Ad of the week: Coupe d’Etat – Mercedes W111 Coupe

This weeks Ad features the introduction of the 220SE Coupe, photographed in front of an Austrian castle. The 220SE was introduced at the Geneva auto show in 1961 and was overshadowed by the Jaguar E-Type. The Mercedes W111 Coupe represents one of the most elegant designs of the 1960s and is one of my favourite Mercedes-Benz models.

Coupe D’Etat

For over half a century, it has been the pleasure of men of state to drive, or be driven in a Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz now offers its newest car, a veritable coupe of state, to the discriminating few who can afford […]

Ad of the week: This car has its ups and downs

This week features a great ad highlighting the Hydropneumatic suspension of the Citroen DS.

This car has its ups and downs.

Moody? No. French, and logical.

When road conditions change, you can change the height of a Citroen car to suit the road. Citroen can do it, and only a Citroen.

Deeply rutted road, heavy snowdrift? Uo you go, and pull away with plenty of clearance.

Flat tire? Raise her up higher still. The jacking is automatic, and only on a Citroen.

Regular road or smooth turnpike? Cruise along at normal height. The comfort is something to marvel at.

By […]

Ad of the week: 280SE W111

This weeks ad features a double page ad featuring the 280SE Cabriolet W111 to the pre war 540K. The choice of the desert scene is rather odd for these type of cars, and the picture feature the American model with the strange front running lights.

If you were a prince in the 1930’s, you might have owned a Mercedes-Benz 540K. Today, you can drive an even finer convertible – for $11,000 less.

Mercedes-Benz built its classic 540K Cabriolet (background) with all the delicate speed of an oyster constructing a pearl.

During the entire four year life of the model, […]

Ad of the week: Mercedes-Benz racing engineers

This weeks ad tries to link the mainstream 60s models from Mercedes Benz to the racing programmes of the 50s. It is actually not that far fetched as the overhead cam motor in the W108 250SE pictured did have fuel injection and there would have been lessons learned from the racing programme. The ad would have been referring to engineers like Rudolf Uhlenhaut. Ulenhaut was integral to the racing programme and later used a 300SLR Coupe as a company car.

What have all those Mercedes-Benz racing engineers been doing since Mercedes-Benz got out of racing?

When Mercedes-Benz brought its […]

New old stock Bonnet for the DS

After my unfortunate DS crash I was able to locate a new old stock bonnet for my DS. The bonnet for the DS is aluminium which makes repairing the current bonnet rather difficult. I have heard that at least in 1955, this was the largest single aluminium panel on a car, but I don’t know if this true or not. I can attest to how light the bonnet is.

I doubt there are many of these left in the world, let alone in Sydney. I was even able to borrow a Berlingo with 500,000km on its original clutch to […]

250SE Freshening up

I had ordered a few parts for the 250SE a few months ago but had not yet had a chance to fit them. The first was the winder knob for the front quarterlight on the drivers side. I had found a reproduction one of these on ebay and mine was slightly warped, so the inner disc that hides the screw kept falling out.

The problem was when I came to fit the new one, it was not quite the same. I am not sure if this is because this knob was changed for later cars such as the W114, but […]

Ad of the week: 1963 Dodge 426

This weeks ad focuses on the 1963 mid size Dodge models with the 426 RB motor (note this is not the fearsome 426 hemi engine). As was the focus of the time, the emphasis is on drag strip times. This ad is on the back of another Michelin ad I purchased so it was a bit of free bonus. Once I frame the ads in the garage this one will no longer be visible.

Cool off any strip

Lay on our 426-cube V8 and… ZAP! Drag records fall like pelted partridges. That’s because horsepower comes so close to matching […]