If you were to design the ultimate overlander, a vehicle capable of covering over 160,000 kilometers across countless countries, where would you start? Would you opt for something rugged, like a Toyota Land Cruiser, or would you start with something comfortable and capable of soaking up mile after mile on the road? For one adventurous duo, the ideal adventure vehicle is this Mercedes SLK with a matching travel trailer. Quite something, isn’t it.
Now, as I’m sure you can tell from the raised ride height, massive tires, and overall dimensions of this car, it’s not your standard SLK. But it couldn’t be, as this car was used to cover more than 150,000 miles across 116 countries between 1999 and 2002. Instead of being a stock SLK, this creation takes the best bits of that car and straps them to the chassis of an old G-Wagen.
The creation was developed for Jim Rogers and Paige Parker, who wanted to use the car to travel the world. To build it, they turned to California-based firm Prisma Design International, which took the body of an SLK sports car and merged it with the chassis, four-wheel-drive system, and diesel engine of the Mercedes G-Wagen.
As such, the creation – dubbed the Millennium Mercedes – packs in a six-cylinder, three-liter turbodiesel engine that produces 177 hp (132 kW). Paired with a five-speed automatic gearbox, the car produces 244 lb-ft (331 Nm) of torque at 3,600 rpm, which is routed through the G-Wagen’s four-wheel-drive system.
The bodywork for a stock SLK was then bolted on top, creating a car with the same footprint as the original SLK but with a ride height that’s raised by roughly a foot. With this increased height, the Millennium Mercedes has space to run on 18-inch Mercedes alloy rims, which are wrapped in a set of Bridgestone Dueler rugged tires. It really is quite the sight to behold.
Other modifications made to the car to ensure that it lasted the mammoth trip included the installation of a 38.5-gallon (146-liter) fuel tank, which gives it a range of around 620 miles (998 kilometers), and enlarged fender flares around the wheels.
The whole build took the team three months to finish, including the construction of a matching yellow trailer that could be towed behind the car. Once it was ready, Rogers and Parker took the Millennium Mercedes on a round-the-world adventure. Along the way, the duo visited 116 different countries, traveling more than 150,000 miles (241,402 kilometers) in the process.
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