75th anniversary of the first serial diesel Mercedes-Benz

The first serial diesel Mercedes-Benz car is Mercedes-Benz 260 D had its 75th anniversary. This model was introduced first in February 1936 on a International moto and auto exhibition in Berlin. About 1967 examples of this car had been sold till year of 1940. Besides taxi cars built on a base of Mercedes-Benz 260D were used until 50′s in Germany.


Mercedes-Benz 260 D had 2.6-liter engine with four cylinders and 45hp of a total power. Also it had fuel pump produced by Bosch company. Cruising range was about 400km (500km after restyling in 1937) with 9 liters per 100km of an average fuel consumption. For comparison gasoline Mercedes-Benz 200 consumed 13 liters per 100km.

In September 1936 Mercedes-Benz introduced Pullman and convertible version of 260D. Some later another modernized version appeared having a new gearbox, widened front and rear tracks, enlarged volume of fuel tank (from 38 till 50 liters) and changed exterior. After WWII, in 1949, a fully new diesel model was produced (marked 170 D) with 1.7-liter four-cylinder engine.

In 1974 the first Mercedes-Benz with five-cylinder and 3-liter engine was assembled. In 1997 the first Mercedes-Benz with common-rail injection system was introduced (C 220 CDI), and the first car with BlueTEC system (reduction of exhaust gas toxicity) became public in 2006. Read about CLS Shooting Break.