‘Ponton’ W180 Mercedes-Benz Coupe – A Class Act
April 22, 2020
It’s little secret that Mercedes-Benz knows how to knock out a handsome machine. This is, after all, the company that gave us the 300SL, the ‘Adenauer’ cars, the 190SL, the W116, the… you get the idea. Mercedes-Benz can make a great-looking car. And of course, these cars aren’t just an exercise in the aesthetic. Mercedes-Benz has always been proud to bring about innovation in the motoring world. As such, its cars pack ingenuity and technological advancement aplenty. Some may argue that Mercedes-Benz is the perfect carmaker.
Look through the back catalogue of Mercedes-Benz, however, and you won’t be presented with a list of instantly familiar cars. As big of a hitter as Mercedes was and is, not every car has weathered the years to earn a place of instant recognition today. A case in point would be the ‘Ponton’ cars of the 1950s. Or, if you need a reminder, the same cars Goldfinger’s henchmen chased James Bond in. Before Bond stacked his DB5 into a wall, the lemon.
Officially, the car was known as the 180 (with the internal designation of W180) when it was released. The term ‘Ponton’ (German for pontoon) is more of a colloquialism than an official name. It relates to the styling of the car, which featured wheels covered by rounded, slab-sided, pontoon-like front and rear fenders. This was a marked break from the traditional over-fenders and running boards that had been around for over fifty years. It was a sign of automotive evolution, and of a greater understanding of things like aerodynamics.
The ‘Ponton’ Mercedes-Benz was also a clever car in terms of its construction. This model moved away from the traditional body on frame construction as was common at the time, and instead adopted a unibody or monocoque design. This made the car lighter, but also much stronger, which of course improved safety. And this is key, as safety was becoming a concern for buyers at the time. But Mercedes didn’t just rely on the inherent safety of the unitary construction. Designers, in specific Béla Barényi, created the now common crumple zone – an area at the front and back of the car designed to absorb the kinetic energy of a collision. Prior to this evolution, it was believed that a rigid car was best. However, testing proved the absorption of an impact in a designated area was far safer. The front and rear would buckle, but the central passenger compartment would remain rigid. Common now, but revolutionary at the time. So revolutionary, in fact, that in 2010 the ADAC crash-tested a derelict Ponton to demonstrate how impressive the car’s crumple zones are even by modern standards.
Of course, safety wasn’t everything. The Ponton had style in spades, too. It was originally launched as a four-door saloon with a four-cylinder engine powering the rear wheels. However, as the car’s luxury position became firmer, the four-cylinders were dropped in favour of the six. The four-cylinder cars (W120/121) were actually smaller, with a wheelbase of 265cm as opposed to the 275cm of the six-pot (W105) cars. However, in ‘54, the car grew again (by then known as the W180) to a wheelbase of 282cm.
The Ponton wasn’t only available as a saloon though, as the car you’re looking at here goes to show. As of ‘56, it was also offered as a convertible and as a four-seater coupe (270cm wheelbase, in case you’re wondering). These flagship models were, as you’d expect, fitted with a straight-six engine, which in the case of the Coupe was an M180 2,195cc unit, driving power to the rear via a four-speed column-change manual transmission. Later cars had the option of Bosch mechanical fuel injection – however, the car here has the more appealing (and easier to live with) Solex 32 carburettors.
While not hugely well-known today, the Ponton model in saloon guise is arguably the most common (in the loosest sense) of this model. You’ll find one on Car & Classic with ease. And despite the Coupe and Cabriolet being rare, with fewer than 3,500 ever built, you’ll find some of those, too. This is Europe’s biggest classic car website after all. However, in amongst the handful of Ponton cars on there, you will only find one like this. In original condition, and in right-hand drive. That’s why this car is so special. Only 23 were built with the steering wheel on the correct side.
This model, which is currently for sale with Vintage & Prestige Classic Cars was ordered new for a South African customer in 1958. An unusual destination for such a car, granted, but also one that would be instrumental in the car’s survival. The hot, dry climate of the African Transvaal province has left this sixty-two-year-old car with no corrosion or rust. It still wears its original maroon hue, and is filled with immaculate stone leather and wood. There is even a bespoke set of matching luggage designed to fit in the boot of this rare coupe. It is a masterpiece and an outstanding example of vehicular preservation.
Of course, it has been on the business end of a few spanners in its time. The car left South Africa in the mid ‘90s to join the collection of a Mercedes-Benz enthusiast in Scotland. This was a deal again done by Richard and the team at Vintage & Prestige, further solidifying the history of this rare car. Here, the engine was stripped and rebuilt and has since only covered mileage that could be considered as nothing greater than ‘running in’.
As it sits now, this flagship coupe (it was some 75% more expensive than its saloon brother) is now looking for a new home. And it should find one with ease. The Ponton Coupe may well be a rare and possibly even forgotten machine, but that all fades away when you lay eyes on it. As soon as you get a glimpse, it grabs you. Perhaps more so than its more ‘common’ younger family members. But that’s what a car like this was designed to do, and the fact it can still get pulses racing over six decades later is proof that as bold, brave and unlike the norm as it may have been, building it was most definitely the right move.
