Why did MB not include a trunk release located inside the cabin in my '83 300D? Other cars had this feature long before 1983, so it was nothing new then.

The absence of this item was driven home yet again last week when I was passing through a U.S. checkpoint at the Canadian border. I was sitting in the car answering the border guard's questions, and he asked me to open the trunk so that he could have a look. Somewhat embarassed, I told him that I couldn't do that from inside the car and that he would have to push the button on the trunk to open it.