Mercedes Benz burst onto the van scene several years ago, originally filling the void left by Ford when they discontinued the E350 Van series. Most of these early Sprinters were made into “work truck” type vehicles as they offered tremendous storage, a myriad of interior customization, and a solid body design.
Fortunately and unfortunately, the fate of the stretch limousines was similar to that of the E350 series vans. 2011, the last Town Car rolled off the Lincoln Assembly line, leaving the luxury ground transportation industry scrambling for a new flagship luxury vehicle to support both corporate and social clients. There of course were alternatives in the interim. Still, these all seemed to fall short of the luxurious ride quality and dependability that the Town Car Platform offered for nearly 3 decades.
After Ford/Lincoln dumped the Town Car we and many other services tried some of the Cadillac and Chrysler units and were ultimately disappointed with the level of reliability and ride quality that they offered over the Town Car. The explanation that we received for the deplatforming of the Iconic Lincoln Town Car was that they were unable to meet the new Emissions regulations set forth by the US Government. To comply Lincoln changed not only the exterior modeling but also the nearly bulletproof drivetrain that allowed many of us to easily exceed 300 to 400 thousand miles. The Lincoln Town Car essentially provided us with double the service time of any of the newer modern compliant vehicles! So essentially, it provided the use of 2 vehicles over its lifespan.
It would certainly be an interesting analysis to factor in the life and longevity of the Town Car versus the increase in mechanical waste and the increase in carbon emissions in producing 2 units over one but that an analysis for far smarter people than myself.
Lincoln did launch an alternative to the Town Car in 2010. The Lincoln MKT was presented to the ground transportation industry as a replacement to the Town Car. However, the exterior appearance and poor ride quality were not well received by both transportation companies and their clients that expected a high-end travel experience. The exterior looked like a hearse married a minivan and had a child. The interior, while functional, was plain and unimpressive. Instead of the feeling of riding on a cloud that the previous Town Car provided the Lincoln MKT was a stiffer and louder ride, something that was also not well received by our clients looking for a luxury ground transportation experience. Additionally, when the 1st stretch Limousine models hit the streets we all thought it looked like a stretch minivan. However, we all have grown to accept the MKT stretch Limousine and now feel that this model looks far better as a Stretch Limousine than a Corporate or Black Car Sedan unit.
Enter again the Mercedes Benz Sprinter. With the Lincoln and Cadillac companies’ luxury platforms in disarray, it left hundreds of thousands of ground transportation companies without the very tool that we use to run our business. While the Mercedes Benz Sprinter does not address the sedan of the 1 to 2 people headed top the airport it does completely fill the vacancies left behind by the demise of the Stretch Limousine. It does so in a bigger and better way!
I will be the first to admit being a stretch Limousine operator of 30 years, I was not excited about the possibility of employing what I thought was a work van in place of luxurious Stretch Limousine. No way is going to accept these units for special occasions. It just didn’t have that look in my opinion. Wow. Was I wrong!
I remember sitting in my office and looking out the window seeing one of these early units pull into our lot. Clean, shiny and all tinted windows, thinking to myself, what is that thing doing here? It turns out a manufacturer and builder that we bought from regularly drove all the way from Missouri to show us the Benz Sprinter. Now keep in mind I had previously repeatedly rejected even considering these units because they were not a Limousine to me. The representative of course invited me to check the vehicle out and since he drove 12-14 hours, I was pretty obliged to do so. I remember walking toward the units and telling the rep “It’s still ugly”. To which he patiently replied- wait till you see inside. When he opened and rolled back the side entry door it was ablaze with lighting and luxury! Wow! That was all I could utter. Stepping inside was easier than loading into a stretch Limousine. I had head room, elbow room, feet room and could not believe what I was seeing. I told the rep right then that this was a better “mousetrap”. So yes, I am a believer in the Mercedes Benz Sprinter Platform. It did take a few years to convince the public that the Sprinter was a viable option over the Stretch Limousine. Some clients to this day still prefer a traditional stretch Limousine for special occasions, so we keep some of the stretches in the fleet.
Yep, it’s true. It took me a while to come around to it, too. Being a veteran of 3 decades of operating all kinds of stretch Limousines from Town Cars to Chrysler 300s, Exotic stretches like Dodge Chargers and Maserati’s to the decade of Stretch SUVs where the longer and more outrageous the better, we have operated them all. Lamo Doors, Exterior Lighting, crazy sound systems, fish tanks, and every imaginable feature that we could pack into a Limousine to entice prospective client to select our service. With the hundreds of units that we have operated, these are by far the best! But can they really be considered Limousines?
Yes and No.
No- they are not what one would consider a Limousine from the outside. The outside is a MEH a best, so when one rolls in we don’t get that crowd-pleasing reaction to its arrival like we do with the stretches.
Yes- they have a limousine interior, complete with all the bells and whistles one would expect from that stretch experience – only bigger and better! Yep, the industry has now “Supersized Luxury” Here is a list of the most common amenities of a Limo Style Sprinter and Limo side by side.
Yes, the Mercedes Benz Sprinter offers better customer experience overall. MKT does offer that traditional Limousine style and experience, but overall, in the short years that we have operated the Sprinters, the satisfaction level of our clients has increased exponentially.
More headroom, legroom, elbow room, and space to stand (when not in motion) of course.
The latest and greatest technology as well as larger flat-screen TVs and room-filling sound systems. Yeah, maybe you miss out on that 15 minutes of stardom with the Stretch Limousine look, but the hours that you spend enjoying a better interior experience will quickly make you forget about all the exterior wow you thought you’d be missing.
