Stretched Mercedes E-class wagon is the weirdest car we've seen today
BINZ XTEND IS ALMOST 3 FEET LONGER THAN THE STANDARD MODEL
German coachbuilder Binz is famous for two things: impossibly cool long-wheelbase Mercedes G-Class SUVs built for bodyguard details, and ambulances. Sometime in the early 1990s, the company also built a batch of W140-generation S-Class station wagons that we desperately want to find.
But the company that traces its roots back to 1936 builds a much larger variety of cars, most of them based on Stuttgart's models. If you've ever seen a six-door Mercedes-Benz E-Class limousine in front of a hotel in Europe, even one dating back to the W123 of the 1970s generation, chances are it was one of theirs. But unlike the ambulances and hearses that Binz cranks out on a weekly basis, the Binz Xtend is a bit of a niche vehicle.
The Binz Xtend is a long-wheelbase E-Class reworked from the B-pillar backward, featuring an enlarged cargo compartment and completely redesigned rear passenger doors. The extended wheelbase buys the rear seat passengers extra legroom while almost doubling the cargo capacity of the the rear section. The wheelbase has grown from 113 inches to 147 inches in this version, with the car gaining 33 inches overall. That's a huge increase, split among the redesigned rear doors and the redesigned rear wings and windows.
The company offers an extensive range of interior customization options. PHOTO BY BINZ
Binz also offers an extensive customization program for the interior, given that potential customers likely have specific needs for a very long coachbuilt E-class. Not only can you specify an Alcantara headliner, but also items like Recaro seats, interior LED lighting and other goodies only a Bond villain or some oligarch's procurement officer with an impenetrable Eastern European accent might request.
How did this modern marvel come about? We picture a group of German engineers sitting at lunchtime and eating something German, with one of them suddenly breaking the very German silence and asking, "What if we built a very long E-class that was not in fact a hearse?" The sudden question is followed by a minute-long silence until one of his companions' eyes light up and he says "Jaaaa!"
This is the only plausible scenario for such a vehicle making it past the napkin sketch stage, though a number of Binz's specialty vehicles have resulted from specific customer requests.
Do you own two large dogs instead of one large dog? The Binz Xtend may be for you. PHOTO BY BINZ
How does Binz itself picture customers using the Xtend? Pretty much in the same fashion as standard-wheelbase station wagons, only hauling a lot more stuff. Hence the ski and snowboards you see placed inside the wagon in the photos above. Suppose, for example, that you owned not one large dog but
two large dogs. You can now transport two large dogs. Are you part of a musical band that doesn't want to be seen in a utilitarian cargo van? The Xtend is the wagon for you. Or suppose you own a kayak or a bicycle and your local laws prohibit their transportation on a roof rack. Those are pretty Draconian laws, but the point is that you can now fit a whole kayak into your station wagon without its nose rubbing up against the windshield.
The concept of a long-wheelbase station wagon is not as exotic as it sounds. Volvo sold a similarly extended version of its 245 station wagon in the 1980s, and coachbuilders like Crayford offered slightly longer versions of existing station wagons, in addition to creating wagon conversions from scratch.
We think Binz is definitely onto something, and that one day a need will arise for a longer Mercedes-Benz station wagon that is not a Sprinter or the upcoming Metris cargo van. We're just not sure that day is today.
Source: Autoweek
