2019 Mercedes-Benz V-Class Marco Polo First Drive: Explore The World
The Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo. Unless you’ve visited Europe, and paid particular attention to the back of every van you see, chances are you’ve not heard of this model from the three-pointed star. It's Mercedes-Benz’s camper, and more a day van than what we’d consider on this side of the Atlantic as an RV. We’ll not be seeing it in the USA, either, as Mercedes-Benz Van’s head of marketing, Dr. Marion Friese, said the company considers it too small for the American market. We’ll let you be the judge of that, though.
Very Versatile Vans:
The Marco Polo is based on the European V-Class, a minivan-cum-commercial vehicle that keen-eyed van-spotters among you might recognize as the U.S.-market Metris. Mercedes-Benz is unique among its premium, upmarket competition by putting its three-pointed star on far more than luxury and high-performance cars, increasingly adding it to a truck, a line of commercial vans, and yes, even a camper. In Europe, at least, the brand’s depth is as expansive as it is inclusive.
In the U.S., though, our idea of a luxury camper includes a bedroom that’s bigger than the entire footprint of the Marco Polo. RVs here tow vehicles the size of the Marco Polo. Not in Europe, though, where the Marco Polo can sleep four.
That might sound like the stuff of cramped camping nightmares, but the Marco Polo’s a cleverly considered campe...
