Photos in the ad for today Good price or no dice The Mercedes 190 displays a Maserati Merak and a Ford Model A in the background. That might just be seen as showing off, but we still need to consider what Benz has to show for itself.
It’s pretty clear both in the comments and in 78 percent of the No Dice vote yesterday $38,500 Land Rover 110 Hi-Cap pickup 1987 that many of you express skepticism about a market in which such a thing could exist. As suspicious and unpleasant as the price of Land Rover – and the used car market in general – it seems to be our current reality.
Since we don’t care about that that much, today we’re going to look at a car that appears to be the result of a particular individual’s attempt to create their own automotive reality.
According to its advertisement, this 1959 Mercedes-Benz 190 is a custom car. It is something that is obvious even at a glance from the outside. The whole Benz has been painted in what looks like gray primer. That accent is some flat black parts that surround the side glass and cover the rocks. Is this the intended final form of the car? Probably not, but even if it’s the seventh round stretch, it’s a unique look anyway.
Many mods come out at night. The headlights have been fitted with custom Mercedes Stars and an additional lighting system illuminates the Mercedes mascot above the grille. For a better look, the front and rear bumpers have been fitted to the tank, and the wheelbarrow on aftermarket alloys looks like a different generation from the rest of the car’s looks.
Inside, there’s a lot of added wood and some digital displays. Everything else seems to be vintage W121 and is in pretty good condition. The seller claims that the car is a runner and that it has an “aftermarket fuel injection system set up for reliability” along with a “Freeway Flyer” transmission. I had never heard of a Freeway Flyer transmission for anything other than an air-cooled Volkswagens transmission, so it was a new transmission for me.
Now, Mercedes first introduced the W120/121 saloon in 1953. It would become Mercedes’ second post-war saloon design and the company’s first single-body unit car. The model catapulted Mercedes into a more mainstream market than the company’s other pre-war effort, the flagship W186 Adenaur. As a result, it was built in relatively large numbers, with almost half a million produced since its introduction in 1953 and replaced in 1962 by the W110 “Fintail”.
Notably, this model also serves as the foundation for the 190SL roadster, using the same suspension systems as it, including the pivot rear end. Consumers nicknamed the W120 “Ponton” (German for float) based on its boxy, all-in-one shape. That ‘The ’50s looked completely different from the distinct hood and fenders that had been used on 170 Mercedes cars since before the war. A similar reaction occurred in the US with 1955’s “Shoebox Chevy”.
The mods ensure that this one stands out from all the rest of the W121s on the road. It’s really not that hard because you don’t really see many 190s on the road at all. Perhaps it is due to the advanced age of the car or maybe due to its somewhat severe performance. 110 hp (total) 1.9-The four quarts of SOHC under the hood can’t muster more than a quiet speed. Even so, a four-speed manual with synchronization on all four gears should help. In place of the expected shifter for that transmission, this transmission features a floor-mounted gear lever, housed in a control panel of unknown origin. The steering wheel of the car also no longer original and looks almost like an old Mustang.
According to the seller, the car is titled clean, has done 119,634 miles on the job and is being sold due to health issues. Considering the apparent condition of the Maserati and Model A seen in the background of the ad, this could be the car on the tight block because that’s the block that requires the most work.
That tight block has $4,000 on it. We should pause for a moment to agree that you’d be hard-pressed to find a car like this anywhere else, or at any price for that matter. That makes it remarkably unique, but does it make it so desirable? More importantly, is it worth putting $4K in?
What do you think? To be 190 custom this a deal at $4,000 asking? Or, does that price sink this?”Ponton? “
You decide!
Las Vegas, Nevada, Craigslistor go here if the ad disappears.
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