Lot 112: 1960 Mercedes-Benz 220S Ponton Coupe

It is not always appreciated what a stir Mercedes-Benz road cars made in the 1950s and 60's. Leaving aside such obvious stars as the 300SL 'Gullwing', there were headlines like Magnificent Mercedes when a new saloon came out. It is not hard to see why: the company introduced new levels of build quality to even its most mundane models. Take the 220S, here was a discreetly styled saloon with a top speed of 100mph - when it was introduced in 1956, 100mph was beyond some sports cars. It was superbly assembled at a time when most saloons were of dubious quality and it had such features as servo-assisted brakes and an overhead camshaft engine. It also basked in the reflected glory of Mercedes-Benz's legendary return to Grand Prix racing in 1954 (Fangio won back-to-back World Championships) and it's winning of the 1955 World Sports Car Championship. The kudos which surrounded the model range cannot be understated especially since Mercedes Benz insisted on direct correlations between its road cars and competition cars: the low-pivot swing axle rear suspension, for example.Finished in white with a red leather interior the car was subject to a restoration some 8 years ago in which the car was repainted and a new interior fitted. At this time the engine was rebuilt, and the semi automatic gearbox overhauled. A history file accompanies the car in which pictures of the restoration are included. The vendor describes the car as being in good general order, stating that it runs and drives well. It comes with Dutch registration papers.