The Mercedes Sprinter is a popular commercial vehicle in the United States. It can be had as a cargo van, a crew van, or a passenger van that seats up to 15. Those are rookie numbers. You see, in Poland, you can get a crazy-long Mercedes van that seats up to 30.
The van in question is known as the Mercedes Sprinter 29+1, because you’re functionally seating 29 passengers in addition to the driver. It’s the creation of a company called Goluch Service Merc. Since 1989, the company has offered mechanical and coachbuilding services to the Polish market. These days, it makes a living by extending the Sprinter platform to the moon.
As you might imagine, fitting in all those extra seats takes some serious modification. The modified Sprinter is naturally much longer, with a hilarious overhang behind the rear wheels. In that way, it’s not dissimilar from traditional school buses that you would see across America. One wonders if the Mercedes offers the same suspension characteristics. You know, where the rear seat passengers are somewhat launched into the air whenever the bus traverses a large bump.
30-passenger Mercedes Sprinter van/bus
byu/Drzhivago138 inWeirdWheels
Inside, it’s set out in such a way that would be ideal for a sports team or any other group of 30 or so individuals. Seating is split, with a row of single seats down one side, and pairs down the other. That means that people with friends can all sit on one side, while the loners can be isolated on the other, with the cool kids snagging the row of four at the back. Harsh, for sure, but if my school experiences were anything to go by, there’s something about buses that inspire toxic group dynamics.
The inside appointments are tasteful… ish. Each passenger gets a “leather-like” bucket seat. They’re upholstered with a red-and-black sporty look, vaguely akin to the race seats that you see on the sidelines of Premiere League soccer games. To be honest, they’d look fine if it wasn’t for the goofy logo slapped on each one. Other than that, the bus features full-length panoramic windows so everybody gets a view outside, and a pair of skylights to boot.
Externally, Goluch made some questionable decisions, at least on the demo model. The bus has a custom front bumper that looks like a reject from The Fast and the Furious. Beyond being a poor fit for a large passenger van, the paint doesn’t help either. Instead of having contrasting black vents, the bodywork was just blasted with maroon paint in its entirety. The grille and even the Mercedes badge got the same treatment. It tells anyone that this is an aftermarket conversion from a hundred feet away.
That’s not to say the van isn’t without appeal, though. It’s a nice clean design that would get 30 people around in relative comfort. With that said, it looks to be configured more for short journeys than longer ones. There’s not exactly a lot of room to get up and stretch, and there are no bathroom facilities either.
https://www.facebook.com/PoloniaPiotrkow/posts/pfbid028X4ndTmserZaR1gucmCrhq3MFcPLDj2KupLLM3k14rtCT57neTdHHEBFtfbB8uvZl
It’s probably best suited for journeys of 2 hours or less. If your Polish soccer team has ranked up and is regularly playing fixtures in Austria, you might want to upgrade to a full-sized bus.
It appears that LuxBus, a Slovakian transit operator, actually runs some of these vehicles in the full 29+1 configuration. In at least one example, the company decided to trim the interior in tan and brown tones, with the coffee color palette complemented by the diamond stitching on the seats.
Meanwhile, if you’re a European transit operator and you’re looking for your next purchase, you’ll be glad to know that Goluch Merc also offers 26+1 and 23+1 configurations if you’re not ready to stump up the cash for the full 30 just yet.
I’m not sure what’s so compelling about this extra-long Mercedes. From what I’ve seen, a number of people online have found it to be a curio of some note. Perhaps it’s that mix of the familiar (the Sprinter design) and the unfamiliar (its size). The Internet did fall in love with Longcat, after all, so maybe that’s why this van is appealing, too. In any case, here’s to things that are a bit longer than we’re usually familiar with. They can excite and amuse us to no end.
[Update: As many of you pointed out it’s not a manual. Damn!]
Image credits: Mercedes, Goluch Service Merc, LuxBus.sk
That rear lighting makes it look like something Goth Uncle Adrian would use to chaperone all the baby bats to their Birthday Massacre and Epica concerts.
First of all, it’s insanely cool to see some cars from my home town and the county surrounding it on a foreign website. I actually see ones like these every day when I commute to work or school.
Secondly, this type of vehicle is pretty popular all around Poland. Much of that is owed to the demise of public transport since the fall of communism, especially bus companies. These are often the only transportation available in the countryside if one doesn’t have a car. Especially if there’s no train line nearby with a half-decent schedule. Not necessarily the 29 passenger version; most of these aren’t as fancy as the pictured ones but still.
Thirdly, even though they’re pretty popular and inexpensive I personally tend to avoid them as much as possible in terms of commuting around the neighboring counties. The comfort is usually pretty awful and the seat pitch makes Ryanair feel like first class. It’s too claustrophobic for a person who is 1/60 football stadium tall (or 6 feet). You do start to wonder what’s gonna happen to your knees and the rest of the skeleton in case of an accident. Especially when cruising 90-100 km/h on a national road. That and drivers which are usually, eh, cavalier, to put it mildly. I feel much better in a train, any train.
Feels really weird to see a topic that’s so, so close to home (this company is located around 20km from my hometown).
Anyway, some of the shorter versions (still longer than a regular Sprinter, so…shorter-stretched?) can be spotted in the area going city-to-city and almost every village in between.
This would make a GREAT van down by the river
“That means that people with friends can all sit on one side, while the loners can be isolated on the other, with the cool kids snagging the row of four at the back.”
Wow. That brings up some visceral memories of school trips.
The interior would look nice if not for all the Mercedes logos on the headrests and the “Mercedes Benz” text on the luggage racks.
I think the practical use of this thing is as an airport shuttle or something like that. But then, I don’t know what this does better than an actual minibus, like a Toyota Coaster or a Fuso Rosa.
This reminds me that one of the accounts I really miss after quitting twitter is @itsvantime. In this case more like @itsvaaaaaaaaaantime.
I really want to go to Polish disco church.
They’re on a mission from God.
You and me both, brother.
We bring disco to everything. It’s great.
Much as I love vans, CDL requirements make >15 people total a hard no.
Speaking of, it sucks how hard it is to get even a non-commercial class A license (at least in Pennsylvania, don’t know if it’s the same elsewhere).
If I wanted to take my friends on a vacation with me in a vehicle with seating for over 15, that’s a non-commercial purpose, but I’d still need a class A. But few places will prepare you for that/provide you a vehicle for the test, despite not needing the formal schooling for a CDL.
In the two states where I have first-hand knowledge, one can operate a straight (non-articulated) bus with a Class B license. Compared to a Class A license, a Class B requires less instruction and fewer items to remember for the pre-trip inspection exam. The road test is different for each.
Very true, but I’d like to dream big (maybe I get a toy hauler! Maybe [insert any number of possibilities here]) and I also think it’d just look cool to be class A.
AIUI, CDL requirements are actually why these vans exist. In some countries in Europe, these can be driven with an ‘ordinary’ CDL, while driving a bus (as opposed to a commercial van) requires a higher-tier license, with a correspondingly higher salary.
Interesting! The way I understand it, as soon as you’re carrying more than 15 people at all, or you’re carrying more than 7 people for commercial purposes, you need a class B here. Which hilariously will let you drive a 15 passenger van (probably not that much worse than a typical E-series van, I imagine, even if slightly worse) or, say, a Greyhound bus.
This thing is so dumb. I want it.
This thing is so dumb. I do not want it.
Fair! Probably smarter!
Awaiting David to plug these photos into a handy-dandy online angle finder to determine approach and departure angles
Pretty sure it has an approach angle if you can get it going fast enough.
I feel like this is no longer a van, and has crossed into the bus category, but I honestly don’t think there is anything that delineates between the two.
I don’t know if it’s official designation, but in my mind vans always have at least one sliding side door, and either doors or a hatch at the back, and whether unibody or BoF, is of a unitary design including the driver area even if there is a divider or wall.
Trucks, even if they look unitary, are typically built from a separate cab and cargo area, and typically have a roll up door, or a swing down or to the side gate.
Busses… are always for passengers, and are mostly categorized as not being one of the other two? They often, but not always have those special bus doors. And they certainly have to seat more than 6 people but I’m unsure of the absolute minimum.
Again, this is my personal feelings, we may need Torch to weigh in.
I don’t know if there’s anything officially delineating the two either. But I’d say that, given it’s still very much practically and aesthetically based on the Sprinter, it qualifies as a “extra long passenger van”.
“Bus” comes when the inside and outside (even if the front is a Chevy Express, E-series, etc.) are made of flat panels bolted together with basically zero concern for aesthetics.
In principle, the paperwork says this is a bus, because in the EU you need a bus driver license if the vehicle has more than 9 seats. Though there could be some national exceptions. And of course people talk about minibuses, which could mean a van or a bus like this, smaller than a proper big bus…
There is no legal distinction between the abomination featured on this page and any other 15-, or in some jurisdictions 12-passenger vehicle.
In my experience, transportation companies refer to a 12- or 15-passenger vehicle as a van. “Cut-aways” are where the body of the van is removed and replaced with a fiberglass-walled box. Cut-aways seat up to 40 passengers. Large capacity vehicles designed for long drives are “coaches.” Large capacity buses with low floors for frequent stops and starts are “transits.”
I don’t know what a transportation company would call the 29+1. Probably the “Merc.” If it’s sufficiently gussied up inside maybe the “wedding bus.”
I don’t hate it and after having experienced a full size tour bus in Europe I fully understand the size appeal. This actually would have met our needs and been a lot more maneuverable on the narrow roads of Italy.
What is the engine in these? Here in the states it would be something absurd like a 12.7L I6 diesel but I’m curious what goes in something this big in Europe
Probably the 3.0 V6 turbodiesel. Standard Sprinter engines, that is the biggest one. It is more about the torque, nobody expects the buses to be quick. Buses are also usually speed limited, 100 km/h typically.
Makes sense, I wouldn’t think it would need a whole lot more either.
I don’t think they sell the 3.0 anymore. Even the biggest model (519 in Europe and the 4500 in North America) has a 2.0L diesel.
Ok, have not been following closely. Still, I think the one in the pictures is an older generation model. Could have any engine from the lineup at the time. Just that typically ”luxury buses” had the largest engines, but not sure what this is. Genuine conversion from new or hacked together from two crashed sprinters… The interior is not very convincing.
I like it. As a former custom van builder, this has potential. Something like this could be really built out into a really versatile and cool van.
But would imagine that parallel parking would be a bit tough.
Rip out the seats, throw in a head with a shower, kitchen, and a bedroom at the rear. Put some big comfy sofas at the front and you’re all set.
Narrower than a traditional bus would make it much better in a narrow EU town centre. Seems a rather practical concept here.
Rather than the agrarian-derived American yellow school busses which I can only imagine would be land-locked in any busy area.
The 29+1 is probably already the size of an actual bus anyway…
That last row of seats is gunna FEEL IT every time you hit some kind of bump. Speed bumps or humps might get you airborne. Exciting.
This makes those Ram 3500 “church vans” look completely casual.
I’ve visited Ireland four times with small groups of friends, touring in 14 passenger Sprinters with similar seating configurations. On 3 of the 4 trips the van had a manual transmission. I remarked to a driver you’d never see a van like that with a manual in the U.S. He was surprised to hear that.
Ireland has got to be the greatest country to drive around. What a joy
I used to spend a lot of time in Hiace’s and man, you did not want to be sitting over or aft of those rear wheels.
That is some SEEEEEERIOUS rear overhang. If everyone crammed into the back, I wonder if you could make it wheelie?
I was wondering the same thing! If you had… girthy enough friends you probably could.
Are we sure it’s a manual? The photo of the tan one shows the wide brake pedal of a auto, and that lever is used in the auto vans.
https://www.google.com/search?client=tablet-android-samsung-nf-rev1&sca_esv=224fa05bca59979e&sxsrf=ACQVn0_bPSnV6saKotNBVHNCUoXABD3Jhg:1709905904705&q=mercedes+sprinter+dash&uds=H4sIAAAAAAAA_33QzUrDQBSG4U6NNYR24UFKl-NP_9KmVYoLl2YhdFERCt2H5JAMpskwE3Q_l-oteAOeJnThYrJ_Hz7OCZc_v2wGE94x7NYbHlHFmKDmWipRVKh4EukMLl7zfNSRvXBD9RoC5Xhdt2vYg1X0tscoRT1ihJ4IBbDgfcMmVuDus1JKUaT1zprIAuZ80LpxEAmWugYBgTlMuWfYnRU47_j9P3db810km3xFuQ8zTiffW_PLsCw_m_6F-mfY1G9yDPOtpv-BSkuMK_GFJ3odPhJdgs9vDBtb2dVbLtKsasbOYtguRBEVMZ7EHyhQ_YT0AQAA&udm=2&prmd=isvnmbhtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9_7Hw5-SEAxUkITQIHRyRDD0QtKgLegQIMRAB&biw=800&bih=1334&dpr=1.5#imgrc=5gXCXRW3XG1sgM&imgdii=f0qdqt8PW4tnZM
Was thinking the same thing, that shifter didn’t look like it was in neutral.
The title caught my attention because for sure here in the States none would be manual. When I’ve traveled in Germany they were all auto too, but it looks like a six speed is still available at least in some markets.
In the US, manual buses are very rare indeed these days. In the US, if you take your CDL test in an automatic, you’re restricted to driving automatic commercial vehicles.
In the US, a transportation company would not want a manual transmission anything because most CDL B drivers are restricted to automatic transmissions.
Mercedes Marathon
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“The Red Baron”