Mercedes-Benz Ponton
windshield washer kits (Bosch, VDO)

Craig Semple provided material that refers to various options available (from Bosch and VDO) for the Mercedes-Benz Ponton motorist when the cars were still in production. As of this writing (March 2003) Craig lives in Turkey. He is originally from Melbourne, Australia and has a 1970 Mercedes-Benz Type W109 300 SEL 6.3, and recently purchased a 1958 Type W180 220S Ponton sedan (right hand drive with a Hydrak automatic clutch), which is included in the Type 220S Photo Gallery.

The Bosch advertisement (below) is of particular interest to me because my 1957 Type 190 sedan has three of the listed options installed — the rectangular fog lamps (mine are made by Hella, but they are the same shape) as well as the Bosch windshield washer system. I also prefer to use Bosch spark plugs. There has been some debate over whether the rectangular fog lamps were from the Ponton era or if they were ever intended to be used on the Ponton sedans at all. Until now, it was thought perhaps the rectangular lamps were originally intended to be used exclusively on the Type 190SL roadster. While the most popular fog lamps for the Ponton sedans were probably the round ones, this advertisement serves as some level of proof that they were offered as options on the sedans as well. Reference the fog lamp page for more detail on the fog lamp discussion. - Jeff Miller / March 28, 2003