…I don’t think much needs to be said about the W111 coupé that hasn’t been said by others. So I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking in this post. Much like the Mustang we saw a couple days ago, I reckon this is one of those cars that ticks all my boxes: early model, Euro headlights, manual transmission and, crucially, dressed in black.
I find the black paintwork is perfect for these, as it really brings out the slightly sinister, Berlin-during-the-Cold War feel of the W111, whatever the body variant.
Catching this one on a dull winter day (back in 2022) just added to the atmosphere.
Flawlessly detailed to a mirror shine, as per usual in Tokyo.
The 220 SE Coupé was made between February 1961 and August 1965. It was the Bracq-designed W111 two-door’s launch model.
With over 14,000 units made, the 220 SE was the most commercially successful of all W111/112 two-door variants (i.e. hardtop and cabriolet versions of the 220 SE, 250 SE, 280 SE, 300 SE and the V8-powered 280 SE 3.5 made between 1961 and 1971).
With only 118hp, it’s also the least powerful of them all. At least it’s a manual, though that aftermarket A/C would probably sap even more of those precious horses than an automatic would.
It’s a tight back seat, best suited for kids (who smoke).
That face will always be the epitome of Mercedes-Benz for me. Massive grille, lashings of thick chrome, vertical lights – yet everything perfectly proportioned and harmonious.
And that understated rear end, with just a hint of tailfin…
I’m not getting paid by Versace for this picture, alas. Nor by Daimler-Benz, come to that. I have a few other W111s in my files, but this one is just utter perfection, in every way. ‘Nuff said.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1966 Mercedes 250SE Coupe (W111) – Losing The Fins, Mostly, by PN
Curbside Classic: 1962 Mercedes Benz 220 SE Coupe (W111) – Old World Charm, by Rich Baron
Automotive & Design History: Mercedes-Benz W110/111/112 Fintails – Béla Barényi And The Elusive Pluckenheckflosse, by Don Andreina
Wordless Outtake: 1964 Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Coupé – Back Road Cruiser, by Johannes Dutch
Stunning car. From some angles it looks so big sitting there nearly bursting out of the parking space. But then you see the curbside and it’s parked so far away.
FLASH BACK: I had a MatchBox model of this car as a child. This was before the Hot Wheels invasion. I think it was red and the doors opened. It’s probably scattered in my Dad’s backyard under an old fig tree which is long gone by now.
That Matchbox car immediately came to mind for me as well, and it was red and interior was tan.
My 9 year old self aspired to own the real deal someday.
I had a blue one , don’t recall the red ones.
Also had a blue one – destroyed by an “enemy” in the sandbox It was replaced within short time by a golden one with Matchbox Superfast wheels.
The blue one would have been the 300SE coupe no.46c, a later, slightly larger model:
http://vbd2-archive.in-nz.com/1index/xx46c.htm
The earlier red version was a 220SE like the black car above, no.53b:
http://vbd2-archive.in-nz.com/1index/xx53b.htm.
The second model was altered to Superfast wheels in 1970, but later lost the opening parts:
http://vbd2-archive.in-nz.com/1index/sf46-c.htm
My examples are an unboxed (and rather chipped) 53b and an early green 46c, the latter I had from new so it’s my fault the Mercedes star is missing off the radiator.
I couldn’t remember what colour mine was, so I went in search and found two 300SE one green, the other metallic blue.
Nice looking Benz.
Gorgeous find! I see the front windows have been converted to power; shame the rears weren’t too. Such a great-looking design, much cleaner shorn of the Heckflosse rear – although I’ve always wondered what the coupe would have looked like if they kept the sedan fins.
At least one person couldn’t resist the urge to build one.
That is perfect. The rear of the sedan looks even better than the coupe’s rear.
Thanks ACB, curiosity satisfied! Although now I don’t know which version I like best. The design looks cleaner without the fins, but more complete with them. Mind you I’ll never own one either way…
“I see the front windows have been converted to power; shame the rears weren’t too.”
From a today’s perspective, seperate cranks for the back seat passengers almost have a touch of decadency. How things are changing with the years …
no power windows on the front you can just see a little of the manual handle in one of the pics. Those buttons are custom and for something else.
I love the gearshift in this era of Mercedes. Clean simple and nothing superfluous.
So elegant. The front end treatment was probably considered old-fashioned by some when it was new (and the entire design very conservative), but it turned out to be timeless.
Austin clearly did crib (poorly…) the rear end treatment for their mid-60’s ‘Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R’ that Perry Shoar posted last month.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cohort-capsule-vanden-plas-princess-4-litre-r-international-brougham/
This is a beautiful car in amazing condition! When I was living in Japan, I was always surprised by what I saw on the streets and the featured car is a perfect example.
What a glorious find. And its even got your number on the plate! Is that a hint as to its ownership? 😉
An escapee from the Odessa File maybe, beautiful none the less.
“I find the black paintwork is perfect for these.”
Count me a great fan of these. But the black paint doesn’t work for me. On the fin tail sedans – yes, but on the coupes – not that much. Here, I’d prefer a dark blue metallic, or a medium to dark gray metallic tone.
It’s always amazing how opinions about colors can differ.
The “cold war vibe” also is much more sedan related (exchange of agents in a foggy winter night). Whereas the coupes are more related with the Berlin “Kurfürstendamm” (boulevard), I think.
One of the most perfect Mercedes for me – and I am not a Benz fan.
If you are a lover of these, watch the series The Man In The High Castle. The period is around 1962, the Nazis are in charge in part of America so a lot of black Mercedes about. They do look perfect for that job – hauling Nazi officers about.
Albert Speer in W111 sedan leaving Spandau Prison, November 1966 (left), at Berlin’s Tempelhof airport a few days after release (center) and Frankfurt police officers examining Helga Matura’s 220 SE cabriolet (right); note the jackboots.
Agree, the sedans impart a very different vibe than the coupé & cabriolet and all those Cold War spy movies must have played a part. In November 1966 it was at midnight two black Heckflosse sedans drove away from Berlin’s Spandau Prison, carrying the war criminals Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach who’d just completed the 20 year sentences they were lucky to have received and one would later take Speer to the airport to board a Boeing 727, his first flight in a jet aircraft.
That same year a white 220 SE cabriolet was part of the investigation into the murder of its owner, Helga Sofie Matura (1933-1966), a high-end Frankfurt prostitute. Although Matura case never attracted anything like the same publicity or notoriety, in a coincidence of circumstances, a decade earlier, Rosemarie Nitribitt (1933-1957) who had in Franfurt pursued the same profession, died in similar circumstances. Ms Nitribitt plied her trade quite openly and drove a Mercedes-Benz 190 SL; in the aftermath of her death, Germans dubbed the little roadster the “Nitribitt-Mercedes” (although there was also the earthier “whore’s taxi”). Despite the connection with Ms Matura’s murder, the W111 seems never to have picked up any prurient nicknames. Neither murder was ever solved.
Double Plus agreement with the statement ” face will always be the epitome of Mercedes-Benz”
I don’t think any Mercedes since has improved on that Germanic visage
My 220SE sedan had the look, perfect in formal black, and a lot less $$$$ than the coupe!
To me it will always remain the apotheosis of the German look.
220SE rear, love heckflosse fin design.
Probably because I grew up seeing the “American” headlights on these, I find the RoW headlights a bit jarring in an unpleasant way.