Imagine having a model of car that is colloquially referred to as a “ponton” which translates loosely into “a landing barge”. Doesn’t sound too enticing, does it? Nevertheless, that’s the term being bandied about to describe what is essentially a pile of ponton parts that comprise a 1960 Mercedes 190B. Let’s see what’s here, maybe there’s a pony in there somewhere… This Mercedes is located in Cheyenne, Wyoming and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $500 with one bid tendered so far.

Things get a bit confusing at the outset as the seller describes this Benz as a 190D which designates it as a diesel-powered car but the engine doesn’t show as a diesel unit. That would lead one to the conclusion that this is a 190B (model W121)  that was offered between 1959 and 1961 and saw a production volume of about 28K units. That would mean a 90 HP, 1.9 liter, in-line four-cylinder engine. The seller advises, “The engine ran good about four years ago“. I’d go with the assumption that’s not now the case. Gear changes are handled by a four-speed manual, column-shift activated transmission.

It is suggested, “As you can see from the pictures that the body is in good shape with a few defects“. Yeah, maybe, it’s hard to tell with it disassembled and so much missing which begs the question of “what happened to it to end up as it sits?” There is no disclosure on that front but the seller states that he was going to combine this Mercedes with a 1959 190D (the 190D reference perhaps?) to make one good car. At first blush, the few exterior images are not indicating signs of serious rust or crash damage but they’re not very revealing either. If you examine all of the images, there are several of what looks like a field-find of miscellaneous items but what’s there, what’s not, and what needs to be is undisclosed.

The interior is best summed up by asking, “What the h@*! happened in here?” It is a total disaster of what looks like a tsunami of weather, age, neglect, and animal/rodent hi-jinx. Interestingly, there’s a corner broken off of the steel glove box door as if someone tried to pry it open – I’ve never seen that happen! It appears as if there is nothing of any value there though there is an aftermarket cassette player…and the ignition key.

Even if the body shell is viable, and the engine is not seized and is capable of further use, I’m seeing mostly scrap here and that would seem to mirror other’s views too as there has only been a single $500 bid tendered over the last four days. I hate to pronounce sentence but I’d estimate that this 1960 Mercedes-Benz 190 is over and out, ponton or not, what says you?