Mercedes-Benz 170S-D

As always, we try to write good articles as well as feature cars that are collectible or rare. Today’s feature car is totally that, it is a Mercedes 170S-D. As perplexed as you are, I was too as perplexed as you when I heard of this model as I’ve only heard of the 170V and to be honest, I’m more well versed with Mercedes-Benz models from the late 1950s and onwards.

The 170S was the first Mercedes-Benz to be given the ‘S’ suffixes which means ‘Sonder’ in German or ‘Special’ in English. The particular model we are featuring today is the 170S-D of which the ‘D’ stands for Diesel. It is quite similar to the 170V and it initially even shared the same chassis code of W136. (It’s quite odd that the codes Mercedes-Benz had never really followed a sequence which is also evident in the later models such as the W111 which was an earlier model compared to the W108.)

The engine was the 1767cc inline 4 with a four-speed manual transmission which the 170V also shared, although the initial 170S and 170V had the 1697cc engine. One look at the car and you will know that it is a very old car dating from the 1940s with its real timeless vintage design. Cabriolets were also manufactured based on the same chassis to create a wider range of models and towards the end of its production a base model known as the 170S-V was introduced. Between its production years of 1949-1955 there were close to 70,000 units built which included the various specifications and body types.

Below are some of the shots taken, so sit back and enjoy the marvel of engineering by Mercedes-Benz who until the early 90s were known to over-engineer their cars and that’s the reason these old cars survive for more than 70 years. I've also attached a video of all the model variations below.

The video