Details of Cars

Mercedes-Benz W188: the hand-built 300 S and 300 Sc

MERCEDES-BENZ

Mercedes-Benz 300 Sc Coupé W188
A 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 Sc Coupé. Photo by Charles from Port Chester, New York, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Mercedes-Benz W188 is a two-door luxury sports tourer produced between 1951 and 1958. The hand-built 300 S of 1952 to 1955 and its successor the 300 Sc of 1955 to 1958 were the most exclusive cars of their era.

Mercedes-Benz 300 S at a glance

Mercedes-Benz W188 key facts
Production 1951–1958
Models 300 S (1952–1955) and 300 Sc (1955–1958)
Total built 760, of which 560 300 S and 200 300 Sc
Bodies coupé, cabriolet and roadster
300 S engine 2,996 cc M188 straight six, triple Solex carburettors
300 S power 150 PS at 5,000 rpm
300 S built 216 coupés, 203 Cabriolet As, 141 roadsters
300 Sc engine M199 with direct fuel injection
300 Sc power 175 hp at 5,400 rpm
300 Sc price DM 36,500
300 Sc built 98 coupés, 49 Cabriolet As, 53 roadsters
Introduced Paris Salon, October 1951

This article is based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Mercedes-Benz W188.

History of the Mercedes-Benz 300 S

The 300 S was introduced at the Paris Salon in October 1951 and sold from 1952 as a two-seat roadster, a 2+2 coupé and a cabriolet officially called the Cabriolet A. Although mechanically similar to the much larger W186 300 Adenauer saloon, the extra craftsmanship, visual elegance and a price 50 per cent higher lifted the W188 to the top of the luxury market. It shared refinements with the Adenauer, including a pedal-operated chassis central lubrication system and a dashboard-operated electrical torsion-bar rear load-levelling suspension, and it shared engine, suspension and chassis ideas with the 300 SL Gullwing.

The 300 S used the high-performance M188 version of the W186’s 3-litre overhead-cam M186 straight six, with deep water jackets, a diagonal head-to-block joint for oversized valves, thermostatically controlled oil cooling, copper-lead bearings and a hardened crankshaft. Triple Solex carburettors and a 7.8:1 compression ratio raised output to 150 PS at 5,000 rpm. Between July 1952 and August 1955, 560 cars were built: 216 coupés, 203 Cabriolet As and 141 roadsters.

The 300 Sc appeared in 1955 with engine and suspension upgrades taken from the 300 SL of a year earlier and from the 300 c, the most advanced W186. Its new M199 straight six received a significantly detuned version of the 300 SL’s M198 mechanical direct fuel injection and the rear suspension improvement of the 300 c. With an 8.55:1 compression ratio the M199 produced 175 hp at 5,400 rpm and 255 Nm at 4,300 rpm, and the price rose to DM 36,500. Two hundred 300 Sc cars were built through April 1958: 98 coupés, 49 Cabriolet As and 53 roadsters.

Design and features

  • Hand-built luxury: the most expensive Mercedes-Benz of its time.
  • M188 and M199 sixes: from 150 PS with carburettors to 175 hp with injection.
  • Shared with the 300 SL: engine, suspension and chassis ideas.
  • Three bodies: coupé, cabriolet and a lighter, fully retractable roadster.

Mercedes-Benz 300 S versions

  • 300 S coupé: 216 built.
  • 300 S Cabriolet A: 203 built.
  • 300 S roadster: 141 built.
  • 300 Sc coupé: 98 built.
  • 300 Sc Cabriolet A and roadster: 49 and 53 built.

The W188 was the two-door relative of the 300 Adenauer and shared its technology with the 300 SL. More in the Mercedes-Benz collection.

Video: Mercedes-Benz 300 S (1955)

Video by YouTube on YouTube.

Sources

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