A Discussion of the 1998 Mercedes-Benz V230 W638 (AKA Vito)

The W638 was Mercedes-Benz first foray into the Van category in the modern era. Spawning two more generations after it, the W638 was a tremendous success for Mercedes-Benz, for some reason not in North America, where it was never released. Most likely due to Mercedes-Benz not wanting to tarnish their image of luxury and prestige in the region, rather than also being known as a competent manufacturer of practical, economical, and utilitarian vehicles throughout the rest of the world. The W638 can also possibly be looked at as the ancestor of the R-Class, as well as the Sprinter. While the W638 is extremely rare in the USA, this particular V230 was imported from Japan in October of 2023. I hope you enjoy this discussion of the W638!

[@arjunparikh]

Really neat car! Everyone must scratch their heads when they see you pull up to your local cars and coffee in this.

[@FolkRoots]

@@arjunparikh Thank you, dude! The vehicle is definitely a unique experience!😃

[@raufamin]

I could be wrong but I believe that the commercial vans were called the Vito and the passenger MPV's are called the V-Class or V230 in this case. At least here in Singapore this is how they were differentiated.

[@FolkRoots]

@@raufamin I think that could be true as well, but I’ve also seen passenger models officially called “Vito”, so I’m just unsure about the whole thing!

[@rogeliocruz4974]

Great discussion/review. Doug Demuro-like.

[@FolkRoots]

Haha! Thank you! I appreciate the kind works!😃🥹