This Off-Road Mercedes Could Be the Perfect Camper Van (2024)

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If you have, say, around a quarter-million bucks to spend and you’re looking for something in a Mercedes-Benz off-roader, odds are good you’re looking at a G-Wagen. Maybe it’s an AMG G63 with some new all-terrain wheels and tires swapped out for those sexy AMG Monoblocks; or a G 550 loaded up to the gills with options like the $13,250 G manufaktur Interior Package Plus and the VW Jetta-pricey $23,560 G Professional Package; or maybe you’re looking at a bespoke vintage build, like the ones from Expedition Motor Company. Hell, you could even turn a Geländewagen into an actual mini-camper.

But here’s an alternative we’d like to run by you. Instead of trying to car camp out of a G-Class … why not treat yourself to a full-blown rolling house in the form of Winnebago’s new Ekko Sprinter camper van?

As revealed at the Florida RV SuperShow and spotted first by New Atlas, the Ekko Sprinter is the second installment in Winnebago‘s line of Ekko camper vans, following on the heels of the first version based on Ford’s Transit. The 24.5-foot-long Mercedes comes with 18 inches of extra length versus the Ford, serving up extra interior space. The Ekko Sprinter can sleep up to five if you opt for the optional pop-top roof, even though there are only seat belts for four.

Winnebago

Inside, the van’s layout features a living room area up front, where the driver and shotgun rider’s captain’s chairs swivel 180 degrees to face inwards, where a sofa and lounge chair are situated along with a small table. (The sofas and table fold flat to become the base of a small bed, if needed.)

Winnebago

In the center of the cabin lies the wet bath and kitchen, the latter of which comes complete with a refrigerator, microwave/convection oven and an induction cooktop stove — the latter of which is portable, and can even be carted outside if you’d prefer to cook out in the great outdoors beneath the extendable awning rather than standing in a van down by the river. The bathroom and kitchen sink are fed by a 50-gallon fresh water tank, and dump into a 51-gallon gray water tank; black water tasks are handled by a cassette toilet with a five-gallon capacity.

Winnebago

In the far back, the bedroom packs Desi-and-Lucy-style sleeping arrangements, with a pair of longitudinally mounted twin beds on either side of a slim walkway and nightstand. If you prefer to sleep like couples do in the real world, the nightstand flips over to create a transverse queen-sized bed; do note, however, that if both parties need to pee a lot during the night, you might be better off sleeping 1950s-sitcom style for easier bed entry and exit.

Winnebago

Winnebago

We mentioned off-roading at the start, and of course, being able to go beyond the pavement is half the fun of camper van life. To that end, the Ekko Sprinter comes standard with all-wheel-drive and what Winnebago describes as “elevated” ground clearance, though we couldn’t find a specific figure for it. All-terrain tires also come standard. Power comes from Mercedes-Benz’s torque-laden 2.0-liter turbodiesel inline-four that puts out 211 horses and 332 lb-ft, connected to those four wheels via nine-speed automatic.

Winnebago

Winnebago is also happy to point out that the Ekko Sprinter comes with many of the driving safety and convenience features you’d expect to find in a modern Mercedes-Benz, including adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, rain-sensing wipers and Apple CarPlay / Android Auto, among others. There’s also a digital rear view mirror, enabling the driver to actually, y’know, see behind the van.

Winnebago

With a starting price of $235,738, admittedly, the Ekko Sprinter isn’t cheap, even for a camper van; it’s about $28,000 more than the Ekko Transit, and it’s significantly more than a camping rig from other, smaller brands can run you. (And of course, if you want to build one yourself, you can do it on the super-cheap.) But to paraphrase Matthew Macfadyen, it’s not just a Winnebago, it’s a Mercedes-Benz.

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