While I was there, I was able to snap a few photos with my own camera.   Of course I had to be very careful not to get in the way of the official photographer, who was trying to set up each shot with the right angles.

The cars of this era are among the very best ever made by Mercedes-Benz.   It was great to see such a line up in one place.   There were 11 cars in total including:

• A 600 (W100.012).   The 600 is an original Australian delivered car, in a lovely bronze colour.   It was previously owned by a Sydney radio identity.   At some point a previous owner fitted the USA style side marker lights and bumper overriders.   These are amazing machines, but not for the feint hearted.   I would love to drive one, but not sure I want to own one.
• My 250SE cabriolet (W111.023).   It was a lovely day to get the car out, and my car being a 10/65 build was the oldest by a decent margin.
• Two 280SE 3.5 coupes (W111.026).   These cars were in contrasting white and midnight blue, so were a good combination.   The midnight blue car is one of two known manual cars in Australia.
• Two 280SE 3.5 saloons (W108.057).   Again contrasting maroon and horizon blue.   Both lovely examples of a very popular model.
• Two 280S W108 Saloons (W108.016).   Both lovely original cars.   The cream car was recently purchased by a club member from the original owner, who is now 95.   The light green car has a great contrasting red interior with a manual transmission and was made in Malaysia.
• Two 280SL Pagodas (W113.044).   The medium blue car has been with the same owner for 19 years and he has taken it all around the world including Hong Kong, USA, Singapore etc.   The midnight blue car is a multi-show winner.
• A C114 280CE (W114.072).  The most immaculate W114 I have ever seen.  The engine bay is cleaner that most restaurant kitchens.

The photo shoot took place around the Wharoonga area, a leafy suburb of Sydney with large houses on generous block sizes.   The club had received permission from a few owners to use their driveways for the 60’s models photoshoot.    I expect the professional photos will come out looking like they are from an original brochure.

The weather was perfect for the day – sunny and warm, but a bit cloudy at first.   To sunny and its hard to capture the cars without so much reflection from the chrome.    Understandably, the line up got a lot of interested from locals, and there were a surprising number of people in the area with car collations that offered us the opportunity to have a look.

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The S-Class was officially launched in 1972 with the introduction of the W116.   2022 is 50 years since that launch, and also 50 years since the founding of the Mercedes-Benz club of NSW.   With both of those anniversaries in mind, the Club held a special event to commemorate the S Class.   Of course, holding an event like that begs the question, what is the definition of an S-Class?   The W116 did not open up a new category for Mercedes-Benz like the W201 did.   It was a continuation of a series of models in their range.

In most years, the S Class (or predecessor) consisted of a four door saloon and a coupe.   Occasionally, there was a cabriolet as well.    The Mercedes-Benz archive lists the following models for the S Class and its predecessors.   They trace the lineage back to 1951.

The inclusion of the W188 models is surprising to me.    It makes sense to me not to include the models that sat above the S-Class like the Adenauers, 600, Maybach etc, so why include the two door derivatives?  It just seems inconsistent.   Some will question the inclusion of the C107 SLC models.   While they were based on the SL, they were clearly meant to fit the two door S-Class spot in the range.   The same goes for when the two door cars were branded as CL’s in later years.

Based on this list, the MBCNSW had a great representation of the range on display.   The club tried hard to get cars that are rarely seen at events to come along and did a pretty good job.   In reviewing the number of cars in the club, I’m actually surprised how well represented some of the older models are.   The survival rate of cars like the Pontons and W111’s is pretty good.

It was hard for me to choose which car to bring to this event.   In the end, given the impetus for the event was 50 years of the W116, I decided I needed to finally get the W116 280SE I have been fixing up on the road and at a club event.   Despite finishing at 1AM the night before, I managed to get the car prepared, and ready enough for this event.   This was only my 3rd time driving the car and the first more than a few kilometers from where I live.    While I have more work to do, I was impressed with how the car went.

It was also interesting to look at the model mix of the W116s on display.    There were 11 cars, and I managed to catch the model of 10 of them.    There was not a single D-Jet or carburettor car on display.   All the cars were from 1976-1980 and most of them were 450’s with 3 SELs and 2 SEs.  In addition there were two 6.9s, a pair of 280SEs and a 280SEL.     This trend was mirrored in the W126 models were most cars on display were second generation – with the 420SEL being the most popular.    However at least on the W126 side there were a few very nice series 1 models in attendance.    The story was pretty similar on the W108 models with most of the cars being late production.    It’s clear that the later cars with larger engines are favored by buyers and more likely to be saved.

I really enjoyed the day.   My ideal Mercedes garage is a two and four door model from each of my favourite generations (60s, 70s and 80s).

In past year, the S-Class has been the cornerstone of the brand.   Today, the company sells far more SUVs than they do cars, but the S-Class is still king of the hill.   I wonder for how much longer?  Not sure they would even make it if it wasn’t for the Chinese market.

The post 50 Years of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

That has started to change as my kids are getting old enough to want to ride in the back of the car.   I wasn’t so keen in a convertible with lap only belts.   I mentioned this when my car was at All Classic Car restorations being repaired from the ‘roo damage.   They said that if I removed the rear seats, they would take a look and were confident they could fit seatbelts.

I took out the rear seat and couldn’t see any obvious seatbelt anchors.   I removed the trim at the bottom of the parcel shelf where the soft top folds.   There was nothing obvious there.   Stranger still, was that there were factory anchors at the bottom, but my current lap belts were not using them.

I went on various forums, Facebook groups and checked pictures of cars for sale.  I found a couple of cars that had been modified during restoration to take inertia reel seatbelts, but as far as I could tell the W111 Cabriolet rear seatbelts were lap only.

On closer examination, my car did have rear anchors for lap/sash seatbelts.   They were covered up by some trim.   On the Cabriolet, there is a bulkhead between the parcel shelf and the rear seat.   On each corner of this bulkhead there was a seatbelt anchor.   They very much looked like factory anchors as this bulkhead section is not accessible from the boot or from the parcel shelf.   Adding the anchors later would have left evidence of cutting and welding into this bulkhead.

Incidentally this bulkhead section is one of the many reasons why a coupe shouldn’t be ‘converted’ into a Cabriolet.   Not only is a beautiful coupe being vandalized, but the structures are quite different.

Getting the rear seats in and out of the Cabriolet is much easier than it was on my 450SLC.   Space is cramped on the SLC.   On the Cabriolet, you can mostly open the roof and stand up.   I found the easiest way was to make sure the bottom of the seat was below the level of the armrests and push it towards the bulkhead rather than sliding it down from the top.

The set back illustrates another difference between the coupe and the cabriolet.   The top of the seat back is narrower on the cabriolet to clear the soft top mechanism.

Getting the seat bottom in is fairly straightforward, but don’t assume you need to keep pushing it in to line up.   I had actually pushed it in a little too far on one side.  Pulling it back out 1cm meant the screw slid in no problem.

I’m pretty happy with the result.  I now have W111 cabriolet rear seatbelts and I didn’t need to modify the car in any way.   I’m not fussed about not having inertia reel belts as they will not be used often.   But now when my kids ride in the back of the car, I’ll have a lot more peace of mind.

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Unlike in later years, nearly the whole range was offered in 1969.   It was only have the ADR regime became stricter in the mid 60s that Mercedes-Benz started to limit the vehicles they offered in Australia.   This was probably due to the cost of compliance.

The only models missing off the list were the 200 and 200D W115 models, and the 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet, which would be sold in later years.   The entry level W115 cars were probably considered too slow and really for the taxi market.  Mercedes were not a supplier of Taxis in Australia.   Locally built cars dominated the Taxi market.

One thing that jumps out to me is how much more expensive the 280SEL is over the standard 280SE.  No wonder they didn’t sell many of them.   While cars like the W109 were much more expensive than the W108, you at least got major differences to show for it.   The 280SEL was a simple stretch of the 280SE.   From what I gather, the body shells were modified manually, which might explain the higher price.

It is also interesting how much of the range was offered with the choice of an automatic or manual transmission.   It is extremely rare to find a manual transmission car from this era, outside the SLs.   Even the SLs are mostly automatic.   It was only the M100 cars that were not offered with a manual.

For other Australian price lists, please see November 1966 and July 1991.

YORKSTAR MOTORS PTY. LTD.

PRICE LIST

EFFECTIVE 1st DECEMBER, 1969

MERCEDES-BENZ PASSENGER CARS

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There is a little moulding on the door that holds it open if the cap is placed against it.  All these years I have been holding the door open with my hand or the petrol pump.     Also turns out I am missing one of the rubber bump stops as well.   This is a rather clever piece of design.

I would imagine this is the same for other related models like the W110, W112, W108, W109 etc.

The post W111 Fuel filler cap door appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

On closer inspection I think he is right.   the lower tray was clearly longer than the frame.    In addition, the frame is not in good shape.   There are sections where some of the metal has been cut away.   This was probably to fit an incorrect battery.   I therefore started looking for a replacement frame.

I was lucky enough to find one labelled to fit the W108, W109, W111 etc for bigger batteries.  A new reproduction out of Germany and in the picture it looked great!   Included with the rods to attach the W111 battery mounting frame to the tray (minus the wing nuts).

I tried the fit the frame last night, and it is huge.   I can only assume that there was a special order option for a very large sized battery, or maybe from a W100 where everything is super sized.   The photo below shows just how much longer the new frame is compared to the previous one.

This thing is gargantuan – hugely bigger than the tray it is supposed to fit onto.       The comparison is even funnier when you lay the two frames on top of each other.   The new one is about 50% larger than my current frame, which is only slightly too small.

I don’t have the specs for them, but I also need to try and research if the W111 battery mounting frame is a different size to the W108 or W109 unit, and if the one I have is for a W113.   Nevertheless, it is clear that what I thought would be a simple part comes in a variety of different sizes.

My next step is to look at its construction more carefully, as perhaps about 10cm can be cut from it and it re-welded up.   Since it’s a reproduction, i’m not ruining an original part.   Otherwise back to the drawing board to find the correct frame.   Perhaps my battery will have reached its 5 year life span by then.

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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 to be seen in this, the finest of machines. It is the new 220SE coupe with a fuel injection engine, optional power steering and a choice of automatic for four-speed transmission.

Its interior is completely hand-fitted with elegant leather and wood embellishments and represents the best of the coachmaker’s art. There is no similar car in the world. It combines sports-like performance with the dignity of diplomacy. Further, it carries its silver three-pointed star in the restful silence of complete discretion. That, of course, is in keeping with the seventy-five-year-old tradition of Mercedes-Benz.

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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, 1936 through 1939, only 406 cars left the plant.

But these cars, snapped up by the rich and royal for the equivalent of $23,000 today, were enough to make the 540K a legend – the epitome of motoring splendour in the era.

Even now, miniature 540Ks adorn the shelves of modellers, and originals are the envy of aficionados at concours d’elegance the world over.

The latest Mercedes-Benz luxury convertible is at the left. The 280SE. While modern technology has spurred production to a heady nine cars a week, helping shave the price to a mere $12,000, the car is a worthy successor to the 540K in every way.

If you could strip away the body, you’d find a chassis startlingly different from that of any convertible or sedan built in America.

The innards of an Indianapolis racing machine would come closer. You’d spot all-independent suspension, for matchless agility and roadholding. Massive, four-wheel disc brakes, for heroic stopping power. And an obedient steering system that blesses yhou with precise “Feel-of-the-road” control.

Of course, all Mercedes-Benz motor cars, even those under $5,000, have those same performance features.

But the Convertible is also a masterpiece of workmanship.

The body cannot be unbolted from the frame, as with a conventional car, because they are welded into one rigid, rattle-thwarting unit.

Hands in soft gloves caress the body to detect bumps and burrs, and smooth them away. Vital seams are soldered and buffed to oblivion.

Probing with stethoscopes, engineers have winnowed out harmonic vibrations in the drive train. Seat springs are actually tuned to the car’s suspension movements – to cancel out thousands of tiny, tiring tremors every mile.

Of course, all Mercedes-Benz motor cars, even those under $5,000 are build this way too.

So what makes the convertible worth $12,000? Finicky details, frankly. Like the exquisite leather that lines the car. Glove Box, underside of the dash, and all.

Like the handmade fabric top, so thick it houses a courtesy lamp, so padded it muffles rod noise better than most hard tops, so taut it refuses to flutter at turnpike speeds.

Like the trim of knurled walnut root, macassar or other rare woods.

For all the amenities of the Convertible, char with your dealer.

And, while you’re in the showroom, examine some other models. You may be surprised at what a splendid Mercedes-Benz you can get – even for a less princely sum.

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This Mercedes-Benz Invites You to Europe as its Guest.

More than 60,000 owners of Mercedes-Benz motorcars in this country can tell you about substantial savings in fuel, routine maintenance, in repairs.   They will happily confide that, instead of trading in every two or three years, they prefer to keep on enjoying their Mercedes-Benz and keep their money in the bank.

But you can enjoy another advantage in Mercedes-Benz.   Arrange with your dealer to take delivery in Europe…  The dollar savings can pay for a glorious vacation.

We suggest you visit him, and ask for the figures.   And while you are there, take a drive behind the three-pointed silver star!

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These Mercedes steering wheels were basically the same for all W108, W109, W110, W111, W112, W113, and early W114 and W115.    Early cars had a round horn ring, which was changed in the early 60s to a flatter top.   The cars of the 50s had a different design that was similar in concept, but with no padded center and a circular horn ring.   The W100 (600) has a wheel that is a similar design, but not identical.

The standard steering wheel was black (ebony) and had a black center pad with the Mercedes logo and a chrome horn ring.   Up until the mid 60’s it was also possible to order an Ivory coloured steering wheel with a colour matched center pad.   When ordered, the gear stick knob was also Ivory coloured.    This was option code 551.   This option was discontinued  for the updated 1968 models (i.e. the 280s and later 300s).    This was also around the time the steering wheel was revised with a large steering column behind it.   The most obvious difference is the removal of the chrome ring around the horn pad.

The picture below shows an early Finnie with the ivory steering wheel and the round horn ring.  Note the end of the gear stick is also ivory.

The Ivory steering wheel is much more susceptible to age and heat related cracking than the black one.  Both are still available from Mercedes, although at significant cost.   The Ivory wheel is very popular in more recent years and is often added to cars during restoration, especially to vehicles such as the 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet that were never available with this option.   In most cases the gear knob is not changed at the same time, so the difference is quite apparent.     These wheels were only ever available with the center pad in the same colour as the wheel, although I’ve seen many ‘restored’ cars have dyed it the same colour of the seats which I find rather garish.  The photo below shows a 280SE 3.5 Coupe with the correct steering wheel and gear knob.   The flattened top of the horn ring is contrasted with the round one above.  This is also the final version without the chrome ring and the thicker steering column.

Another popular owner change over is to add a Nardi wheel.  Personally I prefer the original wheel, but the Nardi wheel can look good on the W113 roadsters.  Apparently in the USA, some very late W108’s were delivered with the W116 style steering wheel in 1973.

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