1955 Mercedes-Benz 180D Saloon

Description

The 1953 Mercedes-Benz W120 (marketed as the 180) four-cylinder saloons were Mercedes’ second totally new series of passenger cars since World War Two (following the 1951 introduction of the flagship W186 Type 300 ‘Adenauer’) and replaced the pre-war-designed Type 170 and Type 170S. The Pontons (subsequently nicknamed from the German word for ‘pontoon’) were Mercedes’ first monocoque, unitary body production models with guards streamlined into the body in the modern three-box idiom. Austrian-Hungarian engineer Béla Barényi originally invented and patented the crumple zone concept in 1937 before he worked for Mercedes-Benz, and in a more developed form in 1952. Barény questioned the then prevailing opinion that a safe car had to be rigid. He divided the car body into three sections: the central, rigid, non-deforming passenger compartment, and the crumple zones in the front and the rear. They are designed to absorb the kinetic energy of an impact by deformation during collision. The 1953 ‘Ponton’ partially implemented the concepts of crumple zones and the non-deformable passenger cell into its three-box design by having a strong deep platform to form a partial safety cell (patented in 1941). The Mercedes-Benz crumple zones patent (number 854157) granted in 1952, describes the decisive feature of passive safety. The first Mercedes-Benz car developed which fully exploited this patent was the 1959 successor, the Mercedes W111 ‘Fintail’ range. From March 1959 Mercedes W120 saloons were assembled in Port Melbourne but they had been fully imported into Australia from about 1953. The 180D was the only diesel-powered passenger car on offer in the era and the November 15, 1955 edition of Motor Manual shows the retail price as £1995 ($3990) compared with £2450 ($4900) for the six-cylinder 220. The 180D weighed more than 1000kg but made just 43 brake horsepower and had a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour.