Mercedes-Benz W11

Mercedes-Benz Typ 10/50 PS / Typ Stuttgart 200 (W11)
Overview
Manufacturer	Daimler-Benz AG
Also called	Mercedes-Benz 10/50 PS Mercedes-Benz Typ Stuttgart 260 Mercedes-Benz W11
Production	1929–1934 6,757 standard wheelbase 50 long-wheelbase cars 2,376 vans 1,507 military “Kuebelwagen”
Assembly	Stuttgart, Germany
Body and chassis
Body style	Roadster Torpedo-bodied “Tourenwagen” 4-door ”Limousine” (sedan/saloon) Cabriolets
Layout	FR layout
Powertrain
Engine	2,581 cc M11 I6
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,810 mm (111 in) or 3,080 mm (121 in)
Length	4,230 mm (167 in) or 4,650 mm (183 in)
Width	1,710 mm (67 in)
Height	1,800 mm (71 in)

Mercedes-Benz L 1000 Express (W37)
The W 11 also provided the basis for the L 1,000 Express (Mercedes-Benz W37) which was intended for commercial operators, and most commonly sold as a light van or as a ten seater mini-bus. This one is painted as a postvan.

The Mercedes-Benz W11 was a midsize six-cylinder automobile introduced by Daimler-Benz it 1929. It was developed from the Mercedes-Benz W02 first seen in 1926, and the W11 shared its chassis and bodywork with the W02, but the W11 came with a larger more powerful engine, a new name and a wider list of “standard bodies” from which customers could choose.

The new car was also sold as the Mercedes-Benz 10/50 PS and as the Mercedes-Benz Typ Stuttgart 260. It continue in production till early 1934, although by then its replacements, the slightly smaller Mercedes-Benz W21 and the slightly larger Mercedes-Benz W18 had both already been in full-scale production for nearly a year.

A light van based on the Mercedes-Benz W11 was also offered, and carried its own works number, being identified as the Mercedes-Benz W37

The manufacturer applied the widely followed German naming conventions of the time. On the Mercedes-Benz 10/50 PS the “10” defined the car’s tax horsepower, used by the authorities to determine the level of annual car tax to be imposed on car owners. The “38” defined the manufacturer’s claims regarding car’s actual power output as defined in Horsepower#Metric horsepower (PS, cv, hk, pk, ks, ch). In Germany tax horsepower, which had been defined by statute since 1906, was based on the dimensions of the cylinders in the engine.

Unlike the systems used elsewhere in Europe, the German tax horsepower calculation took account both of the cylinder bore and of the cylinder stroke, and there was therefore a direct linear relationship between engine size and tax horsepower. Reflecting the manufacturer’s new naming strategy, the car was also sold as the Mercedes-Benz Typ Stuttgart, the Mercedes-Benz Typ 260 and as the Mercedes-Benz Typ Stuttgart 260

In retrospect sources tend to use the internal works number whereby the car was identified as the Mercedes-Benz W11. This reduces the risk of confusion with other cars from the same manufacturer incorporating the name “Stuttgart” and / or the number “260” in their names.

The car was offered in bare chassis form for customers wishing to purchase a car body from an independent coach builder. Standard bodies from the manufacturer started with a Torpedo-bodied “Tourenwagen” and included 2 or 4-door ”Limousine” (sedan/saloon) bodies. There was also a choice from (initially) three different Mercedes-Benz cabriolet bodies, carrying according to the number of seats and of side windows, and listed respectively as the “Cabriolet A”, the “Cabriolet C” and the “Cabriolet D”.