FOR TRUCK'S SAKE

Mercedes-Benz’s W115 saloon was renowned around the world as a taxt. But in Argentina it became more useful as La Pick-up. Melanie May investigates

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WHAT IS IT they say about necessity being the mother of invention? The proverb could be rewritten to explain the existence of many a fascinating classic car. Or, indeed, truck. So before we get behind the wheel of the somewhat unexpected pick-up before us, it's worth considering why it exists in the first place.

Mercedes-Benz has a long history in Argentina. After World War Two, the country saw rapid industrial and agricultural development, but the transport infrastructure was poor the car fleet was almost obsolete and the rail network was insufficient to satisfy demand. Mercedes was quick to capitalise on the growing need for vehicles when, in 1951, it opened the González Catán facility in Buenos Aires Province, the first Mercedes factory outside Europe. The company builds the Sprinter van there to this day.

Fast-forward to the 1970s, a time of liberation for many, and there was a severe restriction on imports thanks to taxes on manufactured products: a stiff 95% on passenger cars and 65% even on utility vehicles.

Therefore, to avoid costly import taxes, manufacturers brought vehicles into Argentina as CKD (Complete Knocked Down) kits and assembled them locally. Furthermore, because the tariffs were lower on utility vehicles, many factories converted normal cars to commercial usage and sold them as station wagons and pick-up trucks.

Yet this was not the only reason for creating more trucks. In the 1970s, agriculture made up a significant part of Argentina's economy and commercial vehicles were in high demand. It was the combination of these factors that led Mercedes-Benz Argentina to import CKD kits of the W115 saloon and convert them into 'stroke-eight' pick-ups - the W114 and W115 series of cars were nicknamed strich acht because they had come to the market in 1968.