Mercedes-Benz does not build many cars like the Mercedes-Benz W08: a Torpedo bodied 6 seater “Tourenwagen” / 6-seater Pullman-Limousine / Roadster / 2 & 4-door Cabriolets (various) with 1928–1933: 4,622cc M08 Straight-eight engine, built from 1928 to 1939 the vintage years, when coachbuilders still shaped most of what was sold.
How it came about
The Mercedes-Benz W08 was a large luxury car produced by Daimler-Benz. It was introduced in Autumn 1928, as Mercedes-Benz's first eight-cylinder passenger car. Also known by various “type numbers”, it remained in production with various modifications and upgrades until the later summer of 1939, the longest lived Mercedes-Benz model of the 1920s and 1930s.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 1928–1933: 4,622cc M08 Straight-eight engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. 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 standard chassis 1928–1939: / 3670 mm / short chassis 1931–1933: / 3430 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Mercedes-Benz's history is not in doubt: the Mercedes-Benz 400 came before it; it was built at Stuttgart, Germany. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Volvo LV4, the Lancia Dilambda, the Bugatti Type 43 roadster. Its Mercedes-Benz stablemates include the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and the Mercedes-Benz C124.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Mercedes-Benz W08 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.