When the petrol driven 200 model was released, it featured
not only a new body style but a much improved engine with
bigger displacement.
For the
diesel model, however, Mercedes chose to refine
the engine rather than increase its size or capacity.
Introduced was a five bearing crankshaft and noise reduction
technology that made the car both smoother and quiter.
And as can be expected from the Mercedes engineers, these
changes also brought about better performance and power.
The top speed was now 130km/h, while fuel consumption
was (for the time - one must consider the weight of the
car) a very modest 8.1 liters per 100km's.
It was during the production run of the 200D that the
500,000 Mercedes
Diesel was manufactured - attesting to
the popularity of Diesel even back in the 1950's and 1960's.
