MERCEDES - BENZ
THE 1960s
The 190c, 200, 230 W110
1961 – 1968
By Bernd S. Koehling
Copyright 2012 Bernd S. Koehling
Smashwords Edition
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CONTENT
The Cars
190/200/230 W110 (1961 – 1968)
The launch of the 190 fin-tail
The sales performance of the 190
First of all I would like to thank you for having purchased this book and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It is part of an e-book series that covers all cars produced by Daimler-Benz during the 1950s and 1960s.
The ponton series had been a great commercial success and in order to improve turnover further, one focus of the Daimler-Benz executive board was the increase of export sales. The biggest market was of course North America and it was agreed that the new models needed to have more appeal to customers in the new world. Thus the fin tail was born. As it turned out, the styling department had already second thoughts about their new design before the cars were even launched, but it was too late. Nevertheless the cars were well received inside and outside of Europe. They were a further testament to the company's mantra that the best is just good enough, or as the editor of a Swiss automotive magazine once wrote: "They just don't know, how to build bad cars".
Not so well received though was the concept of uni-body construction. People balked at the idea to have an expensive six-cylinder car in their garage that looks very similar to its cheaper four-cylinder cousin. What had been grudgingly tolerated in the fifties was not anymore accepted in the sixties. The owner of a 190D didn't mind of course to drive a car with the same interior and trunk space of the more expensive six-cylinder cars.
The fin tail models were the first cars designed with Bela Barényi's safety concept in mind. As there was still very little experience with crumple zones in the real world it was agreed with the local police that whenever there would be an accident with a Mercedes fin tail involved, engineers from Daimler-Benz would be called to the scene in order to study the cars, so that the safety system could be refined further. At the end plenty of these cars would be bought by the company, so that they could be studied more thoroughly.
After the success of the 300SL and 190SL in the North American market, the fin tails were the first serious attempt by Daimler-Benz to develop this market further. It was initially a very rough and very costly attempt, but at the end it paid off.
March 2012
Bernd S. Koehling
MB 190Dc W110 DI (1961 – 1965)
MB 200 W110 BII (1965 – 1968)
MB 200D W110 DII (1965 – 1968)
MB 230 W110 BIII (1965 – 1968)
The launch of the 190c fintail
When the new four-cylinder car generation was launched in April 1961, it became obvious that Daimler-Benz had perfected its concept of a single body for its entire range of cars even further. What had started already with the ponton cars had been refined further. From the A-pillar onwards, all four and six-cylinder cars shared the same body and chassis, which included not only passenger compartment and trunk, but also the fine-tuned suspension of the more expensive versions. While the difference in wheelbase between the six- and four-cylinder ponton models was 17 cm (6.7 in), it was now reduced to just 5 cm (2 in). Naturally all safety features, many of which had set industry standards, when they were first introduced in 1959, were available to all four-cylinder models. The advantage of a shared body was mainly economical, as Daimler-Benz was able to safe on costs for development, construction and the stocking of spare parts. At the end, an almost identical chassis was available in eleven variations for cars from 55 to 170hp. It should also serve as basis for the soon to be launched coupes and cabriolets and with small adaptations later even for the successor models. Cost saving measures weren't practiced only by Detroit's Big Three. The advantage for the buyer of a new 190c or 190Dc was that he got a so far unsurpassed combination of comfort, space, speed, economy, safety, quality and long term value for his hard earned money.
Compared with their ponton predecessors, the new 190c and 190Dc, internally called W110, were now fairly large automobiles. As the last 190 ponton carried the "b" denomination, the new car was given now the "c". For some it might be a bit confusing to have the 220 in "b" version and the 190 in "c" version at the same time.
As the four-cylinder engines were smaller than their six-cylinder counterparts, the front of the new 190 was shortened by 14.5 cm or 5.71 in. The rest of the car, interior, dashboard, the rather unusual vertical thermometer-style instrument cluster, chrome, taillights etc. was identical to the 220b. There was no wood inside the cabin, the doors lacked the pockets and chrome strip and the rear seats didn't have a center armrest. It wasn't even available as extra. A center cushion and armrest could be ordered as an option again for the front seats, so that three passengers could be accommodated. Also adjustable backrests for the front seats were only available as an option. Other optional upgrades included a sliding steel sunroof (no more Webasto soft sunroof), MB-Tex or even genuine leather upholstery. While MB-Tex was a fairly often ordered option (it could easily outlast the car), very few 190s have been equipped with real leather. Like their larger brothers, the cars could be ordered in two tone colors. In that case the hubcaps were usually painted in the upper body color. When looking at the smaller cars from the side, one could detect one difference: they lacked the chrome-trimmed flow-through ventilation outlets on their C-pillars.
The new 190c shared the body with the more expensive 220 W111
The now famous "fins" show their American influence