It certainly wasn't the prettiest car to appear at the 2009 Palm Springs Desert Classic but it may have been the most unusual, especially if you think (as I did) that Mercedes-Benz never built a rear-engine sedan. But there it was, a 1935 Mercedes 130 Cabriolet-Limousine (sedan with a folding top) featuring a 4-cylinder, inline, 1308 c.c. water-cooled engine placed behind the rear axle. An entirely new model badged 130, 150 and 170H, it was launched in the 30s as a solution for people suffering from the world economic crisis (sound familiar?). Mercedes must have done an inadequate job of marketing the car, for it was little known in Europe and only 4298 were manufactured. With a top speed of 57 mph the 130 was never going to burn up the Autobahn but a fuel mileage of 23 mpg was considered economical in those years and the vehicle included many of the company's technical innovations. Nice to see that even an ugly duckling can be lovingly preserved.