The car was purchased new in Germany by the D’Espiney family. It was registered in the city of Beira on 16 December 1960, in the name of Claude Sérgio D’Espiney.
When Abel Neves de Azevedo purchased it for 130 contos, the car only had 20 000 km and was in good condition. At the time it was registered with number plate MBA 36-17. During the 16 years in Mozambique, it was used for drives, to follow rallies organized by the Automóvel e Touring Clube de Moçambique, on victory laps and at other races that took place at the Lourenço Marques circuit.
The car remained in his possession until his departure for South Africa on 12 July 1976, from where it was later shipped to Portugal. Unfortunately, some accessories were stolen during the shipment between Durban and Lisbon.
Once in Portugal, with number plate FZ-37-34, the car was admired for its lines and colours, and when it was driven along Estrada Marginal do Estoril, when stopped at traffic lights and parked, several people would leave their contact details in case the owner wanted to sell it.
Due to acts of vandalism, the car underwent a major restoration, including replacing the canvas top, upholstery, carpets and wooden interiors, overall paint, and protecting the underbody with paint, and mechanical servicing. Sadly, it wasn’t possible to replace the fog lamps, antenna, radio, or the dashboard where the radio was.
At that point, the car had 120,000km and it was driven only occasionally, given its consumption and difficulty finding spare parts.
It currently belongs to Pedro Bordalo Silva.
Datasheet Year: 1959 Brand: Mercedes Model: 220 S Ponton Country: Germany Number plate: FZ-37-37 Owner: Luis Costa