Answer to Quiz
This is the M-B official tool for removing a (stuck) heater valve
I was happy to find the item, as they are kind of rare.
The tool has a M-B number 180 589 023 300 This indicates it was introduced in the fifties, to serve the Ponton type cars.
The tool is useful even today, as it ensures that the outer soft brass metal body (housing) of the heater valve, with its horizontal slit, is not damaged when a stubbornly corroded valve body is extracted.
Enclosed are pictures of how it is used. Shown here on a "free" passenger compartment heater unit, but it is meant to be used for a unit when in a car.
Note: The early 230SL's came without the circular opening in the firewall, over the heater valve. This design limited any access to the valve, and was subsequently changed. An opening covered by a plastic cap was introduced