Mercedes-Benz W 157

Mercedes Benz
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W 157
Presentation year:	1941-1942
Vehicle fair:
Class :	Sports car
Body shape :	Sedan , coupé , cabriolet , roadster
Engine:	Otto engine : 6.0 liters (176 kW)
Length:	5000 mm
Width:	1900 mm
Height:	1700 mm
Wheelbase:	3200-3415 mm
Empty weight:	2000 kg
Production model:	none

The Mercedes-Benz W 157 ( Mercedes-Benz 600 K for short ) was the prototype of a large sports car that Daimler-Benz designed and built in 1941/42. Shortly before the Second World War , the company was planning a large car with a twelve-cylinder engine. As early as 1937 there was a type 540 K with a V12 engine. In 1941 and 1942, various prototypes were created that were intended to be the successors to the 580 K.

The elegant sports car with a wheelbase of 3280 mm or 3415 mm was to appear as a four-seater sports sedan, coupé, roadster or as a two-door convertible A, B or C. Twelve prototypes of this car were made. They were equipped with a V12 supercharged engine with 6020 cm³ displacement, which without the switchable Roots blower developed 155 hp (114 kW) at 3600 rpm and with the supercharger 240 hp (176 kW). The maximum speed of the vehicles was given as 190 km / h.

In addition, twelve more prototypes of a large sedan or a large convertible were created, which were designated as "Mercedes-Benz 600 V" (without compressor) or "Mercedes-Benz 600 K" (with compressor) and the model number W 148 received.

Adolf Hitler , who refused to accept two of the twelve-cylinder vehicles as company cars, forbade the further development of luxury cars because they no longer seemed up to date to him.

literature

• Werner Oswald : Mercedes-Benz passenger cars 1886–1986 , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-613-01133-6 . Pp. 416-421.