The Ponton (W120: 1953-1962)
The 1953 Mercedes 180 was the company’s announcement that it could build and compete in the world’s contemporary automotive market. With bulbous fenders integrated into its body design, the W120 (its name inside Mercedes) was the company’s first car to feature the “envelope” styling that was the defining element of modern post-war design (the ‘49 Ford helped establish the style). Those bulbous fenders also gave rise to the 180’s nickname: the “Pontoon” or, the German spelling, “Ponton” Mercedes.
Also unlike previous Mercedes, the W120’s body was actually part of the car’s structure, though it wasn’t quite yet what would be considered a “unibody” today. The front of the car consisted of a separate subframe to which was bolted a double-wishbone independent front suspension. The rear suspension used the wicked swing arm system with which Mercedes was infatuated at the time.
The big advantage of the Ponton body style was that it was exceptionally large inside for a car of only modest size on the outside (the original 1953 180’s 104.3-inch wheelbase and 176-inch overall length are nearly identical to those of a 2003 Honda Civic). But what held that first 180 back was the engine; a 1.8-liter four scavenged from the old 170 model with an L-head, a 6.5-to-1 compression ratio and an output of just 52 horsepower. Stirring the column-shifted four-speed manual transmission for all it was worth, the 2,700-pound 180 had performance between slow and agonizingly slow. And if agonizingly slow wasn’t slow enough, in 1954 buyers could get the 180D, powered by a 1.8-liter diesel four rated at only 40 horsepower.
W120s may have been slow, but they were wonderfully rugged. European and developing countries would soon adopt the car (particularly the diesel) as their taxicab of choice. Even today, a full 50 years after the W120 was introduced, they’re still used as taxis in countries like Syria.
For 1955, Mercedes put the 190SL roadster into production, basing most of its chassis and running gear on the W120. But the 190SL also introduced a new overhead cam, 1.9-liter four. This thoroughly modern (by 1950s standards) power plant made a credible 120 horsepower while breathing through two carburetors in the roadster, and it was inevitable that it would find its way into the sedan. In 1956, it made that migration and the 190 sedan was born with 75 horsepower available through its single carburetor 1.9-liter four. In ‘57 the 180 also got a version of the new engine, this time rated at 65 horsepower. Then, in October 1958, a dieselized version of the 190 power plant was introduced in the new 190D, making 50 horsepower. Finally for the 1959 model year, a 190b model was introduced that got 90 horsepower from its four.
Outwardly, there were few differences among the W120s that accounted for an astounding 62 percent of Mercedes’ production during its run. Their intrinsic solidity made them so important in building Mercedes’ reputation for quality, not their rakish lack of style. By the beginning of the 1960s, the W120 was exhausted.
