ZEITWORKS
Billfold Wallet - 1953 Mercedes 300 Adenauer Cabriolet
Billfold Wallet - 1953 Mercedes 300 Adenauer Cabriolet
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From a 1953 300 Cabriolet — the car West Germany's first chancellor stepped out of at every consequential moment of the early Federal Republic.
This is a unique Billfold wallet made from the original interior of a 1953 Mercedes 300 Adenauer Cabriolet.
* Full-length bill compartments
* 4 credit card pockets with space for up to 20 cards
* Size: 11 cm x 8.5 (4 ½ inch x 3 ¼)
Each ZEITWORKS wallet is a unique creation, carrying the history and character of the car of the vehicle it once belonged to, making every design impossible to replicate.
Handmade in Canada - Enjoy the Ride!
A Note on Brand Transparency: ZEITWORKS is an independent design company passionate about automotive history. We source and upcycle authentic vintage materials, but we are not affiliated with, authorized, maintained, sponsored, or endorsed by Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), General Motors LLC (including Cadillac), or any other original automotive manufacturers. Our products are independent creations made to celebrate the legacy of these iconic designs.
Questions
What is this piece made from?
Every ZEITWORKS piece is made from the original interior of a specific vintage car, or from authorised reproductions of period factory textiles. Each piece is cut and assembled by hand in our studio in Snow Road Station, Ontario.
Is each piece unique?
Heritage pieces are one-of-one — built from the original interior of a single car. When that material is finished, no second piece exists. Signature pieces are made in small batches from authorised reproductions of factory textiles.
Can the piece be repaired or restored?
Yes. We have worked with leather and automotive textiles for nearly twenty years and can advise on care, repair, and restoration. Write to info@zeitworks.ca.
How does shipping and returns work?
Orders are processed within 72 hours and shipped from our Ontario studio. Returns are accepted within 72 hours of receipt, in original condition. Sale items and custom pieces are final sale.
The Car Behind This Bag
1953 · 3.0L M186 inline-six · Sindelfingen · W186 chassis · roughly 51 cabriolets built
The 300 was the car West Germany used to announce that it was back. Mercedes built it from 1951 to 1957 as the postwar successor to the great prewar Grosser saloons — long-bonneted, deeply formal, and trimmed at a level no other German car of the period could match. The cabriolet was the rarest of the body styles. Roughly 51 were built across the Cabriolet D run, each one finished in Sindelfingen by hand.
The nickname comes from Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first chancellor, who used six of them as state cars between 1949 and 1963. Photographs from the period show him stepping out of a 300 cabriolet at every consequential moment of the early Federal Republic — meeting Eisenhower, signing the Treaty of Rome, returning prisoners of war from Soviet captivity. The car became a kind of moving emblem of the Wirtschaftswunder.
Surviving Adenauer cabriolets now trade well into seven figures at the major auctions. The interiors were trimmed in deep-pile wool broadcloth or full leather, often with figured walnut on the dash and door cappings, jump seats, and a writing desk in the divider on long-wheelbase examples.