1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 S

Mercedes-Benz introduced the 300 S (W188) at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1951, wearing elegant designs by Hermann Ahrens that was inspired by the legendary pre-war 540K. Similar to its predecessor, its styling concealed race-bred engineering and was hand-built to order, regardless of costs, to meet the exacting requirements for its discerning owners. Produced from 1951 through 1954, the hand-built 300 S was the company's most exclusive and expensive vehicle in the lineup.

The two-door Mercedes-Benz 300 S was offered as a two-seat roadster, a cabriolet with landau bars (known officially as the Cabriolet A), and a 2+2 coupe. Design features included a wraparound windshield, a new curved rear bodyline, and graceful rear fender lines. Many of its mechanical components were shared with the much larger contemporary four-door 300 (W186), and power was sourced from an overhead camshaft, 3.0-liter straight-6 M186 engine. The engine initially developed 115 bhp and came with fuel-injection in the 300SL sports car. The succeeding 300B and 300C gained higher amounts of horsepower, and the re-styled 300D of 1957 finally received fuel-injection. Additional improvements along the way included larger brakes with servo-assistance from 1954, the adoption of a standard three-speed automatic transmission, and optional power steering on the 300D.

The powerplant in the 300S had triple Solex carburetors, aluminum heads, deep water jackets, a diagonal head-to-block joint that allowed for large intake and exhaust valves, copper-lead bearings, thermostatically controlled oil cooling, and a hardened crankshaft. With a 7.8:1 compression ratio, the engine delivered approximately 150 horsepower at 5,000 RPM and was backed by a four-speed all-synchromesh manual transmission.

The lower and mid-priced Mercedes-Benz vehicles adopted unitary chassis and body construction as the 1950s progressed, however, the 300 clung to the traditional separate frame construction that allowed a variety of coach-built body types to be offered. The 300's cross-braced, oval-tube chassis followed the lines of the 170S and 220, with independent suspension all round and drum brakes at all four corners, but with the refinements of remote electrical control of the rear suspension ride height, hypoid bevel final drive, and dynamically balanced wheels. The worm and sector steering was later replaced by a recirculating ball setup.

The exclusivity of the 300 S was guaranteed by its price, listing higher than the 300SL sports car and nearly double the price of the contemporary top-of-the-range Cadillac. They wore one of Mercedes-Benz's first all-new designs of the post-war era and helped re-establish Mercedes-Benz to the forefront of the luxury car segment, and signaled a return to the marque's tradition of building high-performance luxury automobiles of the finest quality and distinction.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 S was one of the few contemporary vehicles of the era capable of transporting six passengers in comfort at sustained high speeds. They were popular among West German government officials, and throughout Europe and the USA by businessmen, financiers, and politicians. 'Adenauer' became the 300's unofficial model name, after German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, its most famous customer.

760 examples of the 300S/Sc (560/200) left the factory between 1951 and 1958. A total of 560 examples were the 300 S built prior to the arrival of the 300 Sc models. The coupe was the most popular with 216 examples delivered.

With a base price of approximately $12,500 each, they cost nearly ten times the cost of a standard car.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2021