After seeing the Mercedes Kombi that we recently featured, reader Bob G decided to share his 190B Wagon with us! From Bob – This is my “Little Red Wagon.” It is a 1963 Mercedes 190B Binz Station Wagon, with Binz body number 1540. I Purchased it in September, 1984 and completed the restoration in March, 1987. I believe this Station Wagon to be one of 50 that were supposedly produced by Binz for Mercedes Benz for the US market.
One day I received a call from a lady in Fontana, CA about 135 miles from my shop in Chula Vista, CA. Her boyfriend had passed away leaving her with five Mercedes sitting in their yard. I bought all five cars, sight unseen just to get the station wagon. Of the five the 190b Station Wagon was the only one of them that ran. The other four were junked out for parts. I asked the lady how she had found my phone number. Some years earlier when she lived in San Diego, she bought a 250S. The seller gave her one of my business cards and told her that if she needed parts I was the one to call. She had long since sold the 250S but still had the business card.
These 5 Mercedes were field finds.
It appears that Bob has some lovely Mercedes wagons and that this rare Kombi found a good home! We want to thank him for sharing his story with us and we wish him the best with all of his cars! If you have a cool car story, a rare classic, or a great barn find, we would love to hear about it! You can send your stories to mail@barnfinds.com!
Great find very rare, considering normal attrition rust through rates on the unibody floors and frame, makes that 1 of what? 10 in existence? Did not know MB kept that ponton body style as late as 63 on the 190b model.
A M-B wagon like this sure is a rarity that’s worth preserving and keeping, and by the look of those five good looking ‘field finds’ lined up next to it, Bob G is the guy to call when you want to make sure your vintage M-B lives on.
It’s extra satisfying to know that out of what must have been a pretty difficult scenario for the girlfriend, whose boyfriend died and left 5 old cars in the yard, that she had kept the one business card that would solve her problem and also get the cars to the right person—Bob G.
I really like stories like this because they are the perfect example of the right outcome, as opposed to all those listings of cars that have been neglected or trashed and then listed on CL or Ebay by somebody who posts bad photos and gives little or no information yet thinks the car is worth a lot more than it is—-and also has an attitude about it all.
I wrote about Bob’s car for Classic Mercedes in the UK. If you would like to read the story, click on this link.
http://photos.imageevent.com/mmm_mag/richtruesdellpdfs/CM4_Binz%20190b_dm2_ds.pdf
More photos of Bob’s Binz Benz can be found here. The story will explain how it’s a 1963 model.
http://automotivetraveler.fotki.com/1963-mercedes-benz–2/?view=roll
I’ve read a few of your articles, so it’s nice to meet you here. I have to say that your photos are about the best I’ve seen in the automotive world, especially the moving shots. Thanks for the links.
Nice shot in front of the I.B pier Bob. I go down once a month to have breakfast at the small café across the street from the new hotel with the “un-elected” mayor of I.B.
Nice!