Daniel’s post with the imagery of Denver’s Colorado Blvd the other day reminded me of this little grouping I saw in front of a church on that same street last week as we were killing time before an appointment. An unseasonably warm morning meant getting out for a stretch and a walkaround wouldn’t be at all uncomfortable and when the walking is around three of Untertürkheim’s finest, so much the better.
Coincidentally the building across the street towards the left is the Mercedes-Benz of Denver’s current showroom, so perhaps these three are facing the local Mecca (it is sort of eastward too for that matter). Well, two are facing it and one is perhaps being disrespectful. It is the young’un of the bunch so maybe not unexpected. Let’s take a closer look at these three and see what we have.
Closest to us is a 350 SL, so if it’s a US car that makes it a 1972, the first year. These sported the same 4.5liter V8 as subsequent years, but after this year they were renamed (more logically) 450 SL and produced 190hp and 240lb-ft of torque this year. The burgundy paint with the light interior is quite nice, the wire wheels aren’t as much but I suppose as the early 1970’s car are still fairly appropriate even if I associate such stuff more with hardware from across the Channel.
It was certainly a nice enough day to take the hardtop off and enjoy a drive up Colorado Blvd. Those huge ribbed taillights always take me back to my formative years, as that was the era in which the while lineup got them.
Next up is the oldest of the bunch and perhaps starting to look a little infirm. Then again, maybe it’s just getting ready for a little rejuvenation therapy. This is a 220 S (W111), the “Heckflosse” (fintail) and must have looked light and airy when new in that silver color along with a similar interior color to the R107 we just looked at. The star still stands proud, the grille as big as it ever was. Built between 1959 and 1965, I can’t tell the exact year from here.
This though was the volume model, produced over 161,000 times in this form. Able to just touch the 100mph mark with the 2.2l I-6, it would’ve been a pretty good car to hop on I-25 a mile to the south with and then keep heading south to I-10 and then west all the way to the coast. It’s pretty much all downhill, so easy to keep the speed up.
Last but not in the least bit least, the modern one of the bunch, a 190E 2.3, dating from 1986 with those headlights and the third brake light combination. A huge success for Mercedes, the “Baby Benz” did good business and with the base 2.3l engine here in the US was able to do about 126mph, not bad at all for a four cylinder in the mid-80’s. The W201 would go on to spawn a series of faster versions and with a Cosworth head in 2.3-16 and later 2.5-16 form became a formidable racer as well with a street version of each on offer as well.
But these more basic versions were all over California back in the day, and it looks like the good pastor enjoys his as well. A little sun bleached in this case, but that’s what happens when the car is a mile closer to the sun than in many other places. With a wash and viewed from the side it surely still looks quite good. Somehow even almost forty years later this shape doesn’t look old.
Alrighty then, we spent enough time dawdling around these Benzes and our appointment is coming up shortly so it’s time to hop back in our own car and cross the road to get to the German honorary consulate around the corner. But it’s good to see that someone is keeping the faith.
Marry the 190E
Date the 350 SL
Kill the 220 S
What do I win?
Lots of maintenance bills.
It’s easy to hear Janis just looking at these…
One of my high-school English teachers had a W111 in a less distressed version of this same silver. Her name was Mrs. Sawyer, one who wasn’t the best disciplinarian. One day, when feeling a little rebellious, I asked if her husband or either of her sons was named Tom.
She didn’t get it, but half the class did.
Oddly, the 190E would be my pick of the bunch.
Does anyone (besides me!) remember the cover version of “Mercedes Benz” by country/rock band Goose Creek Symphony? 🙂
I’ll take the SL – it is easily the most valuable of the three.
At first, I thought the heckflosse would be most worth restoring, but then I took a peek at what they are going for at Hemmings, and quickly concluded that the cost of doing so would easily exceed the value.
I’ll go for the Fintail if someone were to toss me the keys – I love the styling.
Precisely THAT SL was my childhood dream car. Small bumpers, lean body, ribbed taillights and lower body sides. I had a Corgi version at around 10 years old in navy metallic with grey interior. It still just drips with class. Love it. I can even handle the wheel choice on this one. It’s really difficult to make one of these look bad.
Count me as another fintail guy.
I am amazed every day when I pass the M-B dealer near my workplace – it is absolutely huge.
This threesome reminds me of one I saw down in Santee, SC the day of the Great American Eclipse… I’ll try the higher res shot first… if that fails, I’ll upload the lower res pick below.
My pick is also the SL, or I’ll just take one of these three…
Yep… too big. Here we go, although not as nice…
Seeing these three cars from varying eras, with a 350SL included in the mix, reminds me vaguely of this ad.
Speaking of which, I love that SL – it’s been eons since I’ve seen a 350SL (for some reason I thought they also had a 4.5 badge on the right-hand side of the trunk lid, but maybe not, or maybe it’s fallen off of this one).
I knew that dealership pretty well at one time. For many years it was Murray Imports; the proprietor was Mark Murray. The showrooms for both MB and BMW were on the intersecting street, Kentucky, just east of Colorado. Then two showrooms were built on Colorado and those seem to have been replaced by something newer.
Over the years I bought three cars there but just got tired of driving all the way to Denver for service. Then the service department got me mad and that was that. The dealership is no longer family owned but rather is a Sonic location.
And if it is take your choice mine is easily the 350SL. Lucky to still have its “350” badge; dealers often replaced/upgraded them to “450” when the cars were newer.
I never would have thought of putting wires on an SL, and after seeing this, it’s not something I’d do either. Interesting is how I’d describe it; not horrendous, but somehow just not quite right.
I’d happily have the 190 as a driver, with the Heckflosse in the garage for special occasions.
Not at all uncommon in Southern California.
Good point — not horrendous on this car, somehow… though it would look even less horrendous still if they were more subtle wire wheels without the spinners.
I think I’ve seen more pictures of SL’s with wire wheels than I have the cars themselves. For a while I think it common for aftermarket wheel companies to advertise in car magazines, and an SL with wire wheels always seemed to wiggle its way into the ad. Per Paul’s comment, maybe they all went to Southern California.
The head pastor of the Pentecostal Christian school / church I went to as a kid had a bright yellow 450SLC with the wire wheels, as well as Vogue Tyres and a Nardi steering wheel, no less. He also had a dark bronze 911 Targa.
At least we all knew where the proceeds from the collection plate went!
Never been a fan of this generation SL (I was grossly overexposed to them in LA) and also not a fan of the 190 (too cramped for me). But always loved the fintails, and I’m fine with the shape it’s in. It would make a good companion to my F100. Probably not quite as easy and cheap to keep running though.
I have to go with the fintail as the first Mercedes that I drove was a fintail. It was summer of 67, I was 17, and we were at our family cottage on the lake. One of our neighbours, who was a very good friend of my mother’s had her brother visiting with his family. We knew them, but not really well. He drove a fintail 230S, dual carbs and 4 speed. He was a confirmed Mercedes fan because he had been in a bad accident in one and he credited it with saving his life. I guess our neighbour told him I was interested in cars, so he offered me a ride which I quickly accepted. I don’t think I had been in a Mercedes before. The road was basically sand and gravel and he drove about a mile up to the highway. I was amazed how fast he went and how stable it was. He then offered to let me drive back. It was very generous of him, as he did not know me well, and I only had my licence for about a year. It was a great experience.
We had a 1961 220S from approximately 1965 to 1971 or so, so I was between 4 and 10. I remember my mom having trouble with the balky 4 speed column shifter, but there never was a cooler speedometer. As I recall it changed from green to yellow-green stripes to yellow to yellow-red stripes to red as speed increased.
It (the car, not the speedometer) was always vapor-locking when we went to the mountains in hot weather, but a lot of cars did back then. One problem that has gone away so completely that you never have to think about it any more.
ribbed taillights across the model lineup range. I recall reading some longish MB ad that explained these were designed for a safety purpose. the lenses were designed by wind tunnel / aerodynamics to prevent them being coated over with road grime so brake, signal and rear illumination lights were always visible to these behind. Perhaps that was all indulgent ad copy, but it stuck with me, as you can surely tell.