Lot 207: Mercedes-Benz 220 S

It is not always appreciated what a stir Mercedes-Benz road cars made in the 1950s. 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. This beautifully presented original Mercedes Benz was delivered new to a Paris based embassy by main importer CH.F. Delecroix & Cie. on 2.4.1958 - exactly 51 years ago. Being registered to "4588 GX 75 the car was used for representation purposes, which still can be seen on the standard with the small Mercedes star, to fix a small flag. In the mid sixties an employee of the embassy took over the car and used it privately until being sold in 1991 to nearby Versailles, where it was registered "4132 XJ 78 until being sold in 2000 to Neuilly sur Seine with reg. no.: " 74 CFD 92 which it still carries today. This 3 owner car surely is a collectors item, coming with a wealth of documentation to substantiate its fantastic history during the last half century, being available and offered with this rare large Webasto sunroof example. Having been serviced by major Parisian Mercedes garages as can be seen in the service booklets, the car was repainted in the 1990s to its original color of DB 040 6 Mercedes Benz black, the woodwork was refurbished several years ago and the car received new carpeting. The leather seats are still original and now have nicely mellowed, adding to the cars wonderful atmosphere. Coming with French registration documents and the mentioned extensive documetation the rarity of this car is further enhanced by its rare and original fitted big sunroof, enabeling 4 passengers to drive in almost cabriolet feeling. Dieses ex - Diplomaten Fahrzeug präsentiert sich in einmaligem Originalzustand und besitzt eine fantastische Historie. Reichlichst dokumentiert und ausgestattet mit dem großen Faltdach, bietet dieser herrliche Mercedes 220 S eine fantastische Ausstrahlung und eine willkommene Ergänzug für jede Sammlung. Französische Zulassungspapiere sind diesem aus 3. Hand angebotenen Fahrzeug ebenfalls beigefügt.