Beautifully Functional

Hand-built for discerning buyers, the Mercedes Universal and Vanden Plas Countryman are the zenith of ’60s estates.

- Andrew Roberts

There are a number of parallels between the two exceptionally rare and desirable shooting brakes basking in the magnificent grounds of Stonor Park in Oxfordshire. Both are coach built, both are derived from middle-class saloon cars that made their debuts in 1959 and both have Belgian connections. But that is almost where the comparisons cease, because the Mercedes-Benz 230 Universal and the Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre Countryman are quite different forms of motoring life.

It is sometimes forgotten that Daimler-Benz would not offer a factory-built wagon until the W123 in 1977, but 20 years earlier the Borgward Isabella Combi had established the estate car as a respectable form of transport with no light commercial overtones. From 1955 the Mercedes Ponton had been available with a station wagon conversion by Binz of Lorch, and this tradition continued with the introduction of the four cylinder W110 190c and 190Dc Fintails in 1961. Importateur des Moteurs et d’Automobiles (IMA) of Belgium – which had been assembling Mercedes saloons for the local market since 1954 – created its Universal estate in 1965, and in ’66 West German dealers began to offer it as the first ‘official’ Mercedes station wagon.

The initial Universals were based on the 190 and 190D, and then, after the facelift of the Fintail range in the autumn of 1965, the 200, 200D, 230 and 230S. Floorpans and doors were shipped from Sindelfingen and the engines from Untertürkheim. In addition to fabricating a new roof, rear panels, inner rear wings and tailgate, IMA also used several Belgian-sourced materials, such as the glass. The weight penalty compared to the saloon was a mere 105kg and all Universals, apart from the 190, had an IMA-developed self levelling air-suspension system to compensate for any extra load. Options included a third row of seats, a 60:40 split rear backrest, a bench front seat and automatic transmission.