When we think of vintage Mercedes-Benz vehicles, it’s easy to jump right to the exotic 300SL Gullwing or thundering 6.9L V8 sedans. However, older Mercedes products that weren’t the pinnacle of sports cars for their day or the most brutal Autobahn-storming sedan tend to trade hands for far less money, and in the case of this sorely neglected 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300 Adenauer sedan listed here on Facebook Marketplace for $5,000. The seller would also be happy to simply trade you for a running vehicle – literally, any running vehicle. The Mercedes is available in Standish, Maine, and may be more useful as a Halloween prop at this juncture.
Now, when it was new, it was still like most Mercedes products of the era, which is to say it was a technologically-advanced and feature-rich vehicle compared to other new cars. There was a load-leveling rear suspension, an overhead cam engine, and four-wheel independent suspension. The trunk was massive, as was in the interior compartment, and these grand sedans could soak up highway miles like few other cars on the road at the time. The 3.0L inline-six engine produced around 115 horsepower, and this big body sedan likely has a column-shifted manual transmission.
Amazingly, the glass appears to be in good shape, along with the bumper trim, grill, driving lamps, and most of the lenses. The taillights are gone, along with the marker lights that sit atop the quarter panels. The seller notes that the Mercedes has been parked here for 40 years and that the garage protecting the car fell down and was removed about 10 years ago. While I’m sure the floors had likely perished even earlier in this car’s life, the exterior bodywork may have been decent yet before it lost all protection from the elements. Maine is known for its significant winter season, and you can bet this 300 sedan will be hidden under snowfall before too long.
The seller doesn’t have much information about the car, but seeing that this workshop manual is included indicates someone at this address previously loved this 1960s luxury model. When these are seen in restored condition, the dramatic, swooping fenders and stately stance are two distinctive features, along with the pronounced grill emblem and hubcaps sporting the the iconic 3-pointed star. The value of these cars is not tremendously high at the moment, with decent examples trading around $25,000 or so, which likely means this Mercedes has a future as a parts car. Still, it deserves better than to be on static display in someone’s backyard, but who knows if it will hold together when moved. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Paul in MA for the find.
Sadly, only fit for an automotive requiem-“axles to axles, rust to rust..” Salvage the glass and lights maybe but that won’t bring you $5k.
5K? LOL. If somebody offers to pry it out of the dirt and haul it off for free, they better jump on that.
These have the same engine as the 300SL, but detuned..
5 G’s??? Not hardly. Sunk up to the rockers in mud? This one is well on the way to recycling itself. The Adenauer sedans were beautiful cars. This one was at one time, but will never be one again. The best hope is that it can help another one live again.
$5000 is the new $50, I guess.
I grew up with a 53′ Adenauer convertible in my family as my father was really into Mercedes-Benz post WWII. At the time, it was just a car, like any car. He refinished the interior in vinyl so us kids didn’t ruin the seats if we spilled. It had a 4-speed “on the tree”, which is how I learned to drive manual transmission. It worked well and if I close my eyes I can still run through the gears. These cars are never really very valuable at least when compared to other restored classics of this era. We sold ours for $40,000 in the late ’80s. Oddly, I don’t miss that car. It was big, ungainly, slow and just felt old. It’s weird to think that these were made all the way into the early ’60s. It’s crazy to think but at one point you could buy this or a Buick Riviera, which seemed impossibly modern by comparison.
Back in the early 1980s there were just 2 Americans (that I knew of) living in Tianjin, China.I was one of them. The other was being ferried around in a state owned 1957 Mercedes 300 similar to this car. But the Chinese kept it in beautiful shape. Every time it was parked, the driver would get out and wash the car. I was being ferried around in an Opel Rekord. When the other American’s time was up and he was being repatriated back to the US he offered to buy the Mercedes. The Chinese came back and said they weren’t allowed to sell state property. But if he wanted to trade, well, that would be OK. So he bought a brand new Nissan Cedric, and the Chinese shipped him the Mercedes. I cried foul, as I wasn’t leaving but I wanted an old Mercedes too. My hosts searched far and wide for one but came up empty. Finally, while I was in a meeting with factory representatives and my biggest customer was with me for a visit, a young man came running into the meeting room exclaiming he had found an old Mercedes. I asked my customer if he minded if we took a break and go out and take a look. He eagerly agreed. So, in the small town of Datong we were driving up and down streets, there weren’t many cars in this town at the time, and finally came upon the car. it was probably a late 1950s 190 I think. The smallest of the Mercedes models at the time. And the condition wasn’t much better than the car featured here. The engine had been replaced by a Chinese 4 cylinder motor, the interior was completely trashed like some goats had taken up residence inside. I politely declined the offer to trade a new car for it.
Now there’s a story. Wonder where that ’57 Benz 300 is now?
Adenauer’s are sought after by the MB Community – but no one is touching this one. Not sure what the glass and chrome is worth it but the seller is extremely optimistic unless there’s a 300 gullwing under this heap…
I have a grill from an “Adenauer” hanging in my garage filled with grill badges.
The one on this car isn’t as nice…. but probably worth $100.00?? as garage art.