MERCEDES-BENZ
407D
"What´s the essence of driving a 407D? The art of taking it slow!"
Year: 1976
Engine: 2.4l 4-cylinder diesel
Horsepower: 75 hp
Mileage: approx. 120.000 km
Color: Originally yellow (german postal service), repainted in Solid White
Nickname: Vanessa (during the project), Martha the Mercedes, The Speed Demon
Owned: 2019 - 2021
Status: Restoration and interior refit completed. Sold and hopefully doing what we build it for: Being a home on wheels, a sanctuary to it´s new owners.
Background: My dad and I had this idea of building a camper van together mainly for him and his wife to use for vacations. We were searching for VW Vanagons and my uncle had a T4 with a high roof for sale. So we went to have a look - it was a good car and it would have been a perfect fit. So we made the choice and bought the big, old, dead-slow, ex-german postal service van right next to it. To make matters worse the Mercedes was in a sorry state: Generally neglected with a worn-out and shabby interior. Someone had even painted the bumpers baby blue and we couldn´t even stand up straight inside. But hey, at least we tried hard to make a smart decision and go for the T4 - we failed!
After a three hour ride home - we nearly lost a front wheel on the way - we parked the 407D and began to realize we were into this project for the long run if we wanted to adress everything properly. So we did and emerged from the garage nearly two years later with a big smile on our faces at last. We turned an ugly duckling into a swan but what an undertaking it was: body work, paint, rust removal and prevention, engine overhaul (blew the head gasket after losing all coolant on a test drive one year into the project - nice!), insulation, furniture refit, modernizing the camping and kitchen equipment, tires, upholstering the cockpit - everything. The Benz had almost every issue imaginable and we were so proud when my dad and his wife made a 3.500 km round-trip to Croatia without a single problem!
We knew from the beginning that the 407D is a van mainly for people who travel full time, are not dependent on a highway speed of over 80 km/h (70 km/h when the road inclines) and are below 175 cm in height. So we made the decision to sell it and right after that my dad converted a 2021 Peugeot Boxer and I started the Ford Ranger project you read about above.
