Mercedes-Benz W111

Mercedes-Benz W111

Manufacturer	Mercedes-Benz
Also called	Mercedes-Benz Fintail
Production	1959 — 1968 W111 only: 370,807
Predecessor	Mercedes-Benz Ponton
Class	Full-size
Body style(s)	4-door sedan 2-door coupe 2-door convertible
Engine(s)	2.0 L 4-cylinder 2.2 L straight-6 2.5 L straight-6 3.0 L straight-6 3.5 L 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 vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz from 1959 to 1968 under the W111 chassis code.

Fintails on a 230S

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 domestic 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. A special version was made for the US market from 1960 to 1964. The front headlamps were "stacked" to meet us lighting requirements giving the car a unique look. Some of the earlier 220S models exported to the US also sported a chromium strip on either side of the car.

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

References

• "Mercedes-Benz U.S Models". Hiwaay.net. http://home.hiwaay.net/~gbf/mbmodels.html. Retrieved December 1, 2005. 
• Deutsche Autos 1945 - 1975, W. Oswald, ISBN 3-87943-391-7