Mercedes-Benz 230 Saloon

The first Mercedes-Benz branded vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of the Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler companies into the Daimler-Benz company. Right from the outset the brand was synonymous with producing cars of the very highest engineering quality with price tags that put them out of reach of all but the wealthiest motorists. Models like the mighty K, the SS and the SSK were the fastest and most powerful road cars of their day while on the track the supercharged W125 Silver Arrows cars crushed all comers, touching 190mph and producing 646bhp by 1937, a figure not exceeded in Grand Prix racing until the advent of turbo-charged F1 cars in the early 1980s.

However, with the luxury market hard hit by the Great Depression following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Mercedes sought to target the family car sector with a range of new models designed by chief engineer Hans Nibel, who was also responsible for the Silver Arrows cars. The first of these was the six-cylinder Type 170 of 1931, a fairly conventional looking car that nevertheless had many advanced features such as independent suspension all round, four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a sophisticated box-section frame that gave outstanding ride and handling characteristics.

An instant success with the Continental upper-middle classes, the 170 spawned a family of larger-engined, more powerful models that culminated in the 230 of 1936 - 1939. Powered by a 55bhp 2.3-litre sidevalve straight-six, the saloon version was an exceptionally refined motorcar that could cruise all day at 70mph+ and could cover vast mileages with nothing more than routine servicing. With a list price of £575 it still cost about four times the price of a comparable Ford or Morris and virtually none made it to the UK, although some 20,000 were made in total.

“We are not exaggerating when we say that the general comfort of this car is superior to practically any other vehicle in which we have had the pleasure of riding,” wrote The Motor in a rare UK road test of a 230 saloon in January 1938. They went on to compliment the “amazing absence of roll on corners”, the “really fine steering”, superb brakes, draught-free coachwork and impeccable build quality that made it possible “to travel 300 miles non-stop and to get out with an entire absence of fatigue.”

First registered in April 1938, this particular 230 Saloon is an exceedingly rare right-hand drive model that is believed by the vendor to have been first owned by the German Embassy in London. A press cutting in the history file shows a picture of an identical car in September 1943 and states that it is “the only one of its kind in the country” and was one of a handful of Mercedes seized from the German embassy officials as they made a run for the Gravesend docks at the outbreak of war. Other Mercedes impounded at the same time included a 170 and a 540K, all fitted with diplomatic plates and “piled high with the baggage of the German officials”.

All of the cars were returned to London and put into storage at Shrimpton Motors Ltd where they were to remain until 1943 when the Swiss authorities (a neutral country appointed to safeguard German interests in the UK during the war) decided to allow their sale in order to recover the mounting storage fees. The cars were bought by The Autodrome Garage of Andover, Hants, and presumably sold on again at a later date.

The current vendor acquired this 230 in 1977 from a gentleman who had in turn discovered it in a lock-up in North London in the late-1960s where it was stored alongside another 230 and a pair of 290s. Although complete and relatively sound, the 230 had clearly not been used for many years and the owner, a well-known Rolls and Bentley coachbuilder and restorer, decided to subject it to a total strip and rebuild which ultimately took 30 years to complete and is fully documented in photographs contained in the history file.

This included a full engine rebuild with all new bearings and a reground crank, all new braking system, new wiring loom, new fuel tank and a full body restoration. Inside the cream leather seats are original but new carpets, doorcards and headlining have been fitted. Since the car was MOTd and returned to the road in July 2007 it has covered very few miles but is said to run and drive beautifully. It certainly fired up promptly and ran very smoothly on the occasion of our visit to take these photographs. Last year it was loaned out to ITV where it was decked out as a Nazi staff car during filming of the new season of the wartime detective drama, ‘Foyle’s War’, which is due to be broadcast later this year. Several photos of the car on location are included in the history file.

Other documents with the car include an envelope post-marked 1951 containing a set of carburettor gaskets and addressed to a Barbara Spencer of Weymouth. There is also a bill from 1957 for a set of new kingpin bushes for the car addressed to Commander John Spencer of Weymouth, plus a tax disc from the same year. A radiator muff and a copy of an original owner’s handbook in English are also included, along with a contemporary road test, the aforementioned 1943 press cutting, a current MOT certificate and a modern V5C.

Although we have not been able to establish the veracity of the German embassy link, it certainly makes for an intriguing tale that would merit further investigation. Beyond doubt, however, is that this remains a most rare and desirable pre-war saloon, sympathetically restored, that has been in the same ownership for the last 33 years and would be of interest to any Mercedes collector.