• Left-hand drive • Present ownership since December 2018 • An older restoration • Engine rebuilt by Jim Stokes Workshops Limited in 2020/2021 Introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show in April 1951, the Mercedes-Benz 220 was in effect a six-cylinder version of the 170 S on the same 2,845mm wheelbase chassis.

The first of this line – the four-cylinder, 1.7-litre 170V – had been introduced back in 1936 and formed the mainstay of Mercedes-Benz production in the immediate post-war years.

Running gear was state-of-the-art at the time, comprising an oval-tube backbone-type chassis, swing-axle independent rear suspension, transverse-leaf IFS and hydraulic brakes.

Introduced in May 1949, the outwardly similar 170 S came with a 1,767cc engine equipped with an aluminium-alloy cylinder head.

The suspension too had undergone considerable development, a thoroughly modern double wishbone/coil spring design being adopted at the front, while at the rear the track was widened and telescopic shock abso...