Ridiculous Rebadges: Some Charmingly Rudimentary Benzes

"Amoore100" (amoore100) 09/19/2016 at 22:11 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Mercedes, Ssangyong

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Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history.

Inspired by this morning’s Jalopnik post

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As petrolheads, we usually don’t think very highly of Ssangyong. To be fair, as human beings we generally don’t think very highly of Ssangyong. South Korea’s fourth largest automaker behind Hyundai Group and GM Daewoo, the little brand with too many consonants has always been derided as a producer of cheap yet undeservingly pretentious automobiles, with the ambitiously named Chairman mimicking the appearance of the W220 Benz and the gargantuan Rodius resembling some sort of luxury yacht, apparently. However, what few recognize (or are willing to recognize) is that many of Ssangyong’s offerings do indeed share their basis with one of the biggest names in the automotive business: Mercedes Benz.

The venture began in 1991 when Ssangyong decided they needed to produce a vehicle which they could market to the general public. The company had sold only industrial vehicles in the past and, with the 1987 purchase of Panther of Britain, they suddenly realized that having a commercial truck branch combined with a boutique sports car branch would likely not result in the greatest business plan. Rather than do what the other Koreans had done years before (and what the Malaysians would do in the upcoming decade) and simply buy some ancient Mitsubishis to put their name on, Ssangyong went big and headed straight for Daimler-Benz. Their timing was impeccable because Mercedes was looking to develop an SUV to sell in the burgeoning offroader segment, something to compete against the mighty Nissan Patrol, Mitsubishi Pajero, Land Rover Discovery, and other 4x4s of the same ilk. Ssangyong decided an SUV would be just dandy as their first passenger vehicle, and so the Musso was born.

Meaning ‘rhinoceros’ in Korean, this was a pretty apt name for the resulting vehicle whose myriad of shapes and jagged edges could best be described as resembling a poorly made Chinese ‘Transformers’ toy.

Apparently they drove pretty well despite their appearance, with steering feel being somewhat terrifying but the Benz-sourced engines being powerful and the double-wishbone/multilink suspension keeping the beasts composed on the road. It seems Mercedes was suitably unimpressed by the Rhino though, likely for its controversial appearance, and pulled their version of the truck far before Ssangyong would.

However, this gave Mercedes an idea: perhaps it would be shrewd for them to produce a vehicle which was a bit more rudimentary to sell in the burgeoning Southeast Asian market, preferably based on tried and true mechanicals but without Ssangyong doing the styling.

This resulted in the MB100/140, an updated version of Daimler’s old cabover passenger van but with the a facelift done by Mercedes and corresponding Mercedes I4s and OM diesels.

Ssangyong was given the rights to build the thing in Korea as the two companies had agreed upon in 1991, but we can safely assume that Daimler explicitly forbade adjustments in the looks department.

Ssangyong ended up selling their version as the Istana and the vans saw relative success in the Asian market. (I actually had the ‘pleasure’ of riding in one back in 2007 when I was in mainland China and I mean, I guess it beats riding in a horse-drawn wagon?)

This wasn’t the end, though. Mercedes was completely done putting their badge on anything that Ssangyong produced, choosing instead to ruin their reputation by partnering with Chrysler instead. For odd reasons, though, they still allowed Ssangyong pretty much free usage of their parts bin of prior models, and for that reason, nearly every Ssangyong from the pretentious Chairman to the original Korando used Merc chassis, engine, and transmission bits in the early 2000s. While today these ‘90s Benz parts are no longer produced in Korea, the now Indian-owned Ssangyong likely owes its existence to Mercedes Benz, if not its reputation.

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Dogapult > Amoore100 09/19/2016 at 23:39

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Amusingly, I saw a few 2nd gen MB100s in Beijing under a different brand. When I asked, I was told they were built alongside the MB100 for the Chinese market. The only difference seemed to be the badges, and that while the MB100s were white on top with a gold bottom section, the Chinese versions were cream on top.

Amoore100 > Dogapult 09/20/2016 at 22:38

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Well China has built copies of just about everything (whether licensed or not) so I wouldn’t put an Istana/MB100 look-alike past them! Anyways, the one you’re talking about is the SAIC Maxus Istana which looks like was actually a legal replica.

Dogapult > Amoore100 09/21/2016 at 00:06

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Thank you! that is exactly the vehicle I was thinking of.

RT > Amoore100 09/22/2016 at 06:21

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I knew Mercedes-Benz played a part in the making of the Rexton and Chairman, but I never expected it to go this far back. Even with the Musso!

This was a very interesting read, thanks for posting.

Amoore100 > RT 09/22/2016 at 21:51

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Thanks for reading! Indeed, I had remembered the Mercedes-badged Istana ever since my 2007 China trip when I was only 7 years old and thought to myself, “Wow, what an awful Mercedes Benz!” Granted, I was well aware of the Sprinter as well as Daimler’s industrial division at the time so I wasn’t expecting anything amazing, but to be honest the thing felt less well screwed together than what you’d expect from even a basic workhorse.

This is the closest I could find with GIS of what the interior looked like; a traditional ‘Asian’ car interior, plenty of plastic and weirdly textured cloth

RT > Amoore100 09/23/2016 at 16:44

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Yep, must’ve been a weird experience for sure.

Even without Ssangyong though, back then Daimler-Chrysler cooked up some similarly ‘un-Mercedes-Benz-like’ stuff.

Like this, the Vaneo.

Its successor is based on a Renault Kangoo too, because reasons.

Amoore100 > RT 09/23/2016 at 18:37

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True, Benz is apparently in the business of selling itself out nowadays...

RT > Amoore100 09/23/2016 at 18:56

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Though I’m not a fan of their current styling, they have had their share of good moments in recent years too.

After the Daimler-Chrysler stuff at least, it’s a return to form.

Amoore100 > RT 09/23/2016 at 19:01

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True, I like the Benzes you displayed but I really can’t stand things like the rear of the new GLC, which is both saggy and uninspired:

And the new GLS which used to look stately as the GL but now is just overdone and gaudy, especially with the plastic star.

RT > Amoore100 09/23/2016 at 19:52

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Went into a Benz dealership last year and it looked like all the cars had melted.

That being said, I think it’s just them succumbing to current design trends, it should be over in a few years.

Amoore100 > RT 09/23/2016 at 20:10

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Haha, too true! That’s exactly how I described the S-Class when it was first released too, but it’s since grown on me. I do like Volvo’s angularity better, though, and I concur in hoping the curvy messes will go away in due time.

RT > Amoore100 09/23/2016 at 20:12

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Damn, goes to show how Volvo/Jaguar/Alfa-Romeo are getting ahead of the Germans in terms of styling these days. Here’s hoping the cars follow suit.