1957 Mercedes-Benz Type 220S Ponton Coupé
Formerly owned by Dr. Werhner von Braun

Dear readers,

I am submitting a few photos of Dr. Werhner von Braun’s 1957 Mercedes-Benz Type 220S Ponton coupé. My father, Dr. Donald B. Jacobs, was a colleague of von Braun’s at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He was the chief engineer for the Apollo program, led by von Braun. My father bought the car from him in 1960, and spent the years from 1969-1991 keeping the miles low by hiding it away in a garage — until finally restoring it in 1991. It has approximately 65,000 miles, and as you can see, looks as it did in 1957.

Kind Regards,

Pete Jacobs
peterjacobs1@msn.com 
April 3, 2012

Dr. Donald B. Jacobs with his 1957 220S coupé, circa March 2012 — formerly owned by Werhner von Braun

Dr. Donald B. Jacobs lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest near Seattle called Vashon Island

Dr. Wernher von Braun with his Type 220S Ponton coupé (circa 1960) in Huntsville, Alabama. Note the bumperette accumulated a couple of creases. Besides being a famous rocket engineer, Wernher von Braun was also the director of Daimler-Benz of North America. Mercedes-Benz of North America (MBNA) gave or loaned him several high-end Mercedes-Benz models during his career in the USA.

English speakers routinely mispronounce Wernher von Braun's name. In German, it sounds something like: "Vairn-er fon Brown" (with a rolled "r"). He accepted the Anglicized pronunciation of his first name (which is an old-fashioned spelling of Werner) and of the von that indicated he was from the nobility, but never accepted "Brawn." Braun means, and is pronounced "Brown" (Neufeld *).

Works Cited:

Neufeld, Michael J. "Von Braun - Dreamer of Space - Engineer of War" Smithsonian Institution, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-307-38937-4. Print.
* un-numbered page, between pages xiii and 1

Created: April 3, 2012 / Jeff Miller
© www.mbzponton.org

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