The Mercedes-Benz W18 was a six-cylinder automobile sold as the Mercedes-Benz Typ 290. Introduced in 1933, it was a smaller-engined successor to the manufacturer's Typ 350 / 370 Mannheim model.[1] In terms of the German auto-business of the 1930s it occupied a market position roughly equivalent to that filled by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class in the closing decades of the twentieth century.[2] The W18 was replaced in 1937 by the manufacturer’s W142 (Typ 320).[3]
Several different models with names incorporating the number "290" were produced by Mercedes-Benz during the 1930s (and later), so to avoid ambiguity the car is frequently identified by the manufacturer's model code, "W18".