Saw this lovely looking thing the other day
Discussion
£16k for that seems like an absolute bargain. However better to go big or go home - full fat, hairy chested 6.3....
No price but not much change from a £100k most likely
https://www.thehairpincompany.co.uk/for-sale/cars/...
No price but not much change from a £100k most likely
https://www.thehairpincompany.co.uk/for-sale/cars/...
Discombobulate said:
Shabby chic.....Discombobulate said:
Lovely car, but I really wouldn't want one. My headmaster at senior school had one so I just couldn't. A 6.3 would appeal though!I remember as a kid the 6.3 being put up against the Silver Shadow Motor Magazine I think as being the inheritor of the "Best Car" in the World title . Madness when you think of it now but back then the Shadow which originated from the previous decade was in a field of one . In the end the 6.3 romped home but in Glasgow as a kid I don't believe I ever saw one . James Hunt I believe owned one though by the time of his death it was supposedly sitting on bricks in the side garden
reddiesel said:
I remember as a kid the 6.3 being put up against the Silver Shadow Motor Magazine I think as being the inheritor of the "Best Car" in the World title . Madness when you think of it now but back then the Shadow which originated from the previous decade was in a field of one . In the end the 6.3 romped home but in Glasgow as a kid I don't believe I ever saw one . James Hunt I believe owned one though by the time of his death it was supposedly sitting on bricks in the side garden
Didn't Hunt have a 450SEL 6.9?Back on topic, I remember my boss importing a 280SE from Germany which I was tasked with getting MoT'd and registered. It was a 1970 car and I recall being a bit surprised to see it wasn't fitted with seatbelts. The tester didn't flinch and it got a clean ticket, but it struck me as odd that someone as safety conscious as Mercedes-Benz would still be building a car in 1970 without belts.
Turbobanana said:
reddiesel said:
I remember as a kid the 6.3 being put up against the Silver Shadow Motor Magazine I think as being the inheritor of the "Best Car" in the World title . Madness when you think of it now but back then the Shadow which originated from the previous decade was in a field of one . In the end the 6.3 romped home but in Glasgow as a kid I don't believe I ever saw one . James Hunt I believe owned one though by the time of his death it was supposedly sitting on bricks in the side garden
Didn't Hunt have a 450SEL 6.9?I've always been intrigued as to the factuality of the Carlos Reutemann story.
Legend has it that he was asked to drive the 6.9 medical chase car for the first lap of a F3 race in Brazil. Unsure of how fast he was supposed to go, he asked the organisers and was told to go as fast as he liked on the basis he'd never catch them.
Reutemann was no slouch, and neither was the 6.9. By all accounts by the time he had to peel off into the pits after the first lap he was up to the middle of the pack.
If true, can you imagine the look on the young Brazilian hotshoes' faces as a massive, 2-tonne bungalow wafted serenely past on opposite lock?
Legend has it that he was asked to drive the 6.9 medical chase car for the first lap of a F3 race in Brazil. Unsure of how fast he was supposed to go, he asked the organisers and was told to go as fast as he liked on the basis he'd never catch them.
Reutemann was no slouch, and neither was the 6.9. By all accounts by the time he had to peel off into the pits after the first lap he was up to the middle of the pack.
If true, can you imagine the look on the young Brazilian hotshoes' faces as a massive, 2-tonne bungalow wafted serenely past on opposite lock?
I've heard a version of that Reutemann story featuring the great Fangio told by Mel Nicols, editor of Car back in the day
"At the old SMMT Test Day at Silverstone in 1975 or 1976, Mercedes brought a LHD 6.9 with Fangio to drive it," recalls Nichols. "LJKS and I jumped in with him. Leonard sat in the front with Juan Manuel, I was in he back right side and someone else I can't remember in the left rear seat.
6.9-litre V8 lurks beneath stately bonnet
"Fangio took us around the Grand Prix circuit flat out, beautifully smoothly and uneventfully. We didn't appreciate quite how fast we were going until, approaching the old, fearsome, mega-fast Woodcote corner Fangio pulled to the left to overtake a racing Pantera that was being shaken down. It was flat out, on the racing line. Its driver was working away at the wheel as it twitched and hopped around through the corner.
"Fangio, driving with one hand, making just tiny movements at the wheel and talking to Leonard all the while, slipped up alongside the Pantera and eased past him. I looked out the side window and grinned at the Pantera driver as we were alongside, just a couple of feet away. I'll never forget the stunned look on his face as he realised he was being overtaken, in the middle of one of racing's most challenging corners, by a Mercedes saloon with four people on board. It was too much for him. He backed off and just trundled around slowly until we did a couple more laps and pulled off the circuit. I wonder if he ever knew it was Fangio behind the 6.9's wheel."
The 450SEL 6.9 was in a league of its own back then - nearly 7 litres, dry sumped, lsd, hydropneumatic suspension, ABS (on the last of the line ones) - as expensive as a Silver Shadow and faster than a 308 Ferrari
"At the old SMMT Test Day at Silverstone in 1975 or 1976, Mercedes brought a LHD 6.9 with Fangio to drive it," recalls Nichols. "LJKS and I jumped in with him. Leonard sat in the front with Juan Manuel, I was in he back right side and someone else I can't remember in the left rear seat.
6.9-litre V8 lurks beneath stately bonnet
"Fangio took us around the Grand Prix circuit flat out, beautifully smoothly and uneventfully. We didn't appreciate quite how fast we were going until, approaching the old, fearsome, mega-fast Woodcote corner Fangio pulled to the left to overtake a racing Pantera that was being shaken down. It was flat out, on the racing line. Its driver was working away at the wheel as it twitched and hopped around through the corner.
"Fangio, driving with one hand, making just tiny movements at the wheel and talking to Leonard all the while, slipped up alongside the Pantera and eased past him. I looked out the side window and grinned at the Pantera driver as we were alongside, just a couple of feet away. I'll never forget the stunned look on his face as he realised he was being overtaken, in the middle of one of racing's most challenging corners, by a Mercedes saloon with four people on board. It was too much for him. He backed off and just trundled around slowly until we did a couple more laps and pulled off the circuit. I wonder if he ever knew it was Fangio behind the 6.9's wheel."
The 450SEL 6.9 was in a league of its own back then - nearly 7 litres, dry sumped, lsd, hydropneumatic suspension, ABS (on the last of the line ones) - as expensive as a Silver Shadow and faster than a 308 Ferrari
Edited by Dapster on Monday 20th October 13:02
Much as I love the 450 6.9, and respect both Fangio and Reutermann, the 6.9 wasn't quicker than a 308.
0-60 in 7.2 and top speed of 141 versus 6.5 and top speed of 155. The 308 of the era was glass fibre and, while it only had 211 bhp, it weighed just a fraction over a tonne. Versus 286 bhp and around 2 tonnes in the Merc.
As for living with / over taking a De Tomas Pantera: that had 330 bhp and weighed 1400kg - and that is in full road trim. I would expect a race version to be at least 100kg lighter and running 400 bhp or so.
To cap it all, I was at a conference where the key speaker was Stirling Moss and he told the same tale, but with a different driver and no passengers (I can't remember who he said it was...).
Still, nice story. And Fangio has got to be worth 150 bhp in any car.
0-60 in 7.2 and top speed of 141 versus 6.5 and top speed of 155. The 308 of the era was glass fibre and, while it only had 211 bhp, it weighed just a fraction over a tonne. Versus 286 bhp and around 2 tonnes in the Merc.
As for living with / over taking a De Tomas Pantera: that had 330 bhp and weighed 1400kg - and that is in full road trim. I would expect a race version to be at least 100kg lighter and running 400 bhp or so.
To cap it all, I was at a conference where the key speaker was Stirling Moss and he told the same tale, but with a different driver and no passengers (I can't remember who he said it was...).
Still, nice story. And Fangio has got to be worth 150 bhp in any car.
Yes, I should have said "as fast as..." rather than "faster than...". The 6.9 would hang onto a steel bodied 308 or a V12 365 GTB 2+2 which was pretty bloody amazing for a 2 ton luxury saloon. And I too doubt that anyone would be taking a race prepped Pantera on the outside with a saloon, 4 up, but as they say, never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
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