Why Albanians Only Drive Mercedes-Benz
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
- Albania is allegedly the country with more Mercedes-Benzes per capita than
anywhere else in the world. REV's Lennart Behnke traveled there to find out
exactly why!
00:00 Albania & Mercedes
01:08 Tirana Mercedes Club
03:21 How Many Mercedes In Albania?
04:19 History Of Albania & Mercedes
08:29 Why So Many Albanians Drive Mercedes?
10:00 Mercedes City: Shijak
12:00 Lake Ohrid
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REV - The Global Auto and Mobility Show from Deutsche Welle
#dwrev #albania #mercedes - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Honestly, its kinda smart that basically an entire country drives the same car, makes getting parts, and keeping them on the road for longer, much easier. I actually admire it in a weird way.
Exactly. My girlfriend just bought a Mercedes and guess what, parts galore if there are any issues!
It’s more environmentally friendly than using all these resources to make batteries for electric cars, then using probably coal to charge them with electricity and then not knowing what to do with all the waste these batteries are gonna become. And replacing those costs almost as much as a new EV so who’ll bother doing that.
easier to steal too
Yeah import stolen cars ahahahah and then wonder why there is many spare parts
Now imagine people instead of cars. How easy would life be!
I like how the old guy opened the garage door and hit the parked mercedes to see the other mercedes 🤣🤣🤣
I was looking for this comment
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hahaha see that, no Fs given 😂
He opened the garage doors like nothing was there 😂
You clearly hear he hit the metal stop at the bottom, like on the other side, where you even can see it. No mercedes was harmed 😉
Everywhere else: "I do not own a Benz because it costs so much to maintain" haha -I love Albania. Benz for life!
Peoples forgot mercedes is a luxury car brand thats why its maintance cost was high ..theory is if you buy a high colity premium brand it must need a premium maintance ....
They steal them in western Europe and sell them in Albania. I saw a documentary where even Albanian police drove stolen cars.
Thats the thing you see one "documentary" and then go with that belief...
@@nesune4401 I saw one where the police used stolen cars, other than that it's been on the news many times. So no, that's NOT the thing.
The same thing used to happen in 90's South America between Brazil and Paraguay, but with any type of popular cars of this time. They would steal them in Brazil and get them registered in Paraguay, since it was a simple and easy process with low research about the vehicle. After that, they'd be sold and driven like nothing had happened.
The “E” in E-Class stands for Eastern Europe
😂😂
@@DrHumorous Albania isn't Eastern Europe. Southern Europe, see on the map.
@@onucaboza5719 Well, the S-Class then
No it's not
Rubbish! It is a contraction of the German for fuel-injected
Albanian here. The love with Mercedes Benz started with the W123; mainly the 240d. It was big, so it could fit plenty, robust, easy to repair, and had an incredibly heavy duty suspension thay worked well with the inexistent roads of Albania in the early to late 90's.
You'll have people swear by their 240D's. Now its more of a status symbol, but back then it was just convince.
And easy to steal?
@@smrkc You seem to know them cars well..
@@smrkc Hahahahahahaha 😄😄😄
Convenience. Great comment. Loved it!
So you started stealing them from hard working Europeans?
I visited Albania a few months ago, and absolutely loved its culture, the scenery, the generous and kind people and of course the lovely old Mercs'. Greetings from the UK! :)
Their crime... The word you left out was their crime. Their culture is crime. All of it. Thats why they love Mercedes. Because thats where all the stolen Mercedeses all over Europe end up. In Albania.
Lies again? Director Face
Would you like them as neighbours? Didn’t think so.
@@roddymcniven8734 I don't think I would like you as a neighbour
@@markscarisbrick1534 no, you wouldn’t.
Just got a band new Benz last week , thank u for making me feel extra Albanian lol
always good to feel a bit extra
respect to Albanians for keeping the legacy of 80s-90s cars! these are the most reliable (and very luxurious for their time). I love Mercedes Benz and German cars in general, even though the most recent ones are not as reliable as the old ones and we are having more and more soulless elecrtric/hybrid cars.
In some small cities 99% is Mercedes’ of auto, driven by grandpa and grandma old ladies and man their child are in west old people drive in Albania all Mercedes’ even very very rare models !
What is this preference of Deutsche Welle for electric car haters?
Soulless how?
@@persona8991 maybe because those electric/hybrid cars are only made to comply with new regulations. for example the new AMG C63 will be a 2.0 L hybrid, when the old one was a 6.3L V8. if that's not soulless, what do you call it?
@@sinisklemmo567 I don't hate electric cars, but I hate the fact that all manufacturers are now forced to build only such cars.
I'm a massive w124 fan, Albania looks like heaven to me
As a W124 fan , what do you think about E34 ?
@@matthew1562 im a different w124 fan and owner. Just before i got my w124 i started looking at e34 cause it had a better supply at the time. I really like the e34 but it just aint an old benz. There just is something about w/s124, w201 and c126 for example. Old bmw cars are really cool but an old benz always wins.
@@witekki I agree
@@witekki i see i myself am a little bmw fan , bot o boy , those old mercs are something different , especially the C126 , this thing is just magnificent. I was asking bout E34 from curiousity , im planning on buying one myself but some time ago i was thinking about W124 ( the 250D variant to be exact )
same haha
In Albania we say:
If you own a Benz you made it in your life.
I also own a C63 and I'm proud of it 😎🤝
Yeah here in Swizzy all these leased German cars.🤣
When did we say this bro! I'm 36 never heard it 🤣 what a joke some people are
Damnn thats sooo cool congrats hope i can make it soon! Ill finish school in 1 month after that ill start university so i still have along way
I daily drive a W124 Coupe here in Canada. I really enjoyed seeing so many Mercedes in one video plus learning a little bit about Albania, thanks for sharing!🇨🇦😎
I used to think Nigeria was dominated by Toyota but this video is another level. There's so much enthusiasm and care for the cars
Check out the Top Gear episode, where they went to Albania and noticed the same thing about all the older Mercedes on the roads.
in africa there are lot´s of mercedes running with 50 years old or more, the w114 to the w124
You are right. Toyota and Lexus dominates Nigeria.
Mercedes-Benz is for the real money bags- or enthusiasts- in Nigeria
In Usbekistan 90% of the cars are Chevrolet
I worked with an Albanian here in Ohio,USA.He told me you are absolutely nothing unless you own a Mercedes.lol.I heard something similar from a Polish immigrant about Cadillacs.
One time he came to work very angry.I asked him what's wrong.It turned out he met a fellow Albanian who bought a new Mercedes and he was jealous.I remember him saying about the guy "he has a Mercedes but he has no heart".lol
The beef runs deep!!
Ahhahahahahahahahahahaa
Tipical low iq mentality that keeps you poor.
Gods i love europeans
Wonder where at in OH ?
I think I know someone that fits exactly what you described,lol
5:19 that rear bumper and door "collision" was hardest thing to watch
I saw and felt it too
DW, you guys are impressive! Really impressive! Every one of your channels are well written and produced. It's great seeing your hard work pay off.
Hello everyone from Tajikistan! we also have an absolute majority prefer Mercedes-Benz and Opel. they are driven from the Baltic countries to us! when I asked my uncle: why is the whole country in a Mercedes, if it is possible to buy other cars? he replied that the parts were cheap and easy to find. wherever Mercedes breaks down, you just knock on the first house you come across and ask: where does the mechanic live? your car will be repaired quickly and you will never lose your time and money.peace to all from sunny Tajikistan! 🇹🇯❤️🇺🇦
Opel 💀
What about Audi?
That's awesome
@@joshuacoyle6584 opel 👍
You guys prefer Opel? Do you know who makes them nowadays?
In many countries where Mercedes is expensive to maintain,In Albania is easy and cheap to use and maintain Mercedes. Mercedes Benz company needs to give Albania a prize.😃
Mercedes should give them a prize for not buying new models and instead recycling 30 year old cars? I don't think so...
@@iTheGeo 😂😂😂
Albania is easily Mercedes home base
@@anaskhoiri3653 *Second-hand Mercedes home base.
@@iTheGeo These folks provide value to the Mercedes brand, because they perpetuate the idea of Mercedes building high quality vehicles, which they no longer do.
There was a time when Mercedes meant something more than mere wealth, it meant dependability. Mercedes made cars for people who got to where they are through hard work and the honoring of commitments, and they where a reflection of that, which is why old Mercedes are still beloved by the common folk which are now able to afford them. In fact, if you're about to spend €20 000 on a brand new Peugeot, chances are you'd be better off paying less for a 30 year old Mercedes 190.
IMO Mercedes *should* get in touch with these people and find out *why* Mercedes cars are so beloved in not so well-off places of the world, like Albania, Portugal or the North of Africa... Maybe that way they can become as great as they once where.
I have been in Albania this year and is a very nice country! Love from Romania!!
Albanians just seem like they'd be fun to party with. I know it's just my experience, but every Albanian I've met has been friendly and has had a great senses of humor. All around fun people. I know there are probably exceptions and they'reprobably not all like that, but that's been my experience.
As an albanian i can say that you are right mate 🇦🇱✌🏼
Of course there are exceptions, like in every country.But yes,a big majority of Albanians are joyful ,funny and with a great sense of humour.
Yup thats true. Albanians love Benz. Best wishes from Croatia to our Albanian friends
🇦🇱🇽🇰🤝🇭🇷
Croatia brothers always great persons 👋🏻🙏🏻
Pozdrav iz Kosova!
@@dewoitine nadajmo se da opet srbi nece napraviti sranje na Kosovu....valjda je i njima dojadilo stalno gubit ratove.
Samo neka se oni drze rusa...al u europu i civilizirani svijet nece uci nikada!
One more thing no one mentioned, King Zog 1st got a Mercedes from Germany as a gift for his wedding in the year of 1938. That was probably the first Mercedes in Albania.
Good Taste, then the Albanians have good taste. A Mercedes - Benz is a robust and beautiful looking product that makes the word car worthwhile!
Greetings from America. This is an Awesome video , on such a timeless classic .
I've owned many Mercedes and now own three . Two R129's and a R107 . I am looking to buy another W124 . The W124's , are great cars and very reliable.
Best wishes to you , for keeping the Mercedes legacy alive .
Good documentary. You've done your research. If you came 20 years earlier, Mercedes-Benz cars would easily exceed 80%. Today, people look for cheaper and smaller cars. They are no longer attached to the brand like their parents. Also, Mercede's quality is not the same either. The old models are really the best cars Mercedes ever built, and the new ones have nothing to do with it. They were able to pull on the rough and destroyed Albanian roads in the 90s. No modern car can do that. It's like history and heritage for the Albanians.
Also new Mercedes cars are expensive and Albanian incomes are low meaning few can afford them
Because they were primitive cars
@@anotheryoutubeaccount5259 they were not, for their times that was amazing.
Indeed. Quality in Mercedes and BMW also, declined
@@Joey856721 That was 20-30 years ago
I visited Albania in 2019 for 2 weeks, great country and people. Really enjoyed it. Greeting from Australia 🇦🇺.
Thank you my friend 👍🤝
visited for 2 weeks a few weeks back as well, has to be one of my favorite countries i have visited!
@@edgay I’m happy to hear that, you definitely come back and visit.
Thanks you , you should taste next time the amazing Albanian wine of local farmers is an hidden paradise of alcohol and taste 🎉
Do you make happy holidays 🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬.
That was very well entertaining.
Thank you.
Im so impressed by this documentary! Great Work!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Went for a vacation in Albania and realised, you don't see small displacement cars like 1.0-1.2 L because those wouldn't last one year. Pretty much the whole country is mountainous and you need a high torque high HP car. Never knew about their Mercedes cult so it was quite a surprise for us!
No, that's bullshit.
You dont see because balkan peoples are obsessed with old premium cars and back then only small cars had little engines.
Mercedes the best or nothing
@@lido211 they do a lot of nothing it seems...
@@aaaabababa I don’t get it
The 1.4l Toyota Yaris I have holds up pretty well ... as in, it's 10 years old well
And I live in the Alps
I’m in the States but wish I could send my W124 there for restoration. I love the W124 so much and like the fellow from the UK said and same here, finding someone willing to work on them is difficult.
I’d enjoy a trip to Albania to meet the W124 club and car watch.
Yes I agree
These are easy cars to maintain. You don't need to go to Albania. I am a mechanic and they are relatively easy and the parts are abundant as Mercedes never stops making parts for their cars. I am sure you can find a good indy shop to maintain it if you don't want to maintain it yourself. There isn't anything unique about w124s like a McLaren F1 or something... just letting you know... the Mercedes Source guy on youtube can probably teach you a lot of things you need to know for maintaining and repairing your w124 or any other Mercedes you might plan to buy in the future as the w123 and w126 are just as good as the w124 but in different ways.
I live in Spain, 30 min from where i live there's a place specialized in Benz's i wonder if they repair old ones
If you find the right trusted person you could ship it here, fix it and get it back. There’s plenty of places here i know that could do an awesome job on it.
@@pidhsome as I think about that, it’s really tempting. I need to research shipping cost. Or, make a visit to Albania for some inspiration.
Great video! Thank you!
Outstanding reporting and great W124 period correct music too
In Georgia and in the former countries of the USSR, there are also a lot of Mercedes on the streets.
P.s.Hello Tirana from Tbilisi🍻
Armenians especially have some obsession with Mercedes not gonna lie
But more BMW in Georgia
@@Efreet17 Every persian guy prefers white BMWs (according to Family Guy).
In Georgia people prefer BMW in Armenia its Mercedes
In Kazakhstan it’s all Toyota Camry haha
The W124 is a great body shape, it has stood the test of time and still looks great. That’s the thing with most Mercedes sedans, the designs age well.
Great idea to stop producing them, Haha!!
Modern Mercedes designs are bad, and will certainly age much faster than W124
@@cytrynowy_melon6604 and the w124 is the most fragile of all the older mercedes starting in early 60´s (the oldest seen on the road) but i have the coupé i think it´s C124 with the 3.0L 24 valves in-line engine like in the SL´s it´s a great car and when in it´s last year of production with the 250D engine it was considered the best car in the world made by an independent study ,because of the room, safety , power and not much plastic with a calculated life of 20 years without any major problem but i know cars that are already more than 30 years old this refering to the w124 and are riding perfect .Two years ago i even bought from an old man a 200D for 500€ ,only for fun
My opinion it’s that old version models are “stronger “ than modern models 2012-today !
I have got my fathers Gvagon 1997 produced and use it for hunting in bad mountain road and it was very tough for bad terrain and new Gvagon or C class models of 2014-2023 are not soo strong in design and road safety , as well I use to exchange in 2007 with my frisk W140 (Albanian call it slloun-sllon) it’s a big reliable auto and very comfort ! Once in Albania diesel prices was 0.30€ - 0.50€ and these cars were a panzer the slloun was as well one strong model and music inside was bombastic ! Love this two models build in amazing quality !
That black W126 looked so clean. I had one in that same color for years and miss it. Looks like it had US spec bumpers too. I’ve had a w123, C124, W126, R129, W210, and W220. It’s kinda in my blood😅. Nice to see all those old Benzes on the road.
5:14 there is no way he just smacked those metal doors in the parked Mercedes 😭
lol right. -3hp
he was probably thinking "this is new model, this guy has money to repair it lol"
thats albania for you, right there 🤣
i had to rewatch it twice
A bit surreal watching this, randomly popped up in my recommendations but as an Albanian this was fun to watch and extremely accurate haha. When you drove by Lake Ohrid I had a flashback of my childhood in Lin. It’s such a small place I would have never guessed the video would end there. Excellent job!
10 months later and now lin is not a small village anymore it is found by scientist as 8500 years old . i was scrolling through comments and saw your reply what a coincidence
@watchinstuf Lin is beautiful
Honestly I have for a long time I have Car I never know what is that mean I never check my mirror steak and I was looking for something to fix it and I’ll check your video. I absolutely find it his work. Thank you very much
I appreciate it, thank you keep going bro
Beautiful content. Subscribed.
Thank you for joining us!
Beautiful old Benz. I almost bought one of these things in my own country, long ago. I'm not Albanian, but these were a different era for Mercedes, or cars in general.
albanians love for mercedes started when the first mercs arrived here, as they were the only cars that could survive the albanians roads😅
Wie ich einfach nach wenigen Sätzen seinen deutschen Akzent raushöre :D
Nice video keep going ❤
Great video!
Been there in 2015 for the rematch against Serbia for the Euros. A very interesting country. Has a lot of potential regarding tourism. And, yeah, they adore Mercedes Benz haha
perfect like count
@@indiansmokar almost 😃
I used to be a big fan of French cars, i used to own just french cars.
I said "ok, it's time to try something else" so i bought a Mercedes E-Klasse W211....i am in love with this car, it's absolutely amazing. It has style, comfort, quality, i love to drive it every day.
Cough cough reliability
SBC System leaved the chat
I'll stay with hydronumatic , thank you
Indonesia also has the biggest w124 club
@@lr918 There's no manufacturer without problems, if i put here what kind of problems and how many i had with other manufactures....for me, my W211 is very good and the most reliable car from many many cars which i used to own.
Yes, it's not perfect but still from far is the best one and i love it.
Benz 240d, 1980's production, is the reason benz is popular in Albania.
Reliable, easy to repair and lots of space.
the w123 was amazing and also really popular in germany
Did a roadtrip of entire albania with friends. Very beautiful country. And i have seen some places in the world. Very very much potential in the future for tourism
What a cool piece of journalism! Through exploring such a quirky topic you get to see the beauty of a country and it’s people. Albania is on my list to visit now for sure.
Why do u play slavic gyppsy music in albanien documentary
great episode!
Coole Doku, coole leute ! Danke dir G
in greece they said the mb w123 (mostly the diesel estate) as the "albanian",especially in the mid 90s-00s
I’m surprised you can write in English being from Greece shouldn’t you be writing in German 😂😂
We have been to Albania recently back in June 2022 and this is 100% true!! so many Mercedes Benz everywhere! We were all pleasantly surprised! Also it's one of the most beautiful places i've been too, stunning country! Albania is Beautiful ❤️! The people are so nice and friendly and helpful. Great food too!
Dig a little deeper, high% of those cars are stolen and taken there. Not so pleasant.
@@shotgun88deadlift Blah Blah Blah Blah.
@@shotgun88deadlift Why do you steal cars and bring them to Albania?
@@shotgun88deadlift It's kinda very hard or impossible to travel from a European country to Albania with a stolen car since Albania is not even in Schengen zone. But I understand Serbian and Greek Propaganda keeps going.
@@albanian9565 and what would Schengen have to do with smuggling cars anywhere? Yes, many cars in all of ex communist countries are stolen. Much higher percentage then in the West. Whether you like it or not, it is statistics, not propaganda.
We always have hoped that Mercedes and Volkwagen would collaborate to build a road car but so far the closest thing was a delivery van with the VR6 powertrain.
So we just build it ourself. Thank you for the video and keep rolling......
man I really wanna travel to Albania now! Thanks for sparking my interest
Go for it!
Lennart, Moritz, and Manu...thank you very much for the great job that you have done. Looking forward for the second episode. :) I was born in Albania, now i live in Toronto, Canada and I drive one B250 lol
Love the video. I used to own a W124. Bought new in 1989. Built like a tank. Drove it for years. Drive a W164 now for the past 12 years. Very few problems. Love Mercedes!
Very cool!
I'm a strong believer than any car can last you for decades as long as you keep up with the maintenance. If you take care of it, it will take care of you in return.
You stole that from the transporter movie. Jason Statham says that 😂😅
Albanians know what to choose ! Even in Monaco all Albanians I meet has a Mercedes’ model ! Now I understand why 🎉
12:30 Recently there's also a growth of 2005-12 A-Classes (W169) on our streets. They are considered to be kind of "the golden middle" in the current economy: cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, good gas mileage, decent space for people and stuff (they're almost as spacious as a modern crossover), but with 0 compromise to Albania's eternal Mercedes fanboyism and still as reliable as we know the 3-point star to be. My dad used to drive two A180 diesels delivering bread (one a 6-speed manual and the other an auto) then he bought the 6-speed manual himself and it's now our daily driver.
But A169 has dreadful issues with rust and is expensive to run/fix. Basically any competitor of A169 from that time is much better.
@@Jehowy666 I don't think rust is an issue there and when there is enough of they they're cheap as shit to run/fix. If you buy the CVT they don't break either.
One day i will own a 190E.. im obsessed as the albanians :)
you better do it sooner than later...prices of nice examples are going up already
190E Divad
@@stojo33 my gad.....
You've already probably missed your opportunity. Sorry guy.
190 is worst Merc of older ones. New A class
I fucking love this documentary keep up the good work, my guy 👌🏽
I really enjoyed the vibe of Albania, just got on my must visit list
As a Greek I can say they do love Benz.
Such a cool little documentary. Great footage and interesting pieces. As a traveling automotive content creator I can only applaud this channel. Keep it up and stay awesome!
Thanks for watching Rob! Lots more content every Wednesday and Saturday
@@DWREV This is a terrible portrayal of Albania as too often is shown as poor, rugged, disorganized and lawless.
The producers go to remote areas and older / poor streets of cities which are minimal compared to the rest of the city. 80% of the city is clean and newly renovated built. They specifically go and record the few bad poor parts and create a false portrayal of Albania. This obsession to portray Albania as poor must stop.
Viewers watching this, I can inform you with full confidence that Albania is nothing like being portrayed here but quite opposite of this. Most of the major cities and the capital have been renovated and growing with continuous luxury development. Albania is middle income country with high boom in development and is far from poor.
This portrayal can be made anywhere in the US or Western Europe if you go video the ghettos and bad areas or remote country towns .. even the wealthiest country can be displayed as poor.
DW news is fake . Stop making false negative documentaries about Albania!
The Albanian government should launch a defamation case against the media outlet ! 🛑
@@mesati lol Sensational Art very sensational in the comments. Take it easy. Everything is fine lol; just enjoy the documentary.
@@arberia8951
You enjoy watching that ? Lol
I only skipped through it. There’s nothing right shown in that documentary.
I don’t live in Albania .. my family moved abroad in the 90s when I was little.
What bothers me is how people like you and that government there do not care about your image abroad. All the documentaries and news about Albania is 100% is portrayed as poor , rugged , criminal etc. It is nothing like being shown here .. there’s so much luxury development there last 20 years and beautiful youth. They always video the worst streets , old people crumbling roads , shots of garbage bins and garbage land fills.
The government should keep an eye on these journalists from doing this type of defamation journalism. In Italy, France , Greece Spain and many other tourism countries .. the tourism government agencies block journalists from taping this kinds of things.
Albania just welcomes it and people like you seem ok with it🤦🏻♂️
@@arberia8951 You maybe young and blind in life but I am citizen in a western country but of Albanian origin and believe me people do not know much about Albania here. The only rare time they watch and hear is documentaries like these and it convinced them to never want to go there as a tourist. It also gives them a bad image of the people .. that Albanian people are “uncivilized and lower class of humans”.
If you’re Albanian and not offended by that.. don’t even call yourself Albanian. ✌️
Good report/Job. Keep it up. I actually own an old Mercedes 124 250D. Runs very well
Glad you liked it. Please pass it on to a friend!
Respect to Albania 🇦🇱 from Serbia 🇷🇸🦅, we Serbs are obsessed with Audi 😅.
This is a really great video. i love exploring these weird car related cultural trends.
I must visit Albania before I die. Not only does the car culture seem like a fun time. the people and culture seem great also.
Cool video. One minor correction. @ 5.26 The 600 shown in the video is the standard wheelbase model, not the longer "Pullman" version.
Really nice to see a documentary about Albania without crime being discussed. Love their car scene
I went to Albania recently & enjoyed to see so many Mercedes. I'm a fan of most Mercedes & drive 2004 SL R230. Also interdentally Albania & it's people were a surprise to me 'very nice friendly & open'. Inexpensive country too.
Albanians are not friendly or open at all. And everything is expensive!
Id love to visit.I love all east european countries
DW docs are so well madr i could listen 2 hours of them talking about the spare parts sector in northern albania
In Western Europe and especially in the Netherlands, most older cars have disappeared from the streets for 10-20 years.
And while it's still just driving around in other countries, I do love it, it's just wonderful to see that.
Until recently I've owned a number of Mercedes-Benz, and I liked them because I'm a mechanic and find them easy to work on. I noticed that spare parts for the older models are now coming from Eastern Europe (I live in the U.S.).
Love Albania..from Malaysia 🇲🇾
Lovely people with good taste ❤️
We agree!
I grew up in these cars. When I was a kid, my father drove a W123. Then he bought a W124CE and drove the car into my early 20s. I miss that car very much. My brother drove a 190D and every time I still hear an old Mercedes diesel today, it's pure nostalgia for me. My father still drives a W124, but a sedan. So does my brother. And also my first car was a Mercedes - a 190E in Bornit Metallic. But I sold the car to get my dream car: a classic american V8. A Buick Electra, to be exact. But I miss my Mercedes a bit when I see this documentary. A W123 would still be a dream but they have become priceless here in Germany.
This video instantaneously made me add Albania to my bucket list. I'm a HUGE Mercedes fan, and would love to rent out some different models from different eras and see what they're all like!! I personally own a '06 w203 C55 AMG (141,250 Miles) and an '04 w203 C32 AMG (193,200 Miles). This is so fascinating.
The video is not very accurate. Yes, Albanians loved Mercedes and on Albania roads there were mostly Mercedes Benz but...In 2002, not in 2022. Have been several times in Albania, first time in 2015, trust me, I have seen the percentage of Mercedes Benz decreasing by year. Now in Albania you can spot tons of cars of every brand, you can spot French cars, Korean cars, Japanese cars...and tons of german cars including Volkswagen, Audi, and Bmw. The only real thing is that albanians love and prefere german cars, but in Albania you can spot every brand, Mercedes is no more the most spread brand. It is not correct to describe Albania as a Mercedes country. It was a Mercedes country, now is like every other country, you can spot every brand.
@@massifelix Yeah but the DMV guy literally said they are 30% of the cars. on the road... that's a lot.
I would like to see Albania in EU,It's very nice country with very nice People greetings from Poland
witam from Albania to Poland!🤝
EU is a failure and any country thats smart should never join or should bailout now.
I LOVE my black 2003 E500 .. I have owned it for 20 yrs. I still get people staring at it and stopping to comment on how beautiful it is.
Im so happy that y all added shijak and durres to this my grandparents are from there!
Reading through the comments, I'm terribly disappointed to not see a single mention of Top Gear's Albania special! Also, special "weight reduction" measures instantly came to my mind; only those who watched the special will get it. c:
Came too far to find this.
Finally, someone who gets it.
Yeah, I was about to say maybe check those mercs vin numbers
They save the weight by scratching off the vin. Its something that must be done. Lol
I want to visit Albania soon. Greets from Romania ❤
You have missed the best and the most valuable collections in Albania, it's 2022 this is not what represents the real passion and values of old cars and especially Mercedeses
This covers the history, and the historical obsession with Mercedes. Maybe they could do a Part 2 where they visit the modern Mercedes model enthusiasts
@@realtalk6195 it's totall bullshit, we can't be represented by some drunk guys and the worst models you can find in the town, for us this video is a shame
@@SpeedhuntersAl I mean it is true most Albanians have a Mercedes
@@SpeedhuntersAl It's harder to steal the new Mercedes so that is why there are less?
@@SpeedhuntersAl so what colour is your Bugatti AMG spec
I love Albanians. Greetings from Nigeria 🇳🇬
👍🇦🇱🇽🇰 🇳🇬 🤝
Poorest country in europe is better than Nigeria that has crude oil and gas reserves. Gold reserves
@@dennisfandrich6586 Botski stirring up shhh!t.
Why are you not drafted and sent to Ukraine?
@@dennisfandrich6586 Albania is not the poorest
@@georgeskanderbeg3242 Switzerland and Norway are the poorest countries in Europe. The EU doesn't even want them.
Man you look like Jamiroquai in Seven Days in Sunny June videoclip, with all respect!
Dope documentary, feels like old vice documentaries
Why do western-europeans only show the most problematic parts of albanian cities, but never the developed, touristic and beautiful parts of Albania?!
they show what they don't have soo..the problematic part is something different for them
@@SB-rg2it Oh so you mean that there are no problematic parts in their cities and in their countries? Get out. So many homeless people lining the streets and the sidewalks in west. You dont see homeless people in albanian streets
The Europeans that are part of a tv channels such as this guy yes they done that for a very long time and keep bringing up communist regime in a way always looking down on the developing European countries.
Independent CZcamsrs is a different story these young men and women go everywhere and show the best bits and has really helped tourism.
@@GodisMyNo1 and all the highest suicide rates of the world are westerns they claim they dont have but their are worst...
Because they hate us, they always did!
Dear Mr. Behnke,
Thank you for sharing the video with us.
To be honest, it wasn’t really what we expected. Maybe because you said this was going to be a documentary, we thought it would display an unbiased and truthful view on this topic, where people would get a broader and deeper view of the love that we as Albanians feel for cars in general, particularly for Mercedes-Benz cars. But instead, it felt more like a representation of an urban legend about this poor little eastern country, full of grotesque people working in filthy little workshops, with old chairs and dusty garages, that preferred to drive Mercedes-Benz cars because of the difficult road infrastructure. Or maybe was it because of our recent communist history and the love and hate with Enver Hoxha’s own Mercedes-Benz?!
It is true that in the early 90’s the road infrastructure in Albania wasn’t at its best. It surely wasn’t able to endure the flood of vehicles entering from the west. But now we both know that todays’ road infrastructure is very far from what it used to be in the 90’s. The fall of communism marked a new chapter for Albanian motoring. Everyone aimed at re-establishing their long-forbidden relationship with cars by acquiring them, often on the second-hand market. The unexpectedly high demand on all sort of maintenance services and repairs gave birth to new jobs, mechanical workshops, gas stations and so on. The feeling of security and stability perceived by Albanians with Mercedes-Benz cars gradually created a subculture, which was nurtured step by step, until eventually Mercedes-Benz became a symbol of stability. With the Retro project we aimed to create a testimony of this unique story of Albanian motoring, including not just Mercedes-Benz cars, but all other road vehicle brands. Sadly, you have failed to represent even remotely the significance of owning a car for anyone living in Albania, much more a Mercedes-Benz car.
Maybe it was a bit naive from us to expect something more than just a short CZcams video, embellished with some cheap Slavic turbo-folk music, that has put together some random handpicked and unchecked facts, only to validate your preconceived ideas. And all just for the sake of sensationalism…
We only regret our team’s effort during this process, including here sharing our data, photos and video materials, helping you with the necessary government permit to film Enver Hoxha’s car and arranging the interview with Mr. Demirxhiu, which you didn’t even include in your “documentary”. It seems that this was not really important for the sake of your story. Well, now we understand why…
Thing is these guys are all about the clicks and views, they want somthing people will click and thats what an "easter communist mercedes country" offers.
Reading your comment and everything you did for them im also very disapointed.
Im sorry they abused it, im of albanian descent myself and this documentary is misleading
Dear Retro Team Albania, dear Sibora, dear Miriam, dear Erald, dear Jon,
thank you very much for taking the time to watch the film so intensively and attentively! I would also like to express my appreciation once again that the whole Retro team took the time to be present on a day of production as well as to contribute now with this detailed feedback that we here, and I as the author, get a new view on the piece.
CZcams as a medium is good for this, especially also to share the different points of view. In any case, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings with the way the piece came out. That was certainly not my intention during production or in post-production.
I would be happy if we could continue our conversation and discuss aspects again in person and via email. What do you think about this?
Thank you again, on behalf of the entire team, for watching this film so closely and for your many comments.
Retro Team, with all due respect (even though your words don’t earn my respect) those “grotesque” people and “filthy and dusty” workshops represent the everyday life of a simple worker in Albania. If it doesn’t meet your high expectations, we expect at least some respect towards what we do. Remember that not everyone has the same possibilities to run a Mercedes-Benz workshop and Sales Centre like Shefqet Kastrati. Farewell!
Ahh man.. felt bad for the Albanians team, I get their passion and love for motor vehicles and especially Mercedes Benz.. I guess they were expecting same passion or at least a good representation of their passion and vision for MB from these CZcamsrs...
Coming from the former Soviet country my entire family has exact level of passion for Mercedes and Porsche.. in fact my Grandpa was the first to drive a Benz in my state.. we still keeping almost all of those Benzes even tho they're decades old we could get necessary parts or work it out with custom parts
Anyways these things don't deserve this kind of 10-15 minutes short "films" only to gain some extra views here and there... It deserves it's own full movie
Great episode
Thanks
and Vietnam loves it too. I'm live in Nghi Xuan, Ha Tinh and every morning I meet ~4 Mercedes-Benz
I have heard that around 20 years ago 80% of the cars in Albania were Merecedes
All stolen from Greece or Italy!
I can confirm that, maybe even more than 80%...
1st recorded Daimler Benz in Albania was a wedding present from the German Fuhrer (A.D) in 1938 to King Zog…. In the early 90s our roads were crap. My dad owned a 131 superminafiori FIAT, and it spent more time at the mechanics then it did in the road. So, he saved double hard and got a 1982 Benz 240 D AKA, THE TANK.
✌️
Great video🎉
I kinda making me this question and i finally i found this video
It's kinda smart for what they do with Mercedes to keep them on the road
Albania love’s Mercedes-Benz because of the love for the Mercedes-Benz brand and the love and respect we have for Germany as a country .
Also let’s not forget that W123, W126, W124 are reliable, simple, strong cars for the Albanian infrastructure which I believe was not mentioned in this clip.
Exactly what I was about to write
Albanians don't give a shit about Germany.
They just like Mercedes-Benz
Why not the W140?
Yes Albania is the East Garbage of Europe, they are known of being just garbage
Cheers 🍷
@@freundschaft870 Absolutely the W140 also, I forgot to add.👍
I remember how my father once told me a story about his grand uncle a guy called Hajdar, who lived in Croatia, but was ethnic Albania.
This guy had lots of money because he and his brother owned a fruit shop chain in neighboring Yugoslavia, called Fructus; they probably owned some hundreds of millions and were also involved in some shady businesses during the balkan wars.
Now, when my father visited some of his relatives in Albania, Hajdar came to visit them unexpectedly and therefore they wanted to drive to town in order to go dining, however, when this guy sat into the old Opel Korsa of theses relatives and they had driven some kilometers the axes broke - they had probably hit a pot hole or there had been material fatigue due to the harsh conditions. Anyway from then on they only drove Mercedes because Hajdar literally scold them afterwards the whole night for having owned such a bad quality car and having "forced" him to walk two kilometers along the road back to the hometown of these relatives and that this hadn't happen when they had owned a Mercedes. By the way he was around 150 kg heavy.
Different times in the 1990s in Albania, this story happened, if I remember right, after the Lottery crisis/Albanian unrest of 1997 (some also call it Albanian civil war 1997, even though it was unrest because of a failed pyramid scheme). Literally everyone was poor, except of some few people and Hajdar and his brother were two of them.
Just wanted to tell this story, because it somewhat illustrates why the people of Albania love Mercedes Benz cars so much, these are simply vehicles that can stand the test of time and survive everything.
There was a time when it was like that, everything changed now, a new Mercedes can’t and won’t stand the test of time anymore, and that’s why Toyota (and Honda) will forever be superior
Long story for WHAT exactly?
@@kingaza7734 his criminal uncle who worked with terrorists like mercedes so he is politically correct!!!!1
@@shahinyoussef08 Toyota and honda are falling short as of late Bucko, Mazdas winning the reliability wars now
I think Toyota Hilux Toyota Camry and old RWD Toyotas are stronger & more reliable than mercedes
And they can take the heat in middle east
I want to visit Albania, to witness these beauties especially estates... *I Love them*
Visit Durres Vlora Saranda and Tirana are even amazing beaches and nice Mercedes’ full 🎉