Auto Car | 1930 Mercedes-Benz Nurburg 460 Popemobile | The Nürburg – as the vehicle became more familiarly known – was the last pillar of the new joint model programme following the merger of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. in 1926 to form Daimler-Benz AG.
It was seen as the successor to the 15/70/100 hp six-cylinder supercharged model and underwent a hurried development under the supervision of Ferdinand Porsche. Other brands were already enjoying considerable success in the luxury vehicle segment, not least among them the Horch 8 produced by the German competitor Horch, a vehicle developed by none other than Paul Daimler after Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft had originally rejected his design.
The Nürburg was the first series model from Mercedes-Benz to feature an eight-cylinder engine. For this reason it was often referred to in some publications as the Nürburg 8, and the cover of early catalogues is adorned with a golden figure 8 embedded in a lozenge shape. It was christened the Nürburg not as a reference to any particular sporting ability, but rather as a tribute to its reliability – during endurance testing on the Nürburgring the vehicle had clocked up 20,000 kilometres in just 13 days and nights.
Built initially on a high-frame chassis, there was much about the Nürburg that resembled the stocky and impressive fortress its German name suggested. Yet at the same time it was rather old-fashioned and antiquated in appearance; vehicle construction and design had moved on and adopted new laws. Soon after its debut, therefore, the model underwent a thorough revision and was equipped with a low-frame chassis – one of the first tasks of Hans Nibel, Daimler-Benz’s chief designer who succeeded Porsche on January 1, 1929. The now much more visually pleasing Nürburg was again presented at the 1929 Paris Motor Show. The lower-slung vehicle had a longer, more elegant look, and was now every bit the equal of its competitors in terms of external appearance.
The power unit was an eight-cylinder in-line engine developing 80 hp (59 kW) from a 4.6-litre displacement in combination with a four-speed transmission. By popular demand it was joined in 1931 by a more powerful variant that developed 100 hp (74 kW) from a 4.9-litre displacement. This model was not officially available until later as the 19/100 hp Nürburg 500; for the not inconsiderable surcharge of 2,000 Reichsmark this variant came not only with the more powerful engine, but also an economy gear or “overdrive”, engaged to reduce engine speed for each of the four forward gears, and high-quality, high-performance Zeiss headlamps. From September 1932, an overdrive was also available on the 460 model at a surcharge of 1,400 Reichsmark.
Whereas the 500 was produced solely as a long wheelbase version, the 460 model was additionally available as a 240mm-shorter version bearing the additional designation letter “K” – not to be confused with the “K” in the name of the later supercharged vehicles. The shorter chassis was 50 kg lighter and fitted with 4/5-seat bodies, available as a saloon, open-topped tourer and Convertible D. The low-frame variant of the 460 K was also still available as the “St. Moritz” special convertible C. This model acquired the illustrious name of the winter sports venue in the Swiss Engadine region after the car beat all other competitors in an automotive beauty pageant in early 1930.
One special version of the Nürburg 460 built on the short chassis did not appear in any brochure or price list: a two-seater sports roadster, two examples of which were used in motorsports events. In the international Alpine Rally of 1929, Rudolf Caracciola and Otto Merz covered a distance of 2,660 kilometres in these unusual sports cars, as well as completing the eight-hour ADAC long-distance race for non-supercharged touring cars on the Nürburgring.
The Nürburg with long wheelbase was available as an open-topped touring car and Pullman limousine, each with 6 or 7 seats. In late 1931 the model range was joined by a 6/7-seat Convertible F, although this came not with a Sindelfingen body, but instead with bodies built by the external firms of Neuß, Erdmann & Rossi, Voll & Ruhrbeck, Papler and Gläser. In-house bodies for the other variants were produced not just at the Mannheim plant, which built all model variants of the Nürburg, but also at Sindelfingen to some extent. For a handful of VIP customers such as Pope Pius XI, the Nürburg was also fitted with the Pullman body of the Grand Mercedes. As was usual at the time, customers could also purchase a bodyless chassis with a view to having an external coachbuilder fit it with a custom-built body. To this end the chassis were available in both wheelbase lengths. A very special variant of the Nürburg was built in February 1931 – a special-protection Pullman limousine, which was documented in a series of contemporary archive photographs.
Production of the Nürburg 460 ended in December 1933. In February 1934 the Nürburg 500 model was renamed 500. This led to some confusion, since just a month later saw the arrival of the “supercharged 500” – better known today as the 500 K. In order to differentiate between the two vehicles the company introduced the designations 500 N and 500 K.
Source : mercedes-benz-blog-trivia.blogspot.com
It was seen as the successor to the 15/70/100 hp six-cylinder supercharged model and underwent a hurried development under the supervision of Ferdinand Porsche. Other brands were already enjoying considerable success in the luxury vehicle segment, not least among them the Horch 8 produced by the German competitor Horch, a vehicle developed by none other than Paul Daimler after Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft had originally rejected his design.
The Nürburg was the first series model from Mercedes-Benz to feature an eight-cylinder engine. For this reason it was often referred to in some publications as the Nürburg 8, and the cover of early catalogues is adorned with a golden figure 8 embedded in a lozenge shape. It was christened the Nürburg not as a reference to any particular sporting ability, but rather as a tribute to its reliability – during endurance testing on the Nürburgring the vehicle had clocked up 20,000 kilometres in just 13 days and nights.
Built initially on a high-frame chassis, there was much about the Nürburg that resembled the stocky and impressive fortress its German name suggested. Yet at the same time it was rather old-fashioned and antiquated in appearance; vehicle construction and design had moved on and adopted new laws. Soon after its debut, therefore, the model underwent a thorough revision and was equipped with a low-frame chassis – one of the first tasks of Hans Nibel, Daimler-Benz’s chief designer who succeeded Porsche on January 1, 1929. The now much more visually pleasing Nürburg was again presented at the 1929 Paris Motor Show. The lower-slung vehicle had a longer, more elegant look, and was now every bit the equal of its competitors in terms of external appearance.
The power unit was an eight-cylinder in-line engine developing 80 hp (59 kW) from a 4.6-litre displacement in combination with a four-speed transmission. By popular demand it was joined in 1931 by a more powerful variant that developed 100 hp (74 kW) from a 4.9-litre displacement. This model was not officially available until later as the 19/100 hp Nürburg 500; for the not inconsiderable surcharge of 2,000 Reichsmark this variant came not only with the more powerful engine, but also an economy gear or “overdrive”, engaged to reduce engine speed for each of the four forward gears, and high-quality, high-performance Zeiss headlamps. From September 1932, an overdrive was also available on the 460 model at a surcharge of 1,400 Reichsmark.
Whereas the 500 was produced solely as a long wheelbase version, the 460 model was additionally available as a 240mm-shorter version bearing the additional designation letter “K” – not to be confused with the “K” in the name of the later supercharged vehicles. The shorter chassis was 50 kg lighter and fitted with 4/5-seat bodies, available as a saloon, open-topped tourer and Convertible D. The low-frame variant of the 460 K was also still available as the “St. Moritz” special convertible C. This model acquired the illustrious name of the winter sports venue in the Swiss Engadine region after the car beat all other competitors in an automotive beauty pageant in early 1930.
One special version of the Nürburg 460 built on the short chassis did not appear in any brochure or price list: a two-seater sports roadster, two examples of which were used in motorsports events. In the international Alpine Rally of 1929, Rudolf Caracciola and Otto Merz covered a distance of 2,660 kilometres in these unusual sports cars, as well as completing the eight-hour ADAC long-distance race for non-supercharged touring cars on the Nürburgring.
The Nürburg with long wheelbase was available as an open-topped touring car and Pullman limousine, each with 6 or 7 seats. In late 1931 the model range was joined by a 6/7-seat Convertible F, although this came not with a Sindelfingen body, but instead with bodies built by the external firms of Neuß, Erdmann & Rossi, Voll & Ruhrbeck, Papler and Gläser. In-house bodies for the other variants were produced not just at the Mannheim plant, which built all model variants of the Nürburg, but also at Sindelfingen to some extent. For a handful of VIP customers such as Pope Pius XI, the Nürburg was also fitted with the Pullman body of the Grand Mercedes. As was usual at the time, customers could also purchase a bodyless chassis with a view to having an external coachbuilder fit it with a custom-built body. To this end the chassis were available in both wheelbase lengths. A very special variant of the Nürburg was built in February 1931 – a special-protection Pullman limousine, which was documented in a series of contemporary archive photographs.
Production of the Nürburg 460 ended in December 1933. In February 1934 the Nürburg 500 model was renamed 500. This led to some confusion, since just a month later saw the arrival of the “supercharged 500” – better known today as the 500 K. In order to differentiate between the two vehicles the company introduced the designations 500 N and 500 K.
Source : mercedes-benz-blog-trivia.blogspot.com
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