Mercedes-Benz W111

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Mercedes-Benz W111

Image:Mercedes-Benz 220b (1963).png
Manufacturer	Mercedes-Benz
Also called	Mercedes-Benz Fintail
Production	1959 — 1968 W111 only: 370,807
Predecessor	Mercedes-Benz Ponton
Class	Full-size Luxury car
Body style(s)	4-door sedan 2-door coupe 2-door convertible
Engine(s)	2.0L 4-cylinder 2.2L straight-6 3.0L straight-6 3.5L V8 (Coupé and convertible)

See Mercedes-Benz S-Class for a complete overview of all S-Class models.

The "Fintail" (German: Heckflosse) was a series of luxury cars produced by Mercedes-Benz from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s under the W111 chassis code. Though never officially designated as such (they were designated Peilstege, marking the end of the car in rear view mirror), the cars gained the nickname because of the distinctive rear-end which incorporates small tailfins, thought to be an understated attempt to appeal to the United States market at the time (with their outrageously finned cars, such as the Cadillacs and Buicks of the times). The Fintail is considered part of the lineage of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class flagship model, particularly the initial 6-cylinder W111 and more luxurious W112 models. A 4-cylinder version, the W110, was introduced in 1962. In the S-Class lineage, the Fintail models were succeeded by the larger W108/W109 lines.

The Fintail models were pioneers of the automotive safety feature of crumple zones, which absorb the energies of a collision. The idea for crumple zones came from Bela Barenyi who worked as an engineer for Mercedes-Benz.^[1]

References

1. ↑ Independent article - crumple zone development

• "Mercedes-Benz U.S Models". Hiwaay.net. http://home.hiwaay.net/~gbf/mbmodels.html. Retrieved on December 1. 
• Deutsche Autos 1945 - 1975, W. Oswald, ISBN 3-87943-391-7

v • d • e Mercedes-Benz road car timeline, 1946–1970s — next »
Class	Type	1940s				1950s										1960s										1970s
		6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
4-cylinder	Sedan	W136 / W191							W120 / W121								W110								W115								W123
	Roadster										R121
6-cylinder	Sedan						W187			W105 / W180 / W128							W111								W114								W123
	Coupé						W187					W180 / W128
Large car	Sedan						W186 / W189								W111				W108 / W109							W116
	Luxury							W188									W112
	Limousine						W186 / W189										W112				W100 (600)
Sports	Roadster										W198								W113									R107

v • d • e Mercedes-Benz S-Class lineage, 1950s–present W180 (1955) · W128 (1958) · W111 (1959) · W112 (1961) · W108 (1965) · W116 (1972) · W126 (1979) · W140 (1991) · W220 (1999) · W221 (2006)