The Mercedes-Benz W136 was Mercedes-Benz's line of four-cylinder automobiles from the mid-1930s into the 1950s. The car was first presented in public in February 1936, although by that time production had already been under way for a couple of months. Between 1936 and 1939, and again between 1947 and 1953 it was the manufacturer's top selling automobile.
After the Second World War the W136 became the foundation on which the company rebuilt, because enough of the tooling had survived allied bombing or could be recreated.
1949 saw the arrival of the Mercedes-Benz 170S version of the W136. This model is in retrospect sometimes celebrated as the first S-Class Mercedes-Benz. It was a more luxurious, costlier and, when launched, slightly larger version of the mainstream model and the manufacturer made an effort to maximize the differentiation between the two. The Mercedes-Benz 170 Sb and 170 DS were even given a different works number in 1952, being internally designated between 1952 and 1953 as the Mercedes-Benz W191.
1955 was the car's last year of production. Its replacement, the W120 had already been on sale since July 1953, after which the older model was repositioned in the market as a lower priced alternative to the new one.
The Mercedes-Benz 170 SV and 170 SD were also built briefly in Argentina from 1952-1955 in sedan, taxi, station wagon, pick-up and van versions.
Mercedes-Benz W136 is the name, using the manufacturer's works number, under which the car is frequently known in retrospect, but the car introduced early in 1936 was known as the Mercedes-Benz 170V. It replaced the six cylinder Mercedes-Benz W15, which at the time had also been known as the Mercedes-Benz 170. Despite having a similar engine capacity of 1.7 litres, the new car's four cylinder unit was more powerful. Technically and stylistically it was far more modern and could be sold at a lower price. Between 1936 over 75,000 were built making it by far the most popular Mercedes-Benz model up till that point.
The "V" in the 170V's name was short for "Vorn" (front) and differentiated the car from the contemporary Mercedes-Benz 170H (where "H" was short for "Heck" or rear) which used the same four cylinder 1697cc engine, but positioned at the back of the car.
Claimed maximum power output was 28 kW (38 PS) at 3,400, using a compression ratio (during the car's early years) of 6:1.The side-valve four cylinder engine consumed fuel at the rate of less than 10 litres per 100 kilometres (28 mpg-imp; 24 mpg-US). The motor was attached using just two mountings and ran with a smoothness hitherto unknown in a four cylinder unit.
Power was delivered to the rear wheels via a four speed manual transmission which initially came with synchromesh only on the top two ratios. However, in 1940 the transmission was upgraded after which synchromesh was incorporated for all four forward ratios
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