The Mercedes-Benz 380 is a Torpedo (car) / Torpedo bodied 2 door “Tourenwagen” / Sedan (automobile) / 4 door "Limousine" (sedan/saloon) / Roadster (automobile) / Roadster / Cabriolet / 2 door Cabriolets (var from Mercedes-Benz, built from 1933 to 1934, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: 3,820 cc Inline-eight engine.
Where it came from
The Mercedes-Benz 380 (Type W22) is an eight-cylinder powered automobile introduced by the German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz at the Berlin Motor Show in February 1933. It was withdrawn from production during 1934.
Several models with similar names were produced by Mercedes-Benz during the 1930s (and again in the 1980s), so that in retrospect the car is frequently identified using the manufacturer's Works Number as the W22. (The car is sometimes referred to as the 380 K, presumably because of the Kompressor (supercharger) fitted on the faster cars, but this designation was never officially used by the manufacturer.) In 1933, the 380 sports tourer was one of the most advanced cars on the market, and was duly admired although in the end, with only 154 produced over two years, it proved in some respects a resounding failure.
Under the skin
Power comes from 3,820 cc Inline-eight engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 2100 kg. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 3140 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: assembly was at Stuttgart, Germany. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Chevrolet Suburban, the Bugatti Type 57, the Chevrolet Master — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Mercedes-Benz catalogue sit the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and the Mercedes-Benz C124.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Mercedes-Benz 380 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.