Mercedes-Benz W 03

Mercedes Benz
Pullman limousine
W 03
Sales designation:	12/55 hp type 300
Production period:	1926-1928
Class :	upper middle class
Body versions :	Touring car , Pullman limousine , convertible
Engines:	Otto engine : 3.0 liters (40 kW)
Length:	4650 mm
Width:	1760 mm
Height:	1920 mm
Wheelbase :	3430 mm
Empty weight :	1800-1980 kg
successor	Mercedes-Benz W 04

The Mercedes-Benz W 03 was presented under the designation 12/55 PS Type 300 at the Berlin Motor Show in October 1926. The upper middle class car of conventional design with a three-liter engine and without any special technical features was designed by Ferdinand Porsche together with the 1.4-liter W 01 type and the two-liter W 02 type, which were not built in series .

The car was available from the factory as a chassis, six-seater touring car, six-seater Pullman limousine and three- or four-seater convertible (with two doors). Its side-controlled six-cylinder in-line engine with 2968 cm³ displacement (bore × stroke = 74 mm × 115 mm) develops 55 hp (40 kW) at 3500 rpm. and accelerates the vehicle up to 100 km / h. The rear wheels, which are attached to a rigid axle and suspended from semi-elliptical leaf springs, are driven via a four-speed gearbox. The front axle is also rigid and hangs on semi-elliptical leaf springs. The trolley is equipped with cable brakes for all four wheels.

Like the smaller two-liter car, 8/38 hp , the huge Mercedes-Benz 300 did not sell very well. It was very comfortable, but much too big and cumbersome. The model was revised just a few months after delivery began in January 1927.

In 1927, a new engine with a slightly shorter stroke was used in the unchanged car. It has a displacement of 3030 cm³ (bore × stroke = 76 mm × 110 mm) and also produces 55 hp (40 kW), but at 3200 rpm. A slightly longer rear axle ratio (1: 4.8 instead of 1: 5.4) ensures a top speed of 105 km / h.

This small change, almost unnoticed by the buyers, did not bring the desired sales success. Therefore, the model was revised again in the following year and released as the Mercedes-Benz W 04 .

Production numbers

• Type 300 (W 03, 1926–1927): 834 pieces
• Type 300 (W 03, 1927): 2485 pieces

literature

• Werner Oswald : Mercedes-Benz passenger cars 1886–1986 , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-613-01133-6 .
• Werner Oswald: German cars 1920-1945 , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-87943-519-7 .