Mercedes-Benz 220 (W187)

19 sales analyzed · 11 topics from real Bring a Trailer & Cars & Bids comments.

“SOMEONE ASKED JAY LENO WHY ANYONE WOULD SPEND A MILLION DOLLARS ON A CAR WHEN YOU COULD BUY A PAINTING . JAY REPLIED , BECAUSE YOU CAN’T DRIVE A PAINTING . AS IT TURNS OUT , YOU ACTUALLY CAN !”RIMSPOKE · Dec 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM

• Undervalued relative to the 300SL and 190SLmarket
  Commenters consistently argue the 220 Cabriolet A is underpriced next to the SL cars, pointing out that it draws more attention than a 300SL yet sells for a fraction, and that Cabriolet A examples almost never come up for sale while 300SLs are always available. Owners of both cars make this comparison directly. …
• Body style drives value: Sedan vs Cabriolet A vs Bmarket
  The four doors and fixed roof of the sedan are treated as a large price penalty against the two-seat Cabriolet A, with one commenter putting the difference at over $80,000. Sedans are praised as huge value 'so much car for the dollar' while the roadster and SL variants of the era command far more. …
• Production rarity and survivor countshistory
  The Cabriolet A is repeatedly described as rare, with 1,278 the most commonly cited build figure, though a seller states 1,363 Cabriolet A versus 997 Cabriolet B were produced and another regular puts the total at about 1,200. Survivor numbers are treated as an open unknown after 60-plus years. …
• Driving character: a smooth cruiser, not a hot roddriving
  Owners describe the 220 as a genuinely pleasant, easy driver that flatters its antique appearance, accelerating and stopping cleanly but with no pretense of being fast. The column-mounted H-pattern shift is called tricky at first but easily learned, and the folding 'roll top' roof is praised for keeping rear passengers to only a light breeze. …
• Fixed-heel drum brake designmechanical
  A hands-on owner who rehabbed a car found the drum brakes use fixed rather than floating shoe heels, meaning each drum must be ground round to match its shoes and shoes cannot be interchanged, making a proper reline fiddly and shudder-prone. The same commenter counted roughly 80 parts that add complexity without improving braking, and calls these early postwar cars difficult to work on. …
• Wood-framed body structure and door sagbuying
  These bodies contain a lot of structural wood, and rot at the hinge pillars and around door-frame screw holes causes the suicide doors to droop and lose their fit. A marque expert warns that door fit and contour problems can indicate wood trouble, and that whether the structural woodwork was repaired or replaced is the key question when evaluating a restoration. …
• Front engine-mount failure cascademechanical
  One owner-mechanic documented a specific failure chain: disintegrating front engine mounts let the engine drop, the fan then struck the crossmember and the stalled fan hub spun off the water-pump shaft, damaging the pump. He faults the design for having no bottom stop to limit how far the engine can drop. …
• Parts availability and restoration costownership
  Opinion splits on parts and running costs. Sellers and some owners say parts are available through specialist sources such as Niemoller and Art Star Classics and that any foreign-car mechanic can service the car with minimal running costs, while others report Mercedes parts prices are staggering with little aftermarket, and that some parts are simply irreplaceable. …
• Matching numbers and replacement enginesbuying
  Threads debate how much a non-original or missing engine hurts value. Several owners downplay it, noting this is not a multi-million-dollar car and that numbers only matter at resale, while bidders on a car with a replacement engine openly speculated about the discount versus a recent matching-numbers sale. …
• Postwar significance and 1930s-carryover designhistory
  Commenters place the W187 as a car built while Germany was still digging out of WWII rubble, essentially a 1930s design (down to the crank-hole cover in the grille) that reused prewar toolings and was important to the postwar economy. It is positioned as neither a stripped-out 170 nor a barge like the 300, effectively the E-Class of its day and a smaller, cheaper echo of the 300S in design. …
• Charm features: suicide doors, semaphore trafficators, 6-voltcosmetic
  The car's period charm is a recurring theme: rear-hinged suicide doors that grab attention, the fold-out semaphore turn indicators (nicknamed 'Mox Nix Sticks') engaged by turning a chrome ring in the steering wheel, and the original 6-volt electrics. Owners say these details draw more attention than a Gullwing. …