El Benzo: 1988 Mercedes Benz S-Class Pickup

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We've seen a bunch of Mercedes truck conversions before, but we don't recall seeing one that started life as an S-Class and sports a big gas V8. While some of the color choices are questionable, the quality of this conversion looks like it wasn't just the result of having a few too many Bitburgers one night.

The seller says that this Mercedes came to its current state thanks to the good folks at German Motorcars in Florida. They go onto say that this truck is "a beautifully rendered German version of a purely American invention." Pretty poetic if you ask us.

Some ID plates seem to indicate that this Mercedes started out in Japan which just adds to the list of questions that we have about it.

The photos aren't the highest resolution, but the work looks to be very high quality with a great deal of fabrication going into turning this big sedan into a 2 seater truck. The diamond plate bed wouldn't be our first choice, but as those things go it looks reasonably well done and rugged. On the not-so-useful side of things, no tailgate means that you'll be doing a good bit of lifting to take advantage of this ute's utility.

The seller calls both the paint and the interior blue but it appears more purple to us. A bold choice, but I guess if you're going to go for it, go big. That said, the seats look to have received a rather amateur reupholstery job with plenty of wrinkles and folds. But hey, it's a truck, right?

Ignoring the Kompressor badge on the back, the original V8 received a rebuild when the rest of the car went in for its reconstructive surgery. No specifics are given, but the bright blue valve covers are called out. Irregardless of farkles, the 4.2 liter V8 should have plenty of growl and provide easy wheel spin with less weight over the rear tires.

A new exhaust is barely noticeable in the undercarriage shots which speaks to the cleanliness of the car. AMG alloys look good and somehow fit the vibe of this "El Benz."

This isn't a subtle car but we'd lose the chrome, tone down the paint, and have an awesome shop truck. With the lack of a tailgate, this truck might require mechanical intervention to load any cargo so it could be perfect for hauling engines around. Maybe a Benz dealer with a sense of humor should pick it up.

Find this Mer Camino on eBay with an asking price of $16,995.