owner: Joachim Preiss /
preiss@rz-o.de
/ Pontonlandia, Germany
Hello Ponton Editor!
I recently sent you a Swedish edited pamphlet from Philipsons, Stockholm from my Mercedes-Benz-archive. I'm not from Sweden but from Pontonlandia – inside Germany – and have been enjoying my Moss Green (226) Type 180b (4/1961) for 35 years. Started driving a Ponton in 1978 at age 25. I bought this W120 180b in 1980 in Cuxhaven, a northern port on the North Sea, belonging to the first and only owner for 19 years – a dockyard owner (Beckmannswerft). He also had a 1954 Type 220a Ponton to sell, but at that time, his six-cylinder-Ponton was too expensive for me. So, I decided to stay with the 180b - "Cinderella."
Col d´Iseran in France. Myself in the middle (at driver's door) many years ago.
Here are some photos of the car, getting up as high as the Col d´Iseran in France. I began my real sensitive Ponton career at age eight, when my parents purchased their first Mercedes-Benz new from the factory – a white 190Db Ponton in the spring of 1961. This was followed by seven more Mercedes-Benz cars in line-up, from Fintails (W110 190D, 200 and 230), a W114 250/8, two W114 coupés 280CE/8 and finally, ordered new from the factory – a W123 coupé 280CE in 1981. In the pre-Mercedes-time they were running three different types of Borgward Isabella, ending with a red "de Luxe" model.
Sternengrüsse (Star Greetings) from Joachim Preiss
Cinderella at the Mercedes-Benz branch in Stutgart.
The Hebmüller VentiDach sunroof is visible in the full-size image.
Mercedes-Benz luggage – both rare and valuable!
The sunroof is a Hebmüller VentiDach type, not Webasto.
According to the original owner, it was integrated in 1961
or '62.
Created: February 4, 2015 / Jeff Miller
© www.mbzponton.org
