Automobile

Mercedes-Benz-Blog TRIVIA: History of the E-Class - PART VI

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart, Germany, Aug 01, 2008

Enter the small "Tailfin": 110 series (1961 to 1968)

* The "Universal" variant is forerunner of the station wagon

* A special long-wheelbase version provides seating for eight

* Mercedes-Benz launches its "tailfin" with six-cylinder engine in 1959


For the luxury class of Mercedes-Benz, the tailfin age had already dawned in 1959 with the 220, 220 S and 220 SE models of the 111 series. This new body shape with its cheeky take on the tailfin motif of American car designs, also conquered the intermediate class in August 1961. At first Mercedes-Benz offered two four-cylinder models, the 190 and 190 D of the 110 series. They superseded the "Ponton" models with the same designations.

The modular principle of the shared body was applied with particular thoroughness by Mercedes-Benz in the small and large versions of the tailfin era: The difference in wheelbase – 17 centimetres in the "Ponton" –was now reduced to all of five centimetres (2.70 metres in the W 110 and 2.75 metres in the W 111). Upper mid-range and luxury class vehicles were distinguished by the look of their front ends. From the windscreen to the rear end, however, both model series shared a body in which mainly trim elements made for differences. Along with this largely identical body, the two model series were linked by their common...

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