WHEN a car you have traveled 1,000 miles to drive is a rear-engine Mercedes-Benz from 1935 and a universal joint inside the transaxle shatters, a trip to the local auto parts store is not going to solve the problem. Fortunately, the car in question was one of three prewar models made available for journalist test drives by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center here in Southern California. So as the reporters gathered for dinner late on a Thursday afternoon, a team of mechanics from the center began disassembling the 130 to replace the universal joint — a task that required removing the rear bodywork along with the engine and the transaxle. The cars represent a little-known part of Mercedes history. When the companies founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merged in 1926, there were enough designers and engineers — Ferdinand Porsche among them — available to pursue various configurations of engines and gearboxes, with the goal of producing an affordable entry-level Mercedes, said Michael Kunz, manager of the Classic Center.
Compared with traditional front-engine cars, these models proved expensive to make, however, and sales were meager. The entire series went out of production in 1939.
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