Today estates are a staple part of Mercedes' mid-sized range but, in the '60s - and indeed throughout most of the '70s - estate versions of Benz saloons were built by outside firms. Initially companies Binz and Miesen built ambulances and the occasional civilian estate car on 190/190D and 200/200D 'Fintail' rolling chassis supplied by Mercedes. Then, in 1966, the Belgian company IMA introduced the Universal which could be ordered through Mercedes dealers and was built to a less utilitarian specification than the earlier estate models. It had 15-inch wheels (bigger than the saloon's), self-levelling rear suspension and could be had with a split-folding rear seat and an additional bench seat in the load bay that could be folded away. The 'Fintail' range was discontinued in 1968 and it would be another 10 years before Mercedes would offer its factory-built T-series estates on the W123 platform.
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