“Something clicked.” It’s a common enough idiom. I distinctly remember a grade school frustration: I just couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of reducing fractions to the lowest common denominator. My dad sat in the living room with me and the math book, explaining the lesson over and over, with nothing to show for it but a frustrated kid. But a couple days into this recurring disappointment, something clicked, and I never had a problem with it again. Some cars are like that. I watched On Her Majesty’s Secret Service a half-dozen times, but did I focus on the bad guys’ Mercedes? Of course not, I was too busy ogling Diana Rigg’s ’69 Cougar. But one day, something clicked, and now I’m head over heels for the Heckflosse. This 1962 220 pushes all the right buttons, but it’s definitely a project. Located in Los Altos, California, the original owner’s grandson is selling it on eBay.
These old Fintails are tanks; the seller says that this one has over 300,000 miles on it, but it hasn’t run in years and will need “significant TLC to get it running again.” But if any car can be revived, it’s an old Mercedes. The 220 is so named for its displacement, which rounds up to 2.2 liters of inline-six power. With an overhead camshaft and two Solex carbs, the 220 was rated at 105 horsepower. Top speed was right around 100 miles per hour, and it would probably handle that speed for weeks. With a four-speed manual on the column (which had a 1:1 top gear) and 3.90:1 gears out back, the little six will be singing on the expressway, but the driver will probably mind more than the car. Of course, that assumes you can get it running again.
The seller says that much of the car, including the paint and upholstery, is original. It was well maintained when their mother was using it as a daily driver, but it’s been a while since that was the case. At the very least, the 220 will need a battery, fuel system repairs, and new tires, although they will hold air long enough to winch the car onto a trailer. Judging by the pictures, the upholstery will eventually need to be redone, but you could easily drive it as it is (although you may want to replace those seat covers).
While there is some mechanical and interior work to do, at least a buyer will be starting with a clean California car, with only a gentle dent in the door and a dinged up rear bumper to detract from the car’s overall appearance. Right now, the high bid is $2,025, but there are still four days to go on the auction. Fintails aren’t typically high-dollar cars, so a purchase price vs. repair list analysis will be in order before clicking the “bid” button. If you have a trailer and can get it home, however, maybe something will click between you and this Mercedes.
All the parts will come from Mercedes itself; they support the restorations of their old cars. But be advised: poor people have never driven Mercedes-Benz cars then or now.
There’s nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes!
(to Rex Kahrs) …except a cheap Roll Royce!
Why do people even bother trying to peddle junk like this here? These old 220’s were not popular cars, and at this kind of mileage… call the crusher!
My 1965 220S has been relatively inexpensive to maintain over the last 30 years. Unfortunately, Mercedes no longer supports classic Mercedes except for some of the more collectable cars. For example, when I needed a head gasket for my 220 neither Mercedes nor anyone else had one available. The most difficult thing on this car will be the carburetors. I fought mine for decades before I converted to Webbers. Now it runs beautifully and the conversion uses the same air cleaner so it is not obvious. At this time I’m try to get the high beam indicator to work and it seems that will take a turn indicator switch because in 1956 they added the feature of being able to flash one’s high beams.
So sad to hear that about Mercedes. That was always the draw to them, and I admired them for that.
Are you sure it was Diana Riggs Cougar you were watching, not sure I got that far.
‘Though part of this short story might make you cringe, I had a ’64 220S with a rusted fender. A new one delivered to the MB dealer, followed by an Earl Sheib job, I truly enjoyed that cushy ride and its mesmerizing speedometer.
One day, in the early 70s, I was driving with my Dad and we were passing a huge junkyard in Queens NY, next to Shea Stadium under the #7 train L. I was like 10 years old and I said, Dad, you have to go down there and buy all those cars! Why, they are all junk? He said. Because the parts will be worth money some day! He looked at me and said, How the hell did you come up with that? Needless to say, he didn’t stop the car… Point being, classic cars are almost becoming dinosaurs when it comes to parts. Just think of all the new car parts on the market. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to send parts back because they were the wrong year, due to sellers not knowing the correct year of a part. Let’s not talk about spending an hour online looking for best price, and correct part from pictures.
I have had 2 of these cars many years ago and both were great cars. i recall about 30 mpg. If im not mistaken they have an ivory steering wheel and shift knob. i bought my first one for $1000 dollars in the 70s before college. It was a hit, everyone saying my family must be rich if my dad let me use his Benz. I told them my dad drove an Impala. A rust free body is a great place to start but may cost alot to get back to a nice driver.
i will never understand how some of these cars get listed here
ken, are you familiar with the term “clickbait”?
My understanding is that this 220 is a quite rare model, the 220S being much more common. The most obvious difference is that the 220 has taillights and rear bumper from the 4-cylinder fintails. There’s less chrome, fixed seat backs and some other minor interior differences. But at least the 1960 220 that I once owned had a single carb engine (I think it was rated at 95 hp) So I don’t think the dual carb setup here was original to this car. One other difference that stumped me was when I had replaced the rear brake shoes. Adjusted correctly, put the wheels back on, and was to back out of the garage – and the car wouldn’t move. Getting it back up on the jackstands and trying to figure out why the wheels were locked and when taking the drums off everything looked good. Turned out that the rear brakes on the 220 are a few millimeter narrower than for the 220S so when putting the wheels back on again the brake shoes got squeezed between the drum and the back plate. I had to mill a little bit off from the brake shoes to make them fit.
Sounds like a good submission for Rock Auto’s “Repair Mistakes and Blunders” column in their online newsletter.