CC’er Teddy posted these shots of a vintage Mercedes out and about on a rainy day in Portland. As best as I can tell, it’s a 190 (W121). I wonder if it’s a diesel. Only Teddy can tell us, as he would most surely have heard it if it was.
The W120/121 arrived in 1953, and were a giant leap forward from the pre-war type 170/180 that it replaced. Until 1956, it was only available as a 180, with the old flathead four gas engine, and the legendary 0M636 diesel four. In 1956, the new SOHC M121 four became available, giving it performance commensurate with its modern body and lofty price.
What a cool Mercedes! Can’t recall the last time I saw one of them – maybe 25 years ago?Even 50+ years later you can instantly tell it is Mercedes!
The Coupe deVille caught in the shot is a rare one too – no vinyl top, and it looks to be in nice shape too.
Awesome catch Paul!
When I first saw the front end, I thought you might be featuring an Adenauer to compliment the Facel Vega Excellence posted earlier today.
🙂
Seeing this brings back very dim memories of my grandmother having one of these. Hers was black with red interior, and probably would have been from around 1960 or so. My father told me that his brother in law talked her into it. It was her only one, and she must not have thought it was worth what they cost, because by 1963 she was driving a blue Olds Super 88 Holiday hardtop coupe. I suppose my grandfather’s 62 Sedan DeVille eliminated the need for her own status symbol car. She would be an Oldsmobile girl almost until the end, when she chose a Monte Carlo for its lower price.
Cool old Benz, good to see one out and about. I like the house in the left background as well; the exposed rafter tails are a nice craftsman-y touch.
That whole block if not neighborhood looks like it is really awesome.
The neighborhood looks like Ladd’s Addition, an appropriate backdrop. Close to downtown on the East side, with a diagonal street pattern and back alleys for cars and garages. Very bike friendly too.
I don’t see the upmarket Ponton 190’s bright molding on the roof-gutter, or the shiny trim that should wrap around the roof-line below the windows. So I’m guessing it’s a 180a or Da. Can’t tell which without hearing it or seeing the trunk emblem.
by the late ’50s, the 180s got the 1.9 OHC engine. In ’59, the 180b/190b series was introduced with a wider grill and fatter bumpers.
In 1973, I acquired a $200 ’61 180b gasser that exact same color, to drive to high-school. I named it ‘Heidi’, learned to drive a 4-speed on the column, and work on it too, ’cause I sure couldn’t afford a mechanic, or the gas after the first oil-crunch. With it’s economy gearing and about 68 DIN horsepower, early VW beetles could out-run it from a stop. I hate to think what glacial acceleration the 40 horse diesel versions provided! With heavy manual steering and non-assisted drum brakes it wasn’t exactly fun to drive. But it was comfortable, got decent gas mileage, could cruise at normal highway speeds once it got up there, and was more robust than many other imports of it’s day – at least until the rust got at it.
My first major job on it was the clutch. Eventually, I cobbled up a hang-on AC system for it.
I kept it going as a second or third car up until it wheezed it’s last gasp in 1992.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Mark is correct – the 190 had a chrome strip below the windows, and also chrome trim on the gutters. The “b” series of both the 180 and 190 (’59-’61, approximately) had the wider grill from the new fintails as well as front fenders that were slightly more upright. Plus the bigger bumpers, and an extra reflector built-in below each rear taillight.
I had a few of these…I knew the location of every parts car in southern Illinois in the late seventies.
I’m amazed that Benz used side valves, even for an entry-level model.
I followed this one for a few klicks its on the move acceleration was quite good, my old Hillman easily kept up with it but I wanted pictures not a race
The SOHC engine must’ve been a much-needed boost, but it does make me wonder if a Studebaker V8 would’ve fit in a production-able way.
It’s hard to tell the 180 apart from the 190 without the badge on the trunk. Both of them received revised grilles in the “b” versions. Dad’s 190Db was the car in which I learned how to drive. The manual steering wasn’t bad, and the brakes weren’t bad as long as I remembered that there was no power assist! It had splendidly comfortable seats, and a nicely supple ride combined with really good handling. Contrast that with our 2007 Camry Hybrid, with very competent, businesslike, but uninspiring handling, and a ride that gives us the sound, if not the feel, of every single bump and blemish in the road….
There used to be a white Pontoon in our neighbourhood. I haven’t seen or heard it in several years – perhaps it’s found a new home. I emphasize “heard” – it was a diesel, and you could hear the clatter from quite a distance before you saw the car. A co-worker of my dad’s bought a new one in the late ’50s, when you could buy a Cadillac for less. He kept that car for over 40 years, storing it away for the winter. I’m pretty sure it’s still around.
Unbelievably, Hong Kong officially sanctioned taxis use to be Mercedes Pontons. Toyota dropped a hugh bribe on a government official and they all disappeared to be replaced by Toyota Crowns in the late 60s.
Not a single one left on the road now.
I know this car! I took a bunch of photos of it parked in NW Portland circa 1991. Was struck by its condition at the time, and now….. The Perfect Car
Wow, really!? That is cool!
I saw a mint one previous owner diesel version recently it is the owner’s daily drive
I believe I made a comment in the past about my experience with a 1953 Mercedes like in the photo.
In the service before I bought my 1964 Chevy, in early 1970, I hitched a ride back from town one evening and got to ride in a beautiful, white w/red interior 1953 M-B.
It was for sale, but foreign cars were expensive to fix, and being a Mercedes, was way over my head at 18-19 years of age on an airman’s pay.
I had to pass it up, but I really did like it… a lot!
I love pontons. We had two in the family, a ’55 flathead 180 and a ’59 219b. A thoroughly charming car, the little flathead was a bit slow but game for anything, whether taking four to dinner or running a TSD rally. The 219, on the other hand, was a true bahn burner. With the longer chassis, it really looked the business in black with big Lucas driving lights, and it would happily run at extra legal speeds as long as John Law wasn’t looking. My brother bought that car used in 1966 and kept it about 25 years. I still miss them both.
I have only seen one of these in the flesh a diesel powered model rusting away in a small town south of here. It was once owned by the father of a machine shop owner. Unfortunately it’s been sitting outside for a few years and will likely rust into the ground. This is a shame these models are not that common in Canada.
I always thought M-B looked old and dated back then compared to Amer. stylish cars.
My only experience with owning a German made vehicle was
a rare in the USA 1971 Audi Super 90 for a couple of years in the mid 1970s
poorly made & fragile compared to made in the USA vehicles.
I was deeply immersed in these in the seventies. Yet we called them “roundbodies”, not “pontons”. In fact, I don’t think I heard the latter term until the nineties or the oughts. Was this always their name in Germany, or is this a case of history being successfully rewritten?
They were called “Kleiner Ponton-Mercedes” from the get-go in Germany. Maybe it took a while for that name to become more common in the US.
“Kleiner” meaning “little”, if I remember my Mozart correctly. A cute name, and it fits the cars. Thanks, Paul.
Nice to see one of these still out and about .
-Nate
A local dentist drove the only one I saw in this area in the 1960’s, it was a diesel. By the time he quit using it, the paint was dull, the interior just rags. He really loved the cussed thing.
You could get these cars dirt-cheap by the early ’70s. They weren’t hard to work on, though parts could be expensive. While many reviewers hated it, I grew to love the retro 4-speed manual column-shift. Compared to the three-on-the-tree found in some American cars (a stiff, clunky, miserable device, designed to get buyers into automatics) my Mercedes shifter was precise and easy to operate.
Plus, it amazed younger passengers that had never heard of such a thing.
Many years later, I acquired a ’60 Mercedes 220S and had to give a friend’s college-age kid a ride to the Metro. After a few minutes, he asked me why I kept moving that lever behind the steering-wheel. When I told him it was the gear-shift, he exclaimed “NO WAY!”
Happy Motoring, Mark
I was elated when I saw this car drive by since I had never seen one in real life, but was only able to get a shot of it going away. About ten minutes later I found it pulling away from a curb and took the second photo being really glad I got a front photo of it. Cars like this make me happy I moved to Oregon and given how quiet this Benz was I assume it is a gasser.
Ladd’s Addition is full of cool houses though many lack driveways which makes sense. The Ladd’s 500 is a quirky local race held at the rotary every year.
Wow. The curved porches on that house are stunning!
Lack of driveways is, unfortunately, part of the deal in older neighborhoods. Many of the houses in my neighborhood don’t have them, and the houses date mostly from the 40’s. Mine has one, but the driveway is a later addition and takes up the entirety of the narrow space between the side of the structure and the property line. Several other homes we looked at in nearby neighborhoods didn’t have them at all but did have back alleys with garages, which is arguably superior (depending on the layout).
Alleyway entrance is terrific until your neighborhood gets any criminal activity then you’re screwed .
-Nate
Nate, Re: Alleys
Coming from ChiCongo
Heavy snow fall is another problem on top of the Criminal-Activity.
I hear you :
To – night I was in South Central Los Angeles and Figueroa St. between 108th & 111th was blocked off as a crime scene….
Life in the big city blah blah blah .
-Nate