Sun Star 1958 Mercedes-Benz 220SE Cabriolet
Class and quality to aspire to
If you were to associate a vehicular image with counterculture heroine Janis Joplin, a German automobile might well leap to mind but perhaps not the one on these pages.
A fixture of the San Francisco music scene in the late ’60s, you were more likely to see flower-festooned VW buses at her concerts than luxury convertibles, but Janis was full of contradictions. Her strict Christian fundamentalist upbringing in east Texas was about as far from her public persona as that flower-power bus is from a Mercedes, but yet that is where she grew up and first found the voice that would become one of the most soulful and powerful in all of popular music. But she also possessed a wry, often bombastic sense of humor, and she enjoyed smashing others’ preconceptions about her. That spirit infuses her final recording entitled “Mercedes Benz,” although scarcely anyone refers to it without tacking on the preceding refrain “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a…” In the second line of that song—which is nearly as often quoted—she laments “My friends all drive Porsches—I must make amends!” But actually it was Janis herself who drove a Porsche—specifically, a 1965 356SC Cabriolet painted with a psychedelic tableau (see sidebar).
But it is the car named in the song that we concern ourselves with today. Janis does not name a specific Mercedes model. Rather, she references the brand as a vehicle of a different sort—a badge of social status to which she comically aspires in the song. Why this works lyrically speaks to the universal reputation Mercedes has held for generations—that of world-class quality, elegance, and sophistication. But what particular Mercedes might have caught her eye? Given her fondness for stylish convertibles with classical ’50s styling (as evidenced by her daily driver), the 220SE Cabriolet seems a perfect choice. This was the last of the famous “Ponton” series of body styles, and Mercedes produced them for just three years—1958–60—building only 1,112 topless versions. Surviving cabriolets fetch upward of $200K at auction today. Sun Star has made versions of the first-year 220SE in coupe and cabriolet form for many years, and in both 1:18 and 1:43. The larger-scale droptop is the most appealing, so that’s what we chose to review.
This light green metallic color (officially “Hellgrün”) is among the prettiest, simultaneously extroverted and yet nuanced— kind of like Janis herself.
Sun Star does a lovely job with the paint; it’s smooth and even with just the right fine metallic sparkle. It is offset with quite a bit of chrome, which is comprised of numerous castmetal pieces—at the beltline, along the rockers, around the windshield, and along the door tops as well as on the signature Mercedes upright grille with tripointed-star hood ornament and in various other places. As mentioned, this casting has been around a long time, and there are a few telltale signs of its age. It looks great at display distance, but up close, you can see that the joints in the trim have grown a bit more pronounced as the tooling has become worn. It’s the same for some of the panel gaps, especially around the trunk. Still, there’s a lot of excellent detail here, particularly given Sun
Star’s reasonable price.
Being a convertible, the 220SE’s interior is on full display, and there’s a lot to see here too. Much of Mercedes’ reputation was built on blending technical innovation with upscale quality to provide occupants with unmatched comfort and convenience. The interior starts with beige leather, which Sun Star simulates quite effectively with soft-molded plastic, and there is matching carpet on the floorboards. The seat-back hinges are chromed metal, and they are functional. Much more chrome is on display in the steering wheel; the twin spokes and prominent horn ring