i spotted this mercedes W144 bodied sedan prowling the tokyo streets in shibuya. “Happy Christmas!” as they say here in japan.

i spent a couple of days in berlin recently and spied this un-identified mercedes van. subsequent attempts to discover the model and year of production of this specimen proved fruitless. any sleuths are welcome to comment and enlighten us with any knowledge below. for some reason this van reminds me of the david bowie song Panic-In-Detroit: “looked a lot like che guevara, drove a diesel van, kept his gun in quiet seclusion, such a humble man. the only survivor of the national people’s gang”

i often wonder why mercedes-benz and other european car manufacturers refuse to allow their full lines to be offered in the united states. is it because they think we are too stupid? or do they feel the MB brand is so heavily associated with “luxury” in the u.s. that if they imported the ‘A-Class’ it would water down that appeal ? lets get the USA in tune with the rest of the world and offer most if not all versions of cars each european manufacturer makes. volkswagen is a good example…. they are afraid to offer the new scirocco which is absolutely ridiculous…. that car is amazing and would sell like hot-cakes in the usa. speaking of VW, they completely mis-manage the usa market by not offering the transporter and the scirocco.

(photo submitted by molly mcglynn) the german mercedes sprinter van is an inspired commercial vehicle for the 21st century… meanwhile gm, ford & chrysler still try to pass off 1970′s technology vans as new 2010 vehicles. despite suffering from excruciating banality, has the american citizenry become sophisticated enough to reject the big 3′s cynical proffering of obsolete soviet worthy vans ? or could it be that the american cargo van has become emblematic of a corrupt and confused society?

this shot is ostensibly of the new camaro in the lane ahead, though it is also a nice shot of the nether-regions of my 1970 mercedes 280se. the new camaro is a very well executed design and the quality seems good, though i notice that american and japanese cars seem nice when they are new, but after a few years the designs look crude and the cars themselves are falling apart. contrast this with my 1970 mercedes which is about 40 years old and still looks and drives new…. the fact that the design has stood the test of time is really just the ‘icing-on-the-gravy’.