Stately: ’56 Mercedes-Benz 300c

The 4-door model 300 had its launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in April 1951. It featured elegant modernist bodywork atop Mercedes’ proven X-frame chassis. The 300 was powered by an all new 3.0 litre overhead cam, aluminum head straight 6 coupled to a 4-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox or automatic. The 300’s frame was made of ovoid steel tubes, with a double wishbone, coil spring axle and stabilizer bar up front and Mercedes’ typical double coil spring rear swing axle. The four-door 300 models were often referred to as Adenauers after Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany who served in office from 1949 to 1963. The Chancellor employed six custom 300 versions during his tenure. The rarest 300s are the Coupe and Cabriolets but the big sedans make quite a statement. The problem is they are fabulously expensive to restore and the market value just isn’t there yet.So if you have a hankering for a 300, you have to buy a good one and pay as little as you can. The listing tells us it has been cared for by a 300 expert so we would get the phone number of the shop and make the call. We like the DN190 color and the red leather interior although the front needs work to try to save the original leather. Hagerty has a #1 Adenauer at $40,000 and this is a reserve auction so we don’t know what the dealer is looking for. Given the condition of the original interior and the inevitable unknown issues with the A/C means you should pay quite a bit less. Click here for the listing.