Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: The Origin Story of Merc's Ubiquitous Van

• Mercedes-Benz has a new Sprinter in the pipeline.
• Driving an original Sprinter back-to-back with the current model reveals stark differences.
• Mercedes' display included a restored "combination delivery vehicle" from 1896.

Since its mid-'90s debut, more than 5 million Sprinters have been sold around the world. Just last year, Benz moved nearly 220,000 of them, more than the S-Class (and its derivatives like the EQS, GLS and EQS SUV) G-Class and all Maybach models combined. There's a new Sprinter on the horizon, and Mercedes-Benz flew me to Stuttgart to check out where the next van's design might be headed; you can read about that here. 

But Mercedes-Benz also rolled out historical vehicles for me to look at and drive. My goal was to answer a simple question: How did Mercedes-Benz get into the van business anyhow? Turns out it's a long story, starting way back in 1896 when one of Benz's earliest cars was modified to become a cargo hauler.

Humble beginnings

The 1896 "combination delivery car” was basically a Benz Velocipede motor car with a big wooden box screwed to the back. Capable of carrying around 300 kilograms (or about 660 pounds), it had a single-cylinder engine with 2.75 horsepower and could go about 30 kph (18 mph). At about the same time, Benz offered a delivery van, based on the larger Victoria, with twice the payload and horsepower, and competitor Daimler — which would become part of the Mercedes-Benz family in 1926 — had its own "motor business vehicle," which could haul about 2.5 tons.

While the usefulness of these proto-vans was obvious, the development of what you might consider a "van" stopped during World War I. After the war, closed-box trucks were more popular, a trend that continued through the 1940s and beyond.

Modern vans take shape

The rebuilding boom after World War II demanded a variety of utility-minded vehicles. Mercedes already had a strong presence in construction and heavy-duty equipment, but as the economy recovered, a need for smaller, more maneuverable and affordable commercial vehicles emerged. Vans were the solution, and Mercedes-Benz introduced the L/O 319, restarting the timeline to the modern Sprinter.

The L 319 was larger and focused more on cargo delivery and other commercial van uses. The O 319 was a bit smaller and focused on passenger hauling; the "O" stood for "omnibus." Both were capable for the time and better suited to the emerging urban landscape.

They also boasted a cool industrial design that picked up styling cues from Mercedes-Benz passenger cars. The grille is especially evocative of sporty cars like the legendary 300 SL Gullwing. However, the vans were powered by a four-cylinder diesel engine putting out 43 hp, so the grille design is where the similarities ended. While I didn't get to drive this particular van, the design stands out in person, as does its size. I was impressed by the interior, especially the bouncy driver’s seat, which no doubt made driving this van far more comfortable on the roads at the time. It makes me wonder: If Mercedes-Benz had imported the O 319 in the '50s and '60s, would the hippie crowd have seen it as an alternative to the VW Bus?

Here comes the Sprinter

By the late '60s the L/O vans were outdated, and Mercedes-Benz introduced a new van, known as the L 406. Nicknamed the "Dusseldorfer Transporter" thanks to the factory in Dusseldorf, Germany, its pug-nose design became a common sight on European roads. In 1977, Benz introduced the T1 — aka "Bremmer Transporter" — redesignating the Dusseldorfer as the T2. With a similar pug-nose design, the smaller T1 took the place of that old O 319, focusing more on passenger and lighter-duty hauling.

In 1995, the Sprinter replaced both the T2 and an updated T1 that had debuted in 1987. Gone was the pug nose and upright windshield, replaced with the now-familiar wedge from the bumper to the roof. The name itself, "Sprinter," was a departure from the alphanumeric names we usually associate with Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Driving the T1 and OG Sprinter

While the design was eye-catching, the Sprinter represented a huge change in how vans drove. Mercedes-Benz focused on driving dynamics in addition to hauling and utilitarian chores. To find out just how different they were, both the T1 and a 1995 Sprinter were available to drive while I was in Stuttgart thanks to Mercedes' extensive running collection of historical vehicles. As somewhat of a van geek, I was eager to get behind the wheel of both of these classic machines to see how they felt. 

After a brief refresher drive in the current Sprinter, the 1995 Sprinter was slow, on the loud side, and definitely more industrial-feeling than its modern successors. But I was still impressed by the well-controlled suspension and the positive shifts of the manual transmission, which had easy engagement with the dog-leg five-speed gearbox despite the 3-foot-long shift lever. The cabin was also surprisingly car-like for the time. Along with basic truck stuff like manual-crank windows, there were creature comforts like air conditioning and even an available two-position heated driver’s seat.

Next was the Sprinter's immediate predecessor, the T1 cargo van. "Night and day" underestimate the differences between the two. I appreciated the interior's unmistakable mid-'80s Mercedes-Benz scent, and the van itself drove, well, like a truck. The transmission's shifter was vague to the point that finding the correct gear was a 50/50 proposition, and the power-assisted steering was sloppy and truckish. The '95 Sprinter's steering was on the vague side, but the T1's was positively boat-like, as if you were suggesting where the van should go instead of actually directing it there. As for the suspension, it pounded over bumps that even the '95 Sprinter would have absorbed without a second thought.

I'm not picking on anything, of course; these are old vans, designed for work, and the current-gen Sprinter is enough to spoil any van driver. But it's clear how the original Sprinter represented a huge leap forward over its predecessor. The improved driving dynamics didn't make the Sprinter into a luxury car, but it did make it more comfortable and easier to drive, reducing stress on the driver. It's something that continues today, with the Sprinter significantly more satisfying to drive than its most noteworthy competitor, the similarly styled Ford Transit.

And it all started by screwing a cargo box to one of Benz's earliest cars.