Mercedes-Benz Ponton

The Mercedes-Benz Ponton series is a range of saloon cars that Mercedes-Benz introduced from 1953 and that became its dominant production models until 1959. The name, German for pontoon, is a later nickname for the styling that merged the bonnet, body, wings and running boards into one envelope; the cars were the company's first monocoque, unitary-body production models and replaced the pre-war-designed 170. Work began in 1951 under Fritz Nallinger, with styling by Karl Wilfert and passive safety engineering conceived by Bela Barenyi. The first was the 1953 W120 180, available as a petrol car and as the 180 D diesel; the six-cylinder 220 a followed in 1954 with a 170 mm longer body, then the 220 S, 219 and fuel-injected 220 SE, with a six-cylinder coupe and convertible derived from them. Ponton saloons made up 80 per cent of Mercedes-Benz car production from 1953 to 1959, with some models lasting until 1962, before the Fintail range succeeded them.