Despite the Nevada license plates, this 1970 or ‘71 Mercedes has been parked curbside in my California neighborhood for quite a few years. Recently it moved around the corner to a location where it isn’t overlooked by the presumed owner’s house, so I decided to grab a few quick photos. It doesn’t seem to get driven much.
The W108 280SE 4.5 was sold in the US in 1971 and 1972. Today it would be considered an S Class, though as far as I know that designation was only formalized with its successor, the less upright W116, which seemed very radical for a big Mercedes at the time. I’m not sure the 280 SE 4.5 version of the W108 has ever been covered at CC; Paul wrote up a six cylinder W108 here, and of course the W109 300SEL 6.3 has had its time here as well, including this Tokyo sighting by Tatra87.
But I’m not going to go into much, except to say that as a high school car buff when these came out (first as the 280SE 3.5) I was confused. It had a 3.5 liter engine, so it wasn’t really a 280. And unlike the 300SEL 6.3, it wasn’t a supercar that deserved a unique designation that highlighted the engine. And anyway, why did a non-performance Mercedes need a V8 anyway? Six cylinder Mercedes and BMWs seemed to be doing just fine sales-wise here in California and had plenty of performance with OK fuel economy.
This one doesn’t just have a V8, it has some fine Eugene, Oregon style moss and even a bit of rust. I don’t know how long this car has been here, but though we don’t put salt on our roads, there is quite a bit of salt in our sea air to encourage rust, and enough fresh water falling out of the sky, at least in winter, to stimulate plant growth. And if this car lived in the Tahoe region of Nevada in a prior life, the roads certainly get salted there, and in the past quite heavily.
The stainless steel trim is holding up just fine. The paint and body steel, not so much. But it is over 50 years old now.
Interestingly, while there’s more moss here than is typical even on old cars around here, there was no lichen on the body panels. Just a block or two away lives a Ford Ranger, which has no moss but a fair amount of mildew and lichen on the hood and front fenders.
The F150 behind the Ranger must get better care as it’s quite free of plant matter. By the way, the driveway of the home where I believe the Mercedes actually lives is occupied by a Cadillac CTS, also white and with Nevada plates. For now it looks very shipshape, but I wonder how it will look in 50 years.
My family had a 280SE 4.5 between 1976 and 1986. It cost $6500 as a four-year-old used car. I took my drivers license test with it in 1977.
Surprisingly it had vinyl seats instead of leather; it was, however, the very thick durable vinyl that never showed any wear.
As received performance was surprisingly sluggish and it was only getting 12 mpg around town. My dad put his timing light on it and found that the timing was severely retarded. Advancing the timing transformed it. Performance was now sprightly and it got 16 mpg without any trouble. I don’t know if the retarded timing was a mistake or if MB had done it to meet 1972 emission regs. There were no smog tests in Tennessee at the time, so we never had to find out.
Equipped with a trailer hitch it easily pulled our 16 foot fiberglass camper and my sisters horse trailer (not at the same time, natch!) The built in self leveling rear suspension was a great plus.
In some respects the basic design of the car, introduced in 1965, was dated. The front suspension had little or no anti-dive geometry so fast stops were somewhat undignified. The heater/defroster was pretty puny, and the AC was not integrated, but added on under the dash like a contemporary Valiant. It did have a nice Frigidaire compressor instead of the York monstrosity our older Mercedes had.
Nevertheless, fit and finish, the quality of the paint, and the walnut dashboard were light years better than what you could get in an American car at the time, and it was a sensible package, compact but roomy and comfortable inside.
Thanks for detailing your family experience with this model. The car I photographed seems to have vinyl (MBTex?) also, and a column shifter with a large padded-looking black knob, where I would have expected a floor shift. I didn’t notice the A/C.
Yes, ours too had the column shifter with the big black knob.
Regarding the updated 1965 bodies, I was mainly thinking they could have taken the opportunity to improve the HVAC too. It wasn’t a concern in Europe at the time, but recirc AC was passé in the American market by 1972, a point my friends liked to rib me about. The things we worry about at that age!
In some respects the basic design of the car, introduced in 1965, was dated
It’s important to remember that these really weren’t “new”; they were essentially a revised body style on the older W111/112 “fintail” Mercedes. The same 108″ wheelbase (with mediocre rear seat leg room except in the extended wheelbase version), and same suspension, drive trains initially (except for a slightly larger 2.5 L version of the classic six), etc.. It was the final outing for MB’s classic “platform” including the low-pivot swing axle rear suspension. The smaller W114/115 cars from 1968 were genuinely all new, and were the basis for all subsequent MB’s.
These W108/109s were the end of the road for this “platform”.
There’s a direct progression stylistically from the W111/112 fintail sedans to the coupe/cabrio version and then the W108/109. But they’re all essentially the same technically. The W109 300SEL’s long wheelbase, air suspension and 3 L big six were all there already in the W112 3000SEL.
The V-8 was a marketing necessity to capture a chunk of the US Luxury market. Not traditional import buyers, but conquest sales taken away from Cadillac and Lincoln. My IBM salesman neighbor’s next step up from Buick as he made more money was not a Cadillac, but a 300SEL 6.3.
Yeah, now I totally get why they needed a V8 in this class. But as a 14 year old with a passion for European cars I didn’t yet have the understanding of the markets. In my circle of friends and family most cars were 4 cylinder imports and the domestics were mostly six cylinder, often of the Slant variety.
If you’ve ever driven (or rode in) in a six cylinder version with four adults inside in a mountainous country with the a/c on you’d know exactly why the V8 was quite essential in the US. I have, and the scream of a little six trying to do just that was very incongruous to the idea of a luxury car to Americans. The torque peak on these old-school MB sixes was very high. The V8 was essential to keeping MB’s sales momentum going in the US.
An additional factoid: the 4.5 L version was only available on US-bound W108s, to give Americans as much torque as possible. As to the alluded-to W108 280SE 3.5, if it was actually available in the US, it was only for a quite brief time. I do not remember seeing any, unlike the W109 300SEL 3.5, which was of course available as soon as the 3.5 V8 came out (1969).
Wikipedia says that the 280SE/280SEL 3.5 started production in 7/70, and the 280 SE/SEL in 4/71. I’m quite certain that if the 280SE/SEL 3.5 was sold here, it was not available as soon as the 4.5 arrived.
The little sohc 2.2L six in my 1960 220SE was short on torque but extended periods of time on the Interstates at high rpm didn’t bother it a bit. Great engine, just too heavy a car for it.
If I were to purchase a “classic” Mercedes, i.e. pre-1980s, then this would be the one. Well, this model anyway, probably not this exact one. Old yet not ancient, Mercedes was thinking about stuff like safety it just looks good, and performance is perfectly adequate. And they still don’t break the bank for driver-quality examples.
I can’t recall the last time I saw a W108 just parked streetside, so they’re either thinning out even more or being put away properly now, either way, it’s a good find and perfectly appropriate for your locale.
Living in Denver in 1977, my next door neighbor had a ’72, Lapis (dark blue) 280SE 4.5, tan interior. Loved that car. He was a successful lawyer, and then of course won a 450SL at a church charity drawing!
Oh my, another owner who keeps the car but doesn’t give a damn.
Dman you are right about our coast and the salt air. I saw many a vehicle, in the outer Richmond of San Francisco, that was rusted. Only here the cars do it from top down usually starting in the A pillar, cowling, and C pillar. I have seen some very Swiss cheese 70’s trucks out there in the early 90’s. Almost forgot the roof seam on both Chevy and Ford trucks.
Living a couple of blocks from the beach near Los Angeles I remember the same top-down rust. GM started using water based paint in California plants in the early 1970’s. Those were particularly bad.
My Aunt’s first generation Accord had rusted-through A-pillars within four years.
More recently, a friend’s 300SD was finally junked, aluminum hood and decklid becoming white powder and the rest of the car Swiss cheese.
A nice survivor ! .
I especially like the European headlights .
-Nate
Moss!!??
Granted I’m an East Coaster, but will say that given the choice between having to throw away a car after 50 years due to rust, or contending with MOSS…I might choose rust.
The fellow across the street from me has a 91 Camry 5 spd sedan in the driveway that hasn’t been driven as far back as 2017 when I arrived. Every now and then he puts a battery charger on it. He instead drives his big Ford mid-90s E150. I asked but he is not selling. Another 65-70 never married white male living by himself for what it is worth.
Currently we have moss all over right now and it isn’t picky whether dirt, tree, car, or asphalt.
A good power wash will take care of it in 15 minutes. The ’87 SAAB 900 sitting in our driveway in VT for the last 10 years needs it done every year or so. It’s a colder climate but still damp and lacking in sun much of the year. It still starts right up after long periods of neglect though!