Very Rare Mercedes-Benz
Hello, and thank you for visiting. I have built this site for two reasons: (1) to help me find any other Mercedes Kombis (station wagons) or other special body vehicles built on any of the thirty 6-cylinder chassis sold by Mercedes from 1951 to 1963 and (2) to help me sell my 1959 219 Kombi by Binz Karosserie. If you have any information regarding the existence of any of the vehicles I am searching for I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
If you are interested in learning about the relative rarity of the various Mercedes models from 1951 to 1963 plus the current market value of some models please see the 1st "attachment" (13 pages you need to scroll through) at the bottom of this site (there used to be a link but does not work at the moment) entitled "Mercedes Production Ponton 1951-63..." you will find two pages describing the various models, followed by 2 pages showing the production numbers for each of those models, followed by 4 pages showing market values as of 2014 when this site was created.
If you would like a summary version of the above document in the form of a one-page "Rarity Tree" (suitable for framing?) please select the 2nd "attachment" at the bottom of this site entitled "Mercedes 6-Cylinder Rarity tree 1951-63"
In addition to building special bodies on Mercedes chassis Karoserrie Binz also built special bodies for Volkswagon and other manufacturers and produced a line of Vespa-like scooters in the mid-50's. Binz continues in business in Lorch, Germany, and specializes in high-tech ambulances, police vehicles and other special-bodied vehicles, many built on Mercedes chassis. If you would like to learn more about Binz history and current production please go to www.Binz.com. If you would like to see a couple of terrific and fun pages of photos of Binz scooters and other older vehicles please see the 3rd "attachment" at the bottom of this page.
1959 219 Binz Kombi
A. Rarity: Of 27,842 219’s there were three special bodies, one each in 1957, 1958 and 1959. I do not know whether either of the other 2 were wagons or some other body style (trucks, ambulance, hearse…etc.) and I do not know if either of the other 2 exist today. Of 116,406 6-cylinder Ponton cars from 1951 to 1963 there were 14 special bodies, being the three 219’s and eleven 220S’s. Of the 34,003 non-Ponton cars from 1951 to 1963 there were 16 special bodies, being twelve 300/300b's, three 300c's and one 300d.
Of those 30 vehicles I do not know whether any of the other 29 were wagons or some body style (trucks, ambulance, hearse…etc.) and I do not know of any others that exist today. If you would like a better breakdown of production numbers please select the icons above.
B. Provenance: In 1959 a 33 year old stockbroker from Minneapolis desired something special in a station wagon and found that one of his only European choices was a Rolls shooting brake. He had a friend stationed in the Army in or near Stuttgart, however, who told him that he had seen 4-cylinder Mercedes wagons and could enquire of the local Mercedes dealer whether they could provide a 6-cylinder. It turns out that they could, and the car was ordered from the dealer. A few months later the Army friend was scheduled to return stateside, drove the car through Germany, had the Army ship it to NY, and then drove it to his stockbroker friend in Minneapolis. The stockbroker is now 87, living near Los Angeles and driving a Mercedes 600. I drove the 219 up to see him many years ago and spoke to his a couple of weeks ago – he has related much about the car and remains enthusiastic about collector Mercedes.
The stockbroker only drove the 219 about 5 years – he tells me he loved it but found the heater inadequate for Minnesota winters. The car came to me with his original manual – I recently sent him a photocopy of the manual with some 1959 service notes on it and he confirmed it is his handwriting. He sold the car in approximately 1965 to a fellow named Warren who lived across the street in Minneapolis. Warren married Nancy a few years later – Warren died in 1988 and Nancy sold the car in 1990 to a fellow named Pat in the San Francisco area. It turns out Nancy has just retired as a prominent physician/professor and is still living in Minneapolis.
Pat, the next owner, only had the car a couple of years before he sold it to me in 1992. I am the 4th owner and, with the exception of Nancy’s husband, I believe we are all still kicking around.
I have some maintenance records from the time Warren and Nancy had the car, including (according to Nancy’s letter) a complete engine rebuild (new pistons…) approx. 1975. The car had 116,000 miles when sold to Pat in 1990 and I doubt I have put more than 10,000 on it since then.
If you look at attachments 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 below (they used to be links but not now working - they all have multiple pages you need to scroll through) you will see the following 12 documents in the following order, some of which pertain to my 219 but most of which apply to special-bodied vehicles in general:
1. A 1992 letter from Frank Barrett, then editor of The Star magazine of the Mecedes-Benz Club of America, to the effect that he is unaware of any other 6-cylinder Ponton wagons (apparently he was unaware of Mrs. Foulke's car described below).
2. My 1995 letter to the Mercedes factory about the three Binz Kombis I had at the time (info on the other two has been blacked out) followed by Mercedes' reply.
3. A 1979 letter from coach-builder Binz to a former owner of one of my other Kombis.
4. The "build sheet" from the Mercedes factory for my 219.
5. Two pages from Werner Oswald's authoritative book on Mercedes production showing the model production numbers. Footnote 12 of the first such page refers to the three 219 chassis and footnote 13 refers to the eleven 220S chassis sold. Footnotes 1, 2 and 3 of the 2nd such page refer to the 16 special-bodied vehicles built on 300 series chassis.
6. A 1990 cover article in The Star magazine about a 1961 190 Binz wagon owned then and now by collector Bob Gunthorp (copyrighted material, used with express written permission of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, www.mbca.com). The photos of this wagon in this article and the Richard Truesdell article referenced below give a good idea of the 219's appearance and design except that the 219 has leather interior and a longer front section for the 6-cylnder engine.
7. 3 pages from a book which I have (but cannot find at the moment to identify) with photos and descriptions of the special bodies. Most notable is the photo of a 220 or 300 hearse - I am always impressed and amused by the beautiful luggage rack - how Egyptian!
8. 6 pages from Schrader-Motor-Chronik book regarding special bodied vehicles - part in German, part French and a bit of English at the end.
9. A 2 page 1959 advertisement by Binz.
10. 2 pages from Werner Oswald's book showing a 1955 300 Krankenwagen (ambulance), a 1955 300 Bestattungswagon (hearse), another 1955 300 hearse, a 1957 300 Kombiwagon (station wagon), and a 1958 ambulance.
11. 5 pages from Bestattungswagon im Wandel der Zeit, a German book about hearses and funeral cars, showing early 220, 180 and 190 hearses.plus a Ponton 220 hearse, a 300 hearse (again with luggage rack but different car than above) and what appear to be three other 300 hearses, one parked in front of builder Stolle Karosseriefabrik.
These 5 pictured cars, plus the hearse with luggage rack and the four other 300's referenced above, likely account for 10 of the 30 special bodies based on the 219, 220 and 300 series chassis. Such photos are the only evidence I have seen regarding any of such 30 vehicles aside from my 219, and I am not aware of any others which still exist.
12. A 2013 article by Richard Truesdell in Classic Mercedes Magazine about the above-mentioned 190 Binz wagon owned by Bob Gunthorp. (copywrited material, used with express written permission of the author and Classic Mercedes Magazine, www.classicmercedesmagazine.com).
C. Condition: The car is complete and original, and all worked when I stopped driving it about 1998. The only alteration made was that the stockbroker personally installed (very nicely) stainless strips on the wagon bed to make it easier to slide stuff in and out. The car suffered from road salt rust underneath from its time in Minnesota and needs work in that area and overall restoration. I will be happy to provide photos, additional info and access for inspection to any serious prospective purchaser. The original owner tells me he ordered the car with black paint and red leather interior, all of which has remained throughout. Although it is my understanding that Mercedes delivered the chassis to Binz with the body in primer the Mercedes “build sheet” shows the paint as red so I assume that was either in error or Binz accepted a red chassis from the factory and changed it to black when they completed the coachwork. The 5 standard colors for a 219 were black, moss green, medium green, stone grey and medium blue with an additional 21 special colors also available. For most 219s the interior could be either cloth or MBTex (like vinyl). Leather was available on the more expensive models. Because this was a special bodied car, however, leather was also an option, and wisely chosen by the original owner. Leather was available in 1088 red, 1068 natural, 1060 creme, 1099 red and a 1104/1105 dark brown/yellow combination. Color charts and an incredible amount of info regarding Ponton cars is available at www.mbzponton.org, a very active Ponton owners website. Although I would normally want to keep the original color of any rare car which I restored in this case I would be very tempted to go with one of the 21 special colors with one of the 5 leather choices available - perhaps light blue, green or yellow with natural leather or some other paint color which would go well with wonderful red leather.
Mrs. Foulke's 1956 300c Kombi:
Some of you may be aware of the 1956 Binz Kombi which sold at an Amelia Island auction in 2010 for $242,000 and again at Goodings Scotsdale auction in 2016 for $489,000. That car was not built on one of the three 300c chassis which were sold but instead was built on a new 300c sedan which went straight from the factory to Binz for customization. This first icon below is a link to a 2012 article about this car by Editor Gary Anderson of The Star magazine (copywrited material, used with express written permission of the author and Mercedes-Benz Club of America, www.mbca.com). The second icon is a very interesting article about this car by Alex Dearborn from sportscarmarket.com (copywrited material, used with express written permission of the author and Sports Car Market, www.sportscarmarket.com). This Kombi was ordered new by Mrs. Caroline Foulkes of Palm Beach/Paris/New York and appears identical to the 1957 300 Kombi pictured in Werner Oswald's book referenced above. I agree with Mr. Dearborn in his article to the effect that this Kombi was "well bought" at $242,000 in 2010 and I would think that such car today would bring $400,000 - 500,000. My Kombi will never be worth as much as that car simply because the 300c has all the rarity and provenance of mine plus the extra quality and features which went into the 300 series cars. I much prefer the front and rear fenders of the 300 over the 219 Ponton shape. On the other hand, and I may be prejudiced, my artist's eye prefers the rounded look of the 219 windows over the square-cornered look Binz used on the 300c. I saw the 300c when Bill Patton owned it in the early 90's and remember it seemed huge compared to my 219, due both to length and the large wheels used on the 300c. The 219 might benefit from larger wheels if desired. To me, the 219 is a smaller and more fun car while the 300c is the larger and more impressive version.
PRICE:
As you might imagine it is difficult for me to price this car as there are really no close comparables. In my opinion this car when restored should bring something between the value of a 220S or 220SE Cabriolet and the value of the 300c Kombi described above. From that value needs to be subtracted the cost of restoration, possibly $50,000 or more with today's prices depending on what work the owner does himself and level of restoration. At this point I need to get some feedback from other collectors and potential purchasers in order to really see where the value of this Kombi stands. In my mind I picture the 219 either going to a museum or a collector who already has pricey collectibles and cars for formal occasions and is looking for something that no one else has, anywhere. This car needs to be restored but it doesn't have to be a 99.53 to be a hit at a concouse d'elegance or any gathering - plus you won't be paranoid to drive it on the road and when it may rain or snow. For some it may be a choice between having/driving a relatively common cabriolet or this much, much rarer model - others may be fortunate enough to be able to afford both. My best sales pitch is that if you have the $ you will always be able to buy a cabriolet, coupe, roadster or Gullwing but it is extremely unlikely that you will have another opportunity to buy one of these except from whoever buys it from me.
If you have any information regarding the existence of any 6-cylinder Kombis or any of the other 29 vehicles built on one of the 6-cylinder chassis sold by Mercedes from 1951 to 1963 please e-mail me at brbab@hotmail.com. If you understand the rarity and value of the 219 Kombi and are seriously interested in purchasing it please contact me likewise. If you do not receive a response to your e-mail within a couple of days or are anxious to reach me you may telephone me at (619) 222-2661 between 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM San Diego, California, U.S. time. Unless I am overwhelmed by a very high offer (hint, hint) I intend to advertise this car in Hemmings' May and June issues, in the next The Star issue, and elsewhere in order to give full exposure to the market, so please do not be overly concerned about contacting me immediately. Thank you all for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you.