Mercedes-Benz Type 230 (W143), 1938
A luxury passenger car produced between 1937 and 1941, the successor to the earlier Type 200 model, but significantly modernized and better adapted to long-term driving on highways. The extended version with a wheelbase of 305 cm (the first series had a wheelbase of 270 cm) was available in seven body styles: from two-door, two-seater convertibles to seven-seater Pullman limousines. The drive was a six-cylinder M143 petrol engine with a capacity of 2.23 liters and a power of 55 HP. The car was equipped with an interesting suspension: front wheels on two transverse springs, rear axle with swinging half-tubes, suspended by 4 spiral springs, and from 1938 hydraulic shock absorbers were also added. It was also then that a four-speed gearbox was introduced as standard. An interesting variant of the car was the Type 260D (factory designation W138), one of the first two mass-produced passenger cars in the world (along with the Hanomag Rekord) equipped with a diesel engine. In pre-war Poland, few people could afford to buy a Mercedes 230; it cost nearly PLN 17,000 (for comparison, a Polski Fiat 508 cost PLN 5.4 thousand).
A total of approximately 20,000 copies of all versions of the Mercedes type in question were produced.
Technical data of M-B Type 230 (W143):
Length: 4.58 m
Width: 1.71 m
Wheelbase: 3.05 m
Curb weight: 1450 kg
Maximum speed: 112 km/h
Drive: in-line 6-cylinder M143 petrol engine
Displacement: 2229 cm3
Power: 55 HP
Average fuel consumption: 16 l/100 km
