Ultra-Low-Mile 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300TE Is Today's Bring a Trailer Find

• Mercedes-Benz's first all-wheel drive wagon, the 300TE is the great-grandfather of today's E-class All-Terrain.
• With seven seats, a hydraulic self-leveling rear suspension, and computer-controlled all-wheel drive, the 300TE 4Matic was the ultimate early-'90s luxury longroof.
• This wagon's mileage and condition make it one of the nicest examples extant, so it's likely to fetch a high price.

In a sense, it's fitting that this Mercedes-Benz 300TE 4Matic hails from Vail, Colorado. When it was new, these luxury longroofs could be found hauling well-heeled families to ski slopes from Killington to Whistler, and certainly to Vail. With electronically-controlled all-wheel drive, a hydraulic self-leveling rear suspension, heated seats, and accommodations for seven, it was as capable as it was posh, though its towering price made it a niche item. The concept was well-liked enough, however, to still be with us today as the E-class All Terrain.

This particular 300TE 4Matic, up for auction on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) has escaped the salt-induced decay of ski duty. Instead, like Ötzi the iceman, it seems to have been artificially preserved by spare use and Colorado's cold, dry mountain air.

With just 28,000 miles on the odometer and few signs of wear, might be the nicest such wagon that isn't in a museum, and these 4Matics aren't common to begin with. Although there always seem to be some for sale among Mercedes aficionados, only 12,094 300TE 4Matics were made from 1987 to 1995, of which less than a third were U.S. models.

The company's first modern all-wheel-drive cars, the 300TE 4Matic and its 300E sedan sibling first came stateside in November of 1989, but the 4Matic story really starts at the 1985 Frankfurt IAA show. Responding to the success of the Audi Quattro, the show was a German battle of the all-wheel-drive bands, including the debuts of the BMW 325i “Allrad” (aka 325iX) and Porsche 959. Though not production-ready, Mercedes-Benz brought the 4Matic all-wheel drive concept on a W124-series sedan.

Like Porsche's PSK system on the 959, 4Matic was computer-controlled. It worked in tandem with Mercedes' then-new anti-lock