LORCH, Germany (dpa) – The Mercedes-Benz E-class is a large car but when the director of a grand hotel wants to collect a group of VIPs or a delegation, the limousine is often not big enough for all.
These are customers who want plenty of seats but have an aversion to common-or-garden minibuses – and in Germany most turn to coachmaker Binz in the Baden-Wuerttemberg town of Lorch. The firm has been serving the market for bespoke Mercedes variants since 1936.The long wheelbase Mercedes limo was dropped from the range after the introduction of the E-class and since then the 200 or so Binz employees have been bringing their craftsmanship to bear on the standard model. They stretch it by up to 1.5 metres to create a luxury taxi, wedding limousine or simply an exclusive and practical vehicle.The company is best known in Germany for its ambulances and paramedic vehicles and restricts its car conversion work to the E- class. Customers still have a range of vehicles to choose from though, with a stretched limousine, estate version and even a pick- up. There are three wheelbase variants too.The modest might be satisfied with 737 millimetres of extra room and if a customer asks for more a 970-millimetre insert should do the trick. U.S. customers can order an extra-large version with 1.474 metres more length. That adds up to a limousine of nearly 6.3 metres.If requested the company will build the car as a luxury pickup. On the basis of the 737 millimetre ambulance platform the passenger compartment is the same size as that of the limousine – in the back as well. Behind that is a 1.6 metre loading bay, with ample space for a few dozen crates of champagne.When it comes to the interior customers have a wide choice. The most popular versions are ones with four conference chairs or the taxi with two extra doors, a pull-down bench seat and space for eight people. An increasing number of customers order the car with the rear seat area turned into a cosy parlour for two. Depending on the version chosen conversions can cost up to 200,000 German marks (91,000 dollars).If the emphasis is on creature comforts there’s plenty of them in the Mercedes catalogue along with more exotic extras like auxiliary air conditioning units, retractable Sushi bars or champagne coolers. DVD players and reference standard stereo equipment can also be ordered.Car hire firms and limousine services, large hotels and casinos – these along with governments and an increasing number of private customers form the bulk of Binz’s clientele. Many of these customers come from Arab emirates, eastern Europe and Asian countries.According to managing director Guenther Schoenleber, producing the stretched limos is not particularly challenging in a technical sense even if it is complicated. The customer buys a E-class and sends it to Lorch. The resulting car is then ordered from Binz. In the space of eight to ten weeks the car is dismantled at the Binz premises, apart from the engine, and chopped behind the driver’s doors.A jig is used to insert the new sections of frame, floor pan and roof supports. Depending on the new specification two extra doors, larger windows or even a completely new roof are added before the car is resprayed.The prop shaft has to be extended too and suspension and braking components are usually beefed up to cope with the extra weight. The end product is an impressive machine but it’s not a Mercedes-Benz any more. At least not in Germany where registration laws require that bonnet and boot are adorned by a elegant “B” for Binz and not the customary Mercedes three-pointed star motif.
