Quote:
Originally Posted by John Doe
1959 220 Sb. White with a blue top. I may have fallen in love. It is at the spa to have the fuel injection pump rebuilt, after which it will be for sale. Now, I have been told that this was the first fuel injection system ever put in a car and it is a PIA, but that once this issue is taken care of it will be reliable. I will post this in Vintage, but does anyone know much about these cars?
I went and looked at a 280 S cabriolet a few weeks back, but it was rough.
Leaning towards a 4 seater now if it wasn't obvious.
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A 1959 220 SE with fuel injection is a rare bird. The chassis type is "W128", and the nickname is "ponton". The same body style, albeit not injected, was used in Alfred Hitchcocks' "North By Northwest". The fuel injection system is drop dead reliable, once it is set up right. My first car was a 1959 220SE four door, same mechanicals and front end. It sits in the garage now, and I go round the block in it once in a great while.
The fuel injection is the same as what MB used throughout the '60s, with minor variations on the 1959 models. Having fuel injection will make the car a dream to drive. One question to ask the seller is if the car has the "Hydrac" clutch(option on special request when new). It will have no clutch pedal, and will retain the four speed column shift. Which was a semi-auto clutch similar to the sport-shift used in early 911 Porsche models. Parts are not on the shelf anyomore, and the system was a bugger to keep right even when the cars were new.
The gas fuel injection was a first for a MB passenger car, though the 300SL gullwing and mod '50s 300Sc models also had fuel injection. Those models almost don't count because they were so rare and expensive when new(around 13 thousand f.o.b in 1955 for the 300Sc).
This car is a blue chip investment, at the right price. With gullwings and early '50s 300S models at well over six figures, the ponton body cabriolet is the next best choice.
On these cars the chrome, wood, doors, boot, and bonnet were hand fitted to each car. Then the parts were painted and chromed for final assembly. That's why the bonnet from one car won't fit on the other. Most removable body parts have the last three digits of the body number stamped into them.
For investment advice contact Alex Dearborn:
Dearborn Automobile Company, Inc.
16 Maple Street
Topsfield, Massachusetts
USA 01983
Phone (978) 887-6644
Fax (978) 887-3889
Email
alex@dearbornauto.com
www.dearbornauto.com
He has a pretty good rep, in the old timer circles. Check out the one he has for sale now, it's part of history.
http://www.dearbornauto.com/showroom/6/index.shtml
This website can also answer many questions:
http://www.mbzponton.org/