Rare Beauty: Mercedes-Benz Unveils Its First Lifestyle Estate

The Mercedes-Benz 200 D Universal, a rare 1960s estate car, combined elegance with practicality, offering ample load space, luxury interiors, and advanced safety features.

The Mercedes-Benz 200 D Universal, featured in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, is a rare and innovative estate car from the 1960s.

Launched in 1965, it offered a stylish blend of elegance and practicality, with 2.71 cubic meters of load space and the ability to carry up to 710 kilograms.

Built by IMA in Belgium, the Universal featured reinforced springs, larger wheels, and a rigid passenger cell with crumple zones for enhanced safety.

Despite its utilitarian design, the Universal maintained Mercedes-Benz’s signature elegance, with sleek “fintail” styling and a luxurious interior featuring Panolux flooring. Expanding in 1967, the series included both four- and six-cylinder engine options.

The museum’s exhibit, a 200 D Universal, was built after a 1968 facelift, showcasing a 55 hp engine and hydropneumatic suspension. Only 2,754 units were produced, making this model a rare and prized piece of Mercedes-Benz history.

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