Mercedes Benz W153 230 Sedan RH
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Ražotājs : |
Mercedes Benz |
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Modelis: |
W153 230 Sedan RH |
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Gads: |
1939-1943 |
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Tips: |
Sedan |
The car was initially built with the same 2,700 mm (110 in) wheelbase as the Typ 200 (W 21). It also inherited the sophisticated all-round independent suspension system originally introduced with the manufacturer’s smaller Mercedes-Benz W15 model. There was no full width axle at the front, the wheels being suspended from two transverse leaf springs. At the back there were two half swing-axles.
The body was further lengthened, however, with standard-bodied cars now coming in at 4,400 mm (170 in), while the width had increased to 1,370 mm (54 in). The 6-cylinder 2,229 cc unit was the one that had first been seen a year earlier as part of the 1936 upgrade on the W 21 model, but now it was matched up to a more conventional four-speed manual transmission. The top ratio on the 2,229 cc version of the earlier model had been in effect an overdrive. Claimed top speed was 116 km/h (72 mph).
At launch the base chassis version of the car came with a recommended retail price of 4,200 Marks. Customers wishing to buy a W 143 with one of the Mercedes standard bodies could choose between a two- or four-door “Limousine” (saloon/sedan) retailing respectively at 4,990 Marks or 5,270 Marks, or one of several cabriolet or roadster models, mostly with only two seats and costing more. The grill was raked backwards and, on the standard car, had no bar for the mounting of lights, all of which helped to enhance the sleek appearance of the front. Featuring svelte lines and a disappearing top, the Roadster costs some 5,000 Reichsmarks—about $2,000 in 1937—and offered the peak of German luxury in a relatively compact package. Drawing clear inspiration from the 540K Special Roadster—of which 58 examples were produced, the 230 n Roadster was by far the rarest body style with only about 30 examples rolling off the Manheim production line.
The result of putting a 4,400 mm (170 in) car body on the old 2,700 mm (110 in) was one or two very long overhangs: in the case of the 1937 W143 the overhang was concentrated at the back. Whether because the excessive rear overhang looked rather odd, or for other reasons, the original W 143 failed to gain market acceptance, and although the short-wheelbase cars continued to be offered for sale till the end of 1937, well before that the model had effectively been relaunched with the longer 3,050 mm (120 in) wheelbase that had already been offered on special long-wheelbase version of the Mercedes Typ 200 (W 21) for several years.
In addition to having a wheelbase lengthened by 350 mm (14 in), the relaunched W143 came with a further 180 mm (7.1 in) increase in body length. Most standard-bodied cars were now 4,580 mm (180 in) long, although the six-light Pullman-Limousine-bodied cars were longer even than that at 4,790 mm (189 in). There was no longer a two-door “Limousine” (sedan/saloon) body offered, but the overall range of available bodies was actually greater than with the earlier version of the car, now including six-seater “Landaulet” and “Tourenwagen (Touring Car)” bodies as well as a four-door four-seater cabriolet (known as the “Cabriolet D”) and a “Kraftdroschke” targeted at taxi operators.
The engine on the second 1937 version of the car was unchanged, as were the gear ratios. However, the gearbox now incorporated synchromesh on all four forward ratios, whereas the earlier W143 had included synchromesh only for the two top ratios.
The Mercedes-Benz 260 D, launched in 1936 as one of the world’s first two diesel-engined passenger cars, also underwent a significant upgrade in 1937. The new car shared the wheelbase and platform as well as most of the body options of the W143, but the diesel-powered car had a different works number. It was known as the Mercedes-Benz W138.
The Mercedes-Benz 143 remained in production until 1941, although only 22 were produced in the final year.
Between 1936 and 1941 Mercedes-Benz produced 20,336 of the cars, making it their second most popular model to date, albeit far behind their top seller of the time, the smaller W136.
The car's intended successor was presumably the Mercedes-Benz W153 which came with the same engine but a much more modern body. That car's production run was truncated by the intervention of war, but after the war, in 1951, the manufacturer returned to the market for six-cylinder saloons and cabriolets with the Mercedes-Benz 220.
The Mercedes-Benz W 153 was a luxury six cylinder passenger car built in parallel with the W 143 from 1938, and first presented in public at the Berlin Motor Show early in 1939. It was one of several Mercedes-Benz models known, in its own time, as the Mercedes-Benz 230 (or sometimes, in this case, as the Mercedes-Benz Typ(e) 230).
The car had the same 3,050 mm (120 in) wheelbase as the longer wheelbase versions of the W143 from 1937, but with a completely new and much more modern body as well as a completely new chassis. In place of the earlier car’s pressed steel subframe the W 153 had an x-shaped oval tube subframe. The car had been developed by Hans Gustav Röhr who headed up the company's Passenger Car Development Department for two years prior to his death in August 1937.
The engine was derived from the existing unit, but the cylinder bore was increased by one millimeter which gave rise to an overall increase in engine size to 2289cc. Despite the slightly larger engine size and the inclusion of two twin chamber Solex 30 JFFK carburetors, claimed power was unchanged at 55 PS (40 kW): the compression ratio was set at the relatively low value of 1 : 6.6. Claimed top speed was 116 km/h (72 mph).
The four speed manual transmission incorporated synchro-mesh on all four forward ratios, and power was delivered to the road via the rear wheels.
The fours standard body types were a four-door six light “Limousine” (sedan/saloon) and three different cabriolet bodied cars with two or four seats (Cabriolet “A” and “B”) along with, in the case of the four seat cabriolet, the option of four doors (Cabriolet “D”).
There was no long cabin „Pullman-Limousine“ version of the car, and the large external rear mounted luggage racks that were a feature of the W143 were not repeated on the W153. Instead, the modern streamlined bodywork on all four standard bodied cars incorporated a large rear boot/trunk.
W153s were built until 1943, but only 87 of these emerged from the plant in 1942 and 1943, due to the changed government priorities accompanying the wartime economy. More than half of the 4,264 cars produced dated from 1939.
The W153 body shell returned in 1949, however, little changed but fitted with a smaller engine, as the Mercedes-Benz 170S.
There were also a two-door fast back Sport-Limousine and an open topped two-door Sport-Roadster. Technically they followed the blue-print of the W153 Sedan/saloon, but being much lighter they were also faster. Only 52 of the Sport models were made, of which the open topped cars accounted for 33.
