Mercedes-Benz V-Class, a van that looks like a space shuttle

“I want a reckless life…”. However, it certainly isn't reckless on board the New Mercedes-Benz V-Class and that's why Vasco Rossi also chose it to travel around Italy during his tours. Because this van that looks like a space shuttle, in the top-of-the-range Exclusive trim, transforms into a traveling lounge, with first class seats that recline and extend like a chaise longue, soft headrests similar to pillows and magnetic tables on the armrests to prevent the flutes of bubbles from slipping. Never to go down.

An increasingly high-end journey, in short, with an exclusivity appeal as is the style of the German brand which no longer seduces only with sedans and crossovers. And so don't call them commercial vehicles anymore because Mercedes-Benz aims to make the V-Class increasingly desirable in designcomfort and high tech, not only for the business world but also for families and leisure travel enthusiasts.

A 7 or 8 seater van in three sizes: Compact 4895 mm long, Long which reaches 5140 mm and Extralong 5370 mm, three Style lines, Avantgarde and Exclusive and 5 interior trim variantsseductive from the name: piano lacquered look, open-pore olive gray wood look, dark aluminium, brushed aluminum and carbon look, quick-change setups with optional ambient lighting based on 64 colors divided into 10 color worlds, which create changes of light suggestive and highlight the widescreen cockpit with 2 high resolution 31.24 centimeter (12.3 inch) screens (starting price of 64,790 euros, VAT and road tax included).

But those who are not satisfied with just being a passenger, by getting behind the wheel of the V-Class will discover, as we did during the test drive, that even the one with Extralong dimensions drives with the ease of a sedan, thanks to technological “butlers” such as Active Distance Assist Distronic with route-based speed regulation and extended automatic restart in the event of traffic jams, rear cross-traffic alert, 360-degree cameras and a spirited diesel engine available in three power levels, 120 kW (163 HP), 140 kW (190 HP), 174 kW (237 HP) which helps to navigate both the traffic of the Rome ring road and to maneuver on the narrow two-way country roads of the Labico natural park, in the heart of the Roman Castles.

Here the four new exterior colors, metallic high-tech silver, metallic kalahari gold, alpine gray and vintage blue, harmonize with those that surround the Valle Fredda estate of chef Antonello Colonna, Michelin star for 40 years, a table artist who creates dishes similar to contemporary works of art but always inspired by memories, in a place that also well represents the many souls of Class V: design, style, exclusivity, savoir vivre. A decontextualized space, outside a creative alternation of multiples of brutalist-inspired cubes and fields of ears of corn and poppies that seem to have come out of a Monet painting, inside the resort materials that with the reflections of light refer to the undulations of the sea, and which host dozens of works of design and art to touch, admire, experience, between memory and the future: «Cars, like cooking and like art, are a game of sinuosity, shapes, colours, childhood memories, perfumes, references to our experience»reflects Antonello Colonna before posing in front of Class V. «For this reason I am convinced that in the end the winner over artificial intelligence will always and only be emotional intelligence».