At first, this car didn’t look all that familiar to me, but as I contemplated it, it began to seem very familiar. It’s every old Mercedes I ever knew.
Much of the reason I don’t know too many specifics on this car is probably that I’m in my mid-30s, but another part is because I was (for a time) a Volkswagen technician and have managed to suppress that horror rather successfully. Any car that shares its country of origin with a Volkswagen is now suspect, at least deep in my distrustful subconscious.
This is not to say all German cars are bad. In fact, it isn’t even to say all VWs are bad. It’s just to say that, to me, a bad German car is worse than any other kind of car, due mostly to unfulfilled potential.
They used to build them differently, perhaps like this 1959 Merc 220S. They were well-engineered, with materials and construction quality to match.
I don’t generally subscribe to the idea that German cars were or are over-engineered. Instead, I think that people used to American cars are just surprised to see something well-engineered, so it seems overdone to them.
And thus it was for many years with Mercedes and their cars. The quality went into them, and owners got out of them what went in.
At some point along the way, German carmakers decided the near-universal respect of all people great and small was not enough, and so they began “improving” their cars. More style, more power, more sport, more pizazz.
Up till then, I always thought the coolest thing about German cars was that they screamed competence. Intelligence, ability, craftsmanship…these are what I saw as the defining traits of a German car, a Mercedes in particular. Just look, for example, at those little red reflectors built into the rear bumper guards.
Of course you’d have the occasional V8 sleeper that could beat up on 95% of all the other cars on the road and not break a sweat, but those were the exception and just added to the mystique. You’d either have to spot an extra-flared fender, or the badge, or perhaps a fat set of tires to know if you were about to be ambushed.
The pictured car features a dual-carbed SOHC 2.2 liter inline-6 worth about 100 horsepower, but could still kiss 100 mph–not terrible for 1959.
The grille is not too flashy, but has enough high-quality chrome to let you know this is no cheapie, and you also know it’s a Benz from a mile away.
Ah, well, things change. I’m sure there there are 3-dozen ways a new Benz is better than this old one, at least on paper, but let’s look at that paper again and see what’s still on it in 53 years.
(Thanks to CCer Davo for the shots of this very nice old Merc!)
I can remember reading Ken Purdy’s book (the title escapes me at the moment) back in the early 60’s. It was the first classic car book I ever read. One of his comments that sticks in my memory was that Mercedes-Benz made the best built cars on the road. Period. In any country.
It’s a bloody shame to see M-B making nothing better than anyone else makes today.
“Ken Purdy’s Book of Automobiles” is the one I have, printed in the early 70s. LOVED all those stories as a kid, especially the ones about Stirling Moss.
Strangely, Purdy’s work seems to have disappeared – you’d think an Esquire writer from that era would get re-released. Perhaps there’s a stigma because of his suicide?
I was lamenting with friends a while ago that luxury now means electronic gadgetry more often than not. In my mind, it’s quality of materials and construction, which MB certainly used to embody. I’d happily take a car that’s built like a brick shithouse with relatively simple mechanicals and four gauges on the dash over something finicky and laden with buttons (or a single knob that not even an electrical engineer can get to work right).
Agree completely–the automakers have learned (or perhaps they have educated us) that the way to the modern consumer’s heart is through touch-screens and the ability to access Twitter while driving (and very little mention is made in many car ads of how the vehicle actually drives). My own opinion is that I’d be happy with no electronics, even no radio and possibly even no A/C, if I know that the car will still run as reliably in 15 years or so (given conscientious maintenance) as it does when new, and the construction will still look as good. I can’t say that about modern MBs; I think a 15-year-old Camry might be a better buy than a 15-year-old C-Class. (Make mine W116 300SD!)
Someone commented the other day in the 59 Cadillac article comments that Mercedes, BMW, etc. are sort of like American cars were in the late 1950s and 60s. They are on top of the market and do not really know what to do next. Detroit loaded on the chrome. The Germans are loading on the electronic gadgets. It would be interesting to see a market study about how many of the electronic features are actually used.
My wife’s MINI (so a BMW product) has its own version of the iDrive system that so many BMW owners have complained about. Not particularly intuitive, and makes everyday tasks like using the radio more trouble than they should be.
As a kid in Austria in the fifties, these were the shits; the ultimate prestige-mobile. They were quite uncommon, except during summer vacation when a few well-heeled Germans might drive through. Plenty of 180 Diesel taxis, and a few 180 gassers in private hands, but a genuine 220 S! Everyone in the family would get worked up seeing one of those.
Stephanie has very fond memories of a 220S her Dad bought used in about 1967 or so. He normally brought home cheap small used cars, but showed up with one out of the blue. Her memories of its red leather and wood on the dash and doors are indelible. He kept it for about a year, and then traded it in for a Chevy II, which became known as the “Shitty Little Chevy”.
It reminds of a Rover P4 or P5, which also followed the path of conservative engineering and styling combined with top quality materials and construction. The largest population of pontoon Mercedes I ever saw was in Lisbon in 1982 where dozens of 180Ds were still serving as taxis. My actual experience is with 60s and 70s cars and I feel today’s Mercedes is sadly diminished by gadgetry overlaying cost cutting.
I agree that the Ponton was the German equivalent of the Rover p4, as I own a P4 now. I’ve owned mercedeses in the past, and can honestly say that the P4 is the ONLY other car that seems to have had the amount of labour hours put into engineering even the smallest parts. Neither car was beautiful in the classic sesne, but both were imposing and able to silently convey that the owner is someone so important they don’t need to shout about it.
Sadly, although Mercedes continued to build quality cars until the mid-90s, Rover went distinctly downmarket- even before British Leyland. They realised that the P4 didn’t have enough of a profit margin with its labour intensive build, high material quality, and over-engineered ancillaries. Hence, the p6 came out. It was complex, a generally competent car, but built much more to a price. Although the last Rover, the 75, was quite a good car, it is no Mercedes. Then again, a 1998 on Mercedes is no Mercedes either.
“I don’t generally subscribe to the idea that German cars were or are over-engineered. Instead, I think that people used to American cars are just surprised to see something well-engineered, so it seems overdone to them.” Quote
Up until the 1990s Mercedes cars were indeed over-engineered compared to anything else, American or otherwise.
In my used car days, my partner did a partial restoration of a 1959 220S and I spent a fair amount of time in in and driving it. First of all, the materials in the car were absolutely first class. For example, you never stripped a bolt on these things. Parts like starters and alternators lasted practically forever. The bodies were the fabled bank vaults. The ride and handling was excellent for their day because of four wheel independent suspension. Even the brakes were good for the time.
Nor were the cars slow; it took a while to get used to the four on the tree but the six was surprisingly peppy. No problem keeping 120 km/h on mountain roads that would have a Ford of the era in the ditch or off a ledge. These cars were not cheap but the materials and build quality were there to match the price.
Mercedes Benz cars were like this right up until 1990 or so. Then they faced a few challenges. Even mainstream cars had become much better so the gap between a Mercedes and a Ford was not what it had been. And then there is the Lexus thing. Old MB stuff like the 220S here were easy to wrench on. Later stuff were electrical nightmares as well as a/c. It was the price of admission on one. Then the LS400 came along at half the price and once you bought the car, you never saw your dealer.
Daimler responded by cheaping out the the cars. The latest MB products are, for lack of a better world, crap. I had an extended drive in an E350 4Matic recently. The interior was horrid, the steering lifeless and the ergonomics awful. Not, repeat, NOT worth $90,000. My Acura drives better. A recent look at a C230 was also a disappointment. Poor quality interior so I didn’t even bother driving it. The cars sell on the brand cachet and nothing else.
In fact, Mercedes Benz dealers in Vancouver and offering the optional Hello Kitty package on all their cars. It is a big hit with their customers.
Hello Kitty Mercedes? Please tell me you have pictures of that…
The Hello Kitty stuff is usually in the form of “accessories” such as headrest cushions and seat belt covers.
Just yesterday I saw an elderly Chinese lady chuffing along in an S63 AMG. I am sure the car’s quarter mile time was the reason she bought it.
I have vague memories of an MB around this vintage that my grandmother owned. She lived in the Philadelphia suburbs and was pretty well fixed, but drove Oldsmobiles most of her life (or at least the part I was around for). But from about 1961 to 63 she had a black Benz with red leather interior. It was a sedan, and that is all I can tell you about it, except that there was something wrong with the starter when we were there for a visit. I was no older than 4 and rode with her on some errands. Everywhere we stopped, someone would have to give the Mercedes a push-start. Her next car was a 63 Olds 88 Holiday hardtop, and she never had another MB.
Someone in my town had a Mercedes like or very similar to the one above. Even had the driving lights. I last saw it around 20 years ago. It was weathered brown and had brown color keyed hubcabs to match. I used to jog back then and one day I found a brown hubcap along the side of the road. I picked it up and took it home, figured I’d see the car parked somewhere and I’d leave a note or talk to the owner. Never did see the car again.
I can’t say I ever liked Mercedes till all American cars tried to mimic their styling. Back in the 50’s – 60’s, I thought they looked like Ramblers. To pay twice what the best US car cost made no sense to me.
Oh, the hubcap. I threw it away when cleaning out my mother’s house in 2005 when she passed. Hopefully, it wasn’t worth much.
Without taking the time to look one up because I’m a lazy sack of beans, this MB reminds me of a 1953 model which may be almost indentical to this.
Before I got my avatar, I got a ride back to base in one like the photo above. White (more or less) with red interior. It was a very nice-looking car and for sale for $350! I have to admit I thought about it, but even I was smart enough at 18 to realize I could never afford the upkeep and possible insurance to own it, especially on an airman’s pay of $129.00/month in 1970! At least I knew how to keep my avatar running when I got it a few months later – it was a Chevy, after all, even though I was broke all the time from not parking it and walking on occasion! Oh to be a kid again, but I digress…
I still think about it every so often to this day, however… the possibilities!
This day has turned into another trip down memory lane of a very looooong time ago. Golden days, indeed.
The side profile on this car looks more “little limo” than Buick’s marketers could ever dream of (referencing the 1980s ad that invoked Rolls Royce.)
Boy, this car brings back memories for me too. I was a 16-year-old kid, and my pal’s airline pilot father finally got tired of his Jaguar Mark VII sedan, and somehow in late 1956 finagled, through a dealer in Canada iirc, a goat-vomit-green 1957 220S sedan that looked exactly like the one shown except for the color. In our neighborhood where even my father’s old 1950 Packard seemed a bit out of place, that Mercedes really stood out. I got to ride in it a few times, and it certainly helped me to become more knowledgeable and enthusiastic about foreign cars.
The last time I saw Rick’s father – in the mid-to-late 1970’s iirc – he was driving a black on red 1959 220S coupe, a beautiful car.
1960 at Philip Island the Armstrong 500 mile race for standard production cars was being led by a 220s Mercedes which crashed the race was won by a PASY Vauxhall Cresta also 2.2litre and capable of 100mph.
When I was in high school in the early 60s, our debate coach drove a 180D that was a great deal like that 220. He drove us to meets out of town in the thing. IIRC, he couldn’t quite get it up to 70 on the way over to Dayton.
About 1972, while stationed in Panama, I met a chief who drove from one of the coasts to Panama in on of these. Diesel model. He claimed 40mpg and I know him to be an honest man. I think he drove it back to the states in 76.
I love the lines and the reliability just blew me away. Sold one for a sailor who transferred unexpectedly(seventy something). Had to fix it to sell it. Everything european I ever owned seemed to break. Would have loved the reliability the chief found in that diesel.
The side profile of the first photo reminds me of a Humber Super Snipe Mk4, which also had a 180/190 style smaller version the Hawk with a 4cyl rather than 6. I agree with educatordan that these (& Rovers and Jaguars of the time amongst others) have a very formal appearance due largely to the height & the ‘traditional’ styling cues.