living room will make it to your destination.
We’ve done a bit of on-road adventuring ourselves, but we’ve never felt the pure rush of going your own way. We were always calmed by the drum of the highway, the proximity of food, fuel, and comfortable housing.
We’ve never had the pure independence of trucking miles from nowhere, loaded down with all the gear needed to safely return. But this van is exactly what you need if that’s what you’re looking to achieve. Thanks to a bed, a stove, and a collapsible living room, self-contained living is possible with this Mercedes.
Take the plunge and follow the road less traveled. See the sights and put your trust in yourself. And the machine.
ALSO SEE: Watch a G-Wagen Take on the Great White North
The ad has since been deleted, but here is a synopsis of what it said:
Beautiful, low mileage, MB 310 for sale for your overland travel plans near or far. See the state or the world at 85 kilometers per hour!
This van was originally built for a Swiss Fire Department. It was sold to a gal who used it to transport sled dogs in the Alps. The third owners used it for their 2-year overland travel adventurer. The 310 is the grandfather to the current version of the Sprinter and is known for its longevity and reliability. About 900,000 of these vans were built, making parts reasonable to source.
The van was converted to 4 wheel drive by a Swiss company called Larag, which used genuine Mercedes Benz parts from the contemporary Gelandewagen. The interior has been insulated and upfitted. There is a queen size bed and a storage galore. Power is provided by a solar panel for passive charging and for AC power there is a small inverter. For heat there is a Webasto forced air furnace. There is a 10 gallon onboard water storage system with a pump and an alcohol stove for cooking and a refigerator. To air the tires up there is an onboard air compressor. The van comes with many spare parts and a full size spare tire.
