How the Mercedes 170 V helped relaunch the company after 1945

On 11 November 1945, the Mercedes 170 V (W 136) passenger car, which the company had originally launched in 1936 could go back into production. This permission was granted from the economic authority of the US occupation zone to what was then Daimler-Benz AG to produce platform vehicles, panel vans and ambulances on the basis of the 170 V . This was to be the beginning of the reconstruction of the company from the destruction of WW2. The licence was extended to the production of passenger cars in the spring of 1946. In May 1946, a platform body vehicle was the first of 214 units to roll off the final assembly production line at the Sindelfingen plant that year. It was followed by the first delivery of a panel van in June, an ambulance in September and a police patrol car in October. The number of units produced and gaps in production, indicate that manufacturing conditions were far from normal. It was not until mid-1947 that the 170 V four-door saloon followed the small commercial vehicles. In this video I will show you some oft he original press photographs which show the relaunch of this classic German brand and its complete recovery from the catastrophe of the second world war. Launch: As soon as Mercedes had permission to resume production, the company sprang into action! A decision was taken to relocate the final assembly for passenger cars from Untertürkheim to Sindelfingen – something which had already been planned prior to the war. The reason for taking this step was that transporting bodies from Sindelfingen through the Neckar Valley to Untertürkheim was more complicated than hauling drive unit components from Untertürkheim to Sindelfingen. On 22 February 1946, an M 136 four-cylinder engine marked the first engine produced at the Untertürkheim plant after the Second World War. The 1.7-litre unit generated an output of 28 kW (38 hp). Solid design: The 170 V (W 136) saloon, produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1942, formed the tried and tested basis of the first post-war vehicles. The post war ambulance showed the most similarities with the earlier model: the rear-axle ratio remained unchanged, as did the wheel and tyre size (3.50 D x 16 and 5.50 x 16). Both variants reached a top speed of 108 km/h and the permissible gross vehicle weight totalled around 1.5 tonnes. The X-shaped, oval-tube frame was reinforced to increase the stability of the platform vehicles and panel vans, thus making it 40 kilograms heavier. The payload amounted to 750 kilograms and the gross vehicle weight was around two tonnes. Engineers specified 4.25 E x 16 as the wheel dimensions and matched these with 6.50 x 16 tyres. A shorter rear-axle ratio was implemented in an effort to achieve a more acceptable driving performance. For this reason, commercial vehicles reached a top speed of only 80 km/h. Bare minimum: The vehicles came with very basic equipment. For instance, the vehicle’s interior design was very functional and there were no chrome parts on the exterior, thus underlining the extent to which this production was focussed on meeting basic transport and mobility requirements. The prevailing shortage of material brought about additional complications. Consequently, the vehicles were delivered without tyres – customers had to procure them from wherever they could find them – and this would probably be the black market. Organisational skill: Material shortages meant that there was a need to improvise when it came to producing the bodies of the 170 V commercial vehicles. There was hardly any sheet metal available. As a result, the sparse cab, a separate assembly unit, consisted of a simple, though at least lightweight, wood-fibre hardboard design, which had already been used for a host of trucks during the war. Sliding windows were installed as side windows and doors were locked by means of simple rim locks. It was cold in these cabs, particularly in winter, not least due to the lack of insulation – however, occupants were at any rate shielded from the direct head wind. The instruments with black dials were initially identical to those in former Wehrmacht all-terrain vehicles. Depending on the purpose, either a platform, box or ambulance body joined up with the cab. Police platform body vehicles were equipped with a tarp, frame and two benches facing each other in the loading area. By the end of 1946, 183 small commercial vehicles in various variants and 31 ambulances were produced. Passenger cars: Production of the four-door 170 V saloon was launched in July 1947. The price of 6,200 Reichsmark had been set by the government. However, these new vehicles were not available on the free market. Music : Aurea Carmina by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1400006 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Added 1 Jun 2026