DIESEL PIONEERS

MERCEDES-BENZ 180D/190D (1953-1962)

Technically speaking, Mercedes’ 180D and 190D were the firm’s fourth and fifth diesel passenger cars; 1935’s 260D (W138) was Sindelfingen’s first compression ignition car, fitted with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder OM138 engine after attempts to fit a truck engine into a car chassis proved unsuccessful.

Earlier efforts from other manufacturers, like Citroën’s Rosalie 11UD two years earlier, were, like the Mercedes, relatively niche efforts, and curtailed by World War Two.

Despite their relatively low performance and lack of refinement, the diesel engine created a new market for manufacturers; cars so equipped could