Mercedes Cuts Westfalia Loose And Builds The New Marco Polo Camper Itself

Camper van contents have a way of making every trip look like a shot of Patagonia. Doing so is usually a Friday night, a trailhead parking lot, and a two-burner stove that rolls out of the closet.

Europe has always been better equipped for that version than we are, and Mercedes has been catering to that market since 1984. Its latest crack, the updated V-Class Marco Polo, will go on sale on August 5.

Westfalia Finally Gets Cut

Here’s the part that flies the most under the radar. All Marco Polos from the start depend on Westfalia, the German outfit that made a name for themselves turning VW Westy buses long before Mercedes came along.

However, this one does not. The IV-Class is still assembled in Vitoria, Spain, but conversion to the camper now takes place at the Mercedes plant in Ludwigsfelde, Germany, making this the first Marco Polo to be built entirely in-house.

Four Extra Inches Up

The pop-top is a title change and is original. A new double-skinned aluminum shell opens up 14.6 inches of headroom in the rear, nearly four inches more than before.

Mercedes also used LED ambient lighting on the roof with selected scenes from cool to warm. The sliding roof and the panoramic opening in the canvas are coming later this year, so you can stare at the real sky instead of the canvas two meters above your face.

Small Adjustments, Big Differences

There are also a few updates that were based on customer feedback. The sun visor now comes out using a hand crank stored in its bracket, meaning the van goes into the car wash again.

Magnetic blackout panels go up in seconds, and there’s a new eight-speaker system with a subwoofer that keeps playing via Bluetooth after the infotainment is turned off. Mercedes also claims that the new 40 liter cool box consumes 25% less power. It’s not fancy, but it’s what you see when you use a camper van.

Still Ivan Ekadizili Underneath

None of this affects the drivetrain, which is still a trio of four-cylinder diesels. The base unit makes 161 horsepower and 280 lb-ft, 250 d bumps that 187 and 324, and the range-top 300 d country 234 horses and 369 lb-ft.

All three run a nine-speed automatic with rear- or all-wheel drive, and the fastest version hits 62 mph in 8.8 seconds – not that anyone’s chasing either of these things.

Specification Sheet

Pricing and Availability

Orders open across Europe on August 5, although Mercedes hasn’t put a number on the updated version yet. The outgoing Marco Polo runs €80,664 (~$91,737) in Germany, just north of the refreshed VW California Beach at €66,087 (~$76,305). And no, it’s not coming stateside. Mercedes won’t release the Metris in the US until after 2023, so there’s no V-Class here that can be converted in the first place.