Photos by Randall Cordero
Driver's Notebook: A Very Special Delivery Truck
February 2, 2004
Credit Howard Becker for thinking inside the box to meet the challenge from a
client for a sumptuous yet functional long-distance family hauler. The
foundation of Becker’s nine-passenger travel wagon was the Dodge Sprinter, an
XXL-size commercial van only recently imported into this country but sold
worldwide bearing Mercedes-Benz badges since 1995.
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Form follows function in the design of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. (Click image to enlarge)
The Sprinter conversion
represents the latest stage in the evolutionary growth of Becker Automotive
Design that began in the late ’70s with the design and installation of
sophisticated automotive audio systems for the cars of Hollywood stars. When the
world’s top entertainers began driving SUVs, Becker expanded his creative
efforts by offering luxurious interior and exterior appointments to surround his custom sound systems. In 1998, Becker Automotive Design separated
itself from the herd of aftermarket SUV customizers with a Suburban designed for
actor Will Smith. It began the trend for urban cruisers that offered the privacy
of an opulently upholstered interior crammed with studio-quality multimedia
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To prove his company was more than a one-trick pony performing
only for Hollywood glitterati, Becker moved forward by combining his
appreciation for the expanding applications of mobile wireless technology with
inspiration sparked by the latest trends in executive jet interior design. He
built vehicles aimed at the new breed of road warriors, the busy executives who
could appreciate that saving time was the biggest luxury of all. Becker turned
Ford’s Excursion and full-size passenger vans, which provided ample interior
space and heavy-duty carrying capacity, into lavishly furnished mobile offices
with multimedia computer systems, Internet capabilities, and video conferencing
to go. The scheduled 2004 demise of the huge SUV and cloudy future of the
full-size vans prompted Becker to seek alternatives, a search that ended with
the Sprinter, which, in addition to being taller and longer, has the cachet of
being a Mercedes-Benz. This is where Al Parish enters the story.
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