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Re: Evolution of Mercedes Benz E class
- Thread starter chicky
- Start date
@chicky,
Thanks for posting. It brought back memories of my 1967- 230 Fintail /Chassie 110. The beige one that popped up first looked exactly like mine. The 230 had twin carbs and 4 on the floor. I paid $500.00 for it with a blown engine. It belonged to my wife’s girlfriend. She put a piston through the cylinder wall. I pulled the engine and had the cylinder re-sleeved. Added 1 new piston a set of rings & bearngs, had the head rebuilt and put it back together and drove it for about 3 years.
It was a kick to drive. The 4 speed trans was out of a diesel and 1st gear was like a granny gear. It turned out to be a great driver. When I sold it I got $5.500.00 for it and was happy at the time.
Thanks for sharing the video! Brought back memories as well. When I was a kid, the family had a W115 1975 240D with a 4-speed, Dad's car and a W123 1977 300D, Mom's car. I learned to drive in the W123. How I wished it was a Turbo! Fun times! In 1991 the W123, a R107 1975 450Sl, and a W126 420SEL were traded in on a W124 300E 4-Matic. The W115 was kept, still around today with 50K on the clock, garage queen, has not been driven in years. I liked the W124 so much, I bought my own 300E 4-Matic.
This brings memories and here is a story from my younger days;
During early/mid '80s Mercedes-Benz had a test site for several years at my homeplace in mid Norway. The joke among people was that our place had the badest roads in the country, perfect for test driving.
Partly correct because they chosed the worst road we had there, but I'm sure other places would fit for that purpose as well. However, this is a small place with about 2000 citizens at the time and it's peripheral from the passing interstate giving them better anonymity and peace for their activities. I didn't have much interest in the bulky MB's at that time until the W201, W124 and R129 showed up. The R129 even carried cladding/elements since it was a new model to be launched in 1988.
They rented the old technician/machining school (where I went for a year as well) as their offie and used the local gas station & workshop right next for fuel and repairs. They also had their own truck with a retractable lift inside, a very special vehicle. The test driving was on a narrow, winding, gravel road up in the mountaines, but they followed the speed limits and traffic rules and kept high respect for the local traffic and the locals living along the road. If they met another vehicle and couldn't pass or stop - they simply drove into the ditch and even straight into the woods a couple of times. IIRC they damaged two cars and towed them back to their test site, up on that "retractable lift-truck" and off it went to the fatherland, and a new test mule arrived shortly after.
I had a Renault 5 Turbo 2 at that time and I once followed them for fun. The road version of the R5T2 is close to a rally car with softer suspension and less power, and despite my low skills I felt big and thought that would be an easy-peasy drive, but no - they just disappeared, I had no chance to keep up with them.
I came across an image from October 1986 on Faceplant.
During early/mid '80s Mercedes-Benz had a test site for several years at my homeplace in mid Norway. The joke among people was that our place had the badest roads in the country, perfect for test driving.
Partly correct because they chosed the worst road we had there, but I'm sure other places would fit for that purpose as well. However, this is a small place with about 2000 citizens at the time and it's peripheral from the passing interstate giving them better anonymity and peace for their activities. I didn't have much interest in the bulky MB's at that time until the W201, W124 and R129 showed up. The R129 even carried cladding/elements since it was a new model to be launched in 1988.They rented the old technician/machining school (where I went for a year as well) as their offie and used the local gas station & workshop right next for fuel and repairs. They also had their own truck with a retractable lift inside, a very special vehicle. The test driving was on a narrow, winding, gravel road up in the mountaines, but they followed the speed limits and traffic rules and kept high respect for the local traffic and the locals living along the road. If they met another vehicle and couldn't pass or stop - they simply drove into the ditch and even straight into the woods a couple of times. IIRC they damaged two cars and towed them back to their test site, up on that "retractable lift-truck" and off it went to the fatherland, and a new test mule arrived shortly after.
I had a Renault 5 Turbo 2 at that time and I once followed them for fun. The road version of the R5T2 is close to a rally car with softer suspension and less power, and despite my low skills I felt big and thought that would be an easy-peasy drive, but no - they just disappeared, I had no chance to keep up with them.
I came across an image from October 1986 on Faceplant.
Last edited:
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