MERCEDES - BENZ
THE 1950s
The 219, 220 W180, W105, W128
1954 – 1960
By Bernd S. Koehling
Copyright 2012 Bernd S. Koehling
Smashwords Edition
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CONTENT
The Cars
220a/219/220S,SE W180/W105/W128 (1954 – 1960)
The 220a has a successor: the 220S
Hydrak, DB's first in-house automatic
The first ponton "Einspritzer" is launched, the 220SE
The introduction of the cabriolet
First of all I would like to thank you for having purchased this book and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It is part of an e-book series that covers all cars produced by Daimler-Benz during the 1950s and 1960s.
This was an exciting time for Daimler-Benz, as it slowly started to develop the export business, which was less than ten years after the war not an easy undertaking. Especially the participation at the London Motor Show in October 1953 was done with a certain amount of apprehension. But luckily and despite strong British competition, the visitors were quite interested in new cars such as the 180 and as one Daimler-Benz employee later remarked, the crowd was bigger than they had ever experienced at any other show before.
Risks had to be taken and rewards were sometimes doubtful. Nobody at Daimler-Benz for example had anticipated at the end of the forties that the Diesel would become such a big hit with consumers. But the fifties were also a time to finally wave good-bye to prewar styling. True classics like the 300 sedan lived till the early sixties, but as their sales performance showed, at the end people wanted to see something different and the introduction of the new ponton series was the first step into that direction. From a design point of view it was not an easy task for the team around Karl Wilfert, as they had to find the right balance between traditional minded customers and new market demands.
It was also a time, where more modern engines for the 180 right from the launch had to be shelved as due to a booming economy suppliers were booked solid for months and couldn’t deliver the necessary machinery tools. Global sourcing hadn’t been invented yet.
But the economy wasn’t only booming in Europe in the second half of the fifties. The general situation was even more upbeat in the US, where a high employment rate and increasing wages created a burgeoning more affluent middle class that proved to be a fertile breeding ground for imported sports cars from Europe. While the British were naturally the first to develop that still small niche successfully with affordable cars such as the MG A, Austin Healey 100 or Triumph TR 2, the market proved to be so lucrative that also high-end thoroughbreds from Aston Martin, Jaguar, Ferrari, Porsche and Daimler-Benz could achieve sales volumes that would have been impossible to reach in Europe.
For Daimler-Benz the 1950s started with an old warmed-up four-cylinder car dating back to the 1930s. Management had big uncertainties of what the future might have in store for them. The decade ended with an impressive line of modern cars, which were ready to take on the best that competition could throw at them.
March 2012
Bernd S. Koehling
MB 220S W180 II (1956 – 1959)
MB 220 SE W128 (1958 – 1960)
The launch of the 220a
As much as the public was looking forward to finally see the brand new 180 sedan in 1953, as much did they want to get a glimpse of the new 220 one year later. In March of 1954 that time had come: the new six-cylinder 220a, internally called W180 I, arrived at Mercedes-Benz showrooms. Like the 180 it was a statement to Mercedes’ new philosophy of unit construction ponton style.
The new 220 was the final acknowledgement that the time for traditional pre-war styling, so much appreciated by traditionalists among European customers, had come to an end. Although American cars were perceived by the European press to be of lesser quality engine- and chassis-wise, they were lauded for their superior design, interior space and comfort. And that was the way to go for European manufacturers too, if they wanted to survive.
While the new 220 was like the 180 before him a bow to modern design, it was not a copy of American ideas, when it came to the engine or road-holding manners. In this respect the car was a true Mercedes-Benz: giving the customer supremacy in quality, performance and agility. While the front suspension and sub frame were shared with its smaller brother, the new rear suspension was a copy of the single-joint swing axle with a low pivot point, which had been originally developed for the W196 Formula One racing car. Not a bad decision and far superior to what Mercedes had offered when it introduced the 180 one year earlier.
The 220a did not have the chrome strip of the later 220S on the front fenders
To accommodate the larger engine, the front was extended by 100 mm (3.9 in). Also space for the rear passengers was improved by 70 mm (2.8 in). All in all, the new car was 4,715 mm (15 ft 5 in) long, while the 180 measured 4,485 mm (14 ft 7 in). Compared with the previous 220 (W187), the new car didn’t only offer a more modern design, it also offered a 35% increased cabin. That meant that if one ordered the optional front bench seat, six (not too big) passengers could be accommodated with a certain degree of comfort.
While it could be argued that it was difficult for the “innocent bystander” to see a difference between the four- and six-cylinder cars, the 220a came along with cleverly arranged chrome trim along the rear fender lines and below the doors. Together with the longer front and the differently designed hood this made the car look far more impressive, especially from the side. And once you had a chance to actually have a seat inside the car, you instantly knew that this car could definitely NOT be mistaken for the lesser version.
Beautiful wooden dashboard was unique to the 220 series
The amount of real wood that had been applied to the dashboard and windowsills can only be described as generous. Even British Jaguars didn’t have more to offer. And craftsmanship was again a notch up to the already impressive 180.
But also price-wise the 220a was a clear statement that Daimler-Benz cars were above their immediate competition. At 12,500. - DM (2,960. - US$), it was almost 3,000. - DM (710. - US$) more expensive than the equally brand new Opel Kapitän, which was again at more or less the same price as the 180. We have to remember that when the first six-cylinder 220 was launched in 1951, it was only 1,825. - DM (435. - US$) more expensive than the 170S of that time. But in defense to the new 220a it has to be stated that it was much more lavishly appointed and longer than the 180, while the first 220 was merely a 170S on steroids.