1978 Mercedes Ambulance for sale
 

Not my car, but I thought others might find interesting


https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/d/san-francisco-rare-w123-mercedes/7037748833.html

Cool!

The title would be very important on this. Some years ago I was looking at importing an older Mercedes from Germany and it looked like all it took was for it to be over 25 years old and lots of money.

But both the DOT and the EPA had spelled out that NO Mercedes ambulance or funeral car of any design could be imported into the US. This may have changed since it was a few years back, but I got the impression that the coach builders here in the US had lobbied for this exception to keep the competition down.

But if a person could get plates and a title.... This would be beyond cool. It would make a great parts runner or attraction for a german auto repair shop.

The ad says it has California registration. So I think that implies it's got plates and a title.

Regarding importation of an ambulance. This looks more like a funeral car to me but what it really looks like is a cargo van.

That's what i was thinking. Cargo van.

But it still has that emergency light up front. Still, calling it a cargo van is a great way to get around the DOT ban on ambulance and funeral cars. Or just calling it a station wagon would work.

I once bought a 1972 220d with no side marker lights. Somehow the original owner was able to buy it in Germany and get it past the DOT.

There are ways..... But as long as it has a good title, well, that's all that counts.

And the price looks good, too.

I found out that the cinema companies are allowed an exception to import those vehicles as props, as long as they are only driven in movies.

Would make good housing for all those SanFran's living on the streets!

Ambulances are highly specialized cargo vans fitted with equipment to care for the cargo. This is not one that I could envision working in as there are no provisions for either crew or equipment. I wonder if this was originally a medical examiner's wagon or a hearse where patient care would not be a consideration.

It looks a lot more like a hearse than an ambulance to me.