Mercedes-Benz unveiled the model 220 at the 1951 Frankfurt Motor Show as a more luxurious development of the long-running and highly successful W136 170 V. Offered as a sedan and cabriolet, it featured slightly larger dimensions and an all-new 2.2-liter inline six-cylinder engine—hence the 220 model designation—with supremely smooth operation and double the power of the W136’s four-cylinder. The exterior design advanced into the modern era with a larger grille and headlights integrated into a more cohesive front fender treatment.

This superbly restored 220 Saloon was dispatched on 6 July 1953 through Frankfurt, Germany, to Jungingen, Baden-Württemberg, according to a copy of its factory data card on file, which notes the original exterior color as Medium Green and a “heater with blower” as the sole factory option. Exported to the United States at some point early in its life, the car found its way to Northern California where it would eventually be purchased by Harvey K. Sharpe of Arcata in the early sixties. “He told me that he would sit out in front of the original owner’s office at the Department of Transportation and badger him to sell him the car,” wrote Mr. Sharpe’s widow in a document on file. “His persistence paid off.”

As mechanically inclined as he was persistent, Mr. Sharpe, who reportedly held patents and designed the hydraulics for the animatronic monster shark in the blockbuster film Jaws, applied his considerable skills and attention to detail toward the fanatical restoration of his beloved 220, a comprehensive process that started in the early nineties and would consume him for the next 20 years. Punctuating five decades of cherished ownership, he completed the labor of love one year before his passing in 2013. “It was the only car we had for a long time, and I learned to drive a stick-shift with it,” said Mrs. Sharpe in a handwritten note addressed to the car’s next owner, who took possession in 2014 and was based in Oregon.

The Mercedes-Benz would change hands again in 2016 before the consignor acquired it the following year. Now, looking as if Mr. Sharpe himself just finished polishing the two-tone Packard-inspired paintwork he is said to have applied in 14 coats, this 220 Saloon presents beautifully, replete with a rare Webasto sliding canvas roof and non-standard floor-mounted shifter, ready for another fanatical caretaker to dote on for the next 50 years and beyond.