”Conceived in Germany, Born in America.†That was one of the tag lines used for the Mercedes-Benz W163 ML-Class when it was riding the new wave of luxury SUVs that roamed the earth back in the late 90s. Thanks to a $250 million subsidy package from the state of Alabama, the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) production plant had the honor of producing the W163 starting in February of 1997 with sales beginning later that year in September. How were they received? Well, in addition to being nicknamed the ”Bama-Benz”, you also had less flattering names like ”The Alabama trash can.” Truth be told, the majority of the people who bought these new could care less about things like quality and reliability because they all looked and acted like the mother from the movie American Beauty. The fit and finish were just average and the interiors would make the designers of Mercedes-Benz interiors in the 60s and 70s sob tears into their Weihenstephaners. Nevertheless, Mercedes sold a boat load of these things because the grille star was big enough to be seen from your neighbor’s house across the street.
Today, the first-generation ML chugs along with battle scars and so much rust you think it was intentional, like when the few in the Volkswagen crowd started doing it for scene points. No one actually seeks out and wants to buy a W163 now, especially the early ones with the two-toned body cladding, given how cheap other used luxury SUVs have become over the years. Although today I ran across a survivor that seemed spared from all the upper-middle class abuse a luxury SUV can take and actually is quite endearing in a strange sort of way. This 1999 ML320 up for sale outside of Philadelphia has just 68,000 miles and isn’t a destroyed wasteland when you open the doors. Thing is, does anyone actually want to pay for this?
