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| 1966 M-B 250S; an early W108 series car | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 1 2016, 04:07 PM (546 Views) | |
| atombaum | Dec 1 2016, 04:07 PM Post #1 |
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The Quest Continues
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After selling my 1957 Mercedes-Benz 190 in June, this is now the oldest car in the garage. It's no spring chicken (50 years old this year). 1966 Mercedes-Benz Type W108 250S Originally from Tucson, Arizona. Automatic transmission, in-line six cylinder engine, dual Zenith carburetors, electric windows were converted to manual, cold air conditioning. Becker "Europa II stereo" (AM/FM) radio, Hirschmann antenna, etc. Fully refurbished (paint, rubber, window surround wood, parcel shelf carpeting and OEM speaker grilles, etc. in 2014-2015). Just a hair over 100k miles. I bought the car in 1995. It was driven to upstate New York from Tucson in the summer of 1995, so it never saw a winter. Amazing - completely rust free. Enjoy. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
Edited by atombaum, Dec 13 2017, 07:16 PM.
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| microbuss | Dec 1 2016, 06:06 PM Post #2 |
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SUV
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how did it run from Tuscan to New York? How was the MPGs? |
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| 250 TR | Dec 1 2016, 06:18 PM Post #3 |
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That is impossibly gorgeous! |
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| atombaum | Dec 1 2016, 06:52 PM Post #4 |
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The Quest Continues
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It was driven from Tucson to the western Finger Lakes region of NY state by it's previous owner. He and his family moved to Rochester for his work. He placed an ad in the Swap Sheet and I followed up on it. It has always run and shifted fine. The problem with it was the paint and rubber were faded and brittle from being in the desert. It took me 20 years to get around to having it brought back up to snuff. It's a real sweet car with an awesome exhaust note. It gets about 25 mpg. Edited by atombaum, Dec 1 2016, 06:54 PM.
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| atombaum | Dec 1 2016, 06:54 PM Post #5 |
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The Quest Continues
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Thanks a lot. |
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| pjedsel | Dec 1 2016, 09:12 PM Post #6 |
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Muscle Car
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Nice looking Mercedes 250S. Knew a guy in St. Paul, MN who had one when I lived there in the late '70's - got to ride in it once - very nice!
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| MBXPilot | Dec 1 2016, 09:27 PM Post #7 |
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Station Wagon
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Stunning!!! I am a huge fan of old Mercs, and the W108 is one of the best in mu opinion. I almost bought one a few years ago, but it was far too nice to drive to college every day and sit outside at my crappy apartment ![]() It was an absolute bargain though and I wish I'd found a way to make it work out. Yours is awesome, love the color! |
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| Hobie-wan | Dec 2 2016, 01:09 AM Post #8 |
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SUV
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Very nice sir. |
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| atombaum | Dec 2 2016, 02:02 AM Post #9 |
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The Quest Continues
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I think bargains can still be found on the early W108 cars. It was one of the first "old/classic" M-B body styles that I was aware of (or enamored with) in the early to mid 1970s. The "Pontons" (1953-1962) and "Fintails" (1959-1968) were too uncommon in western NY. Saw only a few - mostly diesels. European members would have different memories. The main issue is rust (for those of us in the north-east US). If you can find a rust-free example that has enjoyed some level of service and maintenance, it could be a reliable, full size classic with a lot of presence. The smaller W115 series was always a favorite too, but this one came along, and I was blown away by the condition. Couldn't pass it up. Small areas of paint were worn right down to bare metal (from years of desert sand and/or hand buffing?) but it never rusted! It was kind of odd to see. Now it has a nice paint job (original color - known as 304 "Horizon Blue"). Backstory: There were a few M-Bs in the 1968 Matchbox catalog - when I was in my prime, kid-collecting years, and (like all Matchbox) they fascinated me because they were different from what was on the local streets. Example - these were in the 1968 Matchbox catalog, and I had (still have) them... No. 1 Mercedes Truck No. 2 Mercedes Trailer No. 3 Mercedes Ambulance (W110 w/ Binz body) No. 27 Mercedes 230SL (W113) No. 46 Mercedes 300SE (W112) No. 49 UNIMOG No. 68 Mercedes Coach (early Fred Bronner blister pack called it "airport bus") Kind of interesting that 7 out of 75 Matchbox models were Mercedes at that time. That's over 9%. As I say in my bio. - "Early exposure to Lesney products led to a serious bias toward European models."
Edited by atombaum, Dec 2 2016, 02:11 AM.
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| atombaum | Dec 2 2016, 02:35 AM Post #10 |
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The Quest Continues
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Once parts were ordered, the actual restoration process took six months (October 2014 to April 2015). Photo 1: December 20, 2014. Checking status at the paint and body shop. It went to the upholstery shop next. All 10 pieces of body molding were replaced, and the headliner was replaced at the upholstery shop. Body molding holes can be seen at the mid-height level of the doors and fender. Note the hubcaps were not painted, so this photo shows the new paint matched the original color quite well. Photo 2: December 26, 2014. A little more progress. I had to deliver something (probably a another payment) that day. ![]() Photo 1. December 20, 2014 ![]() Photo 2. December 26, 2014 ![]() Photo 3. January 10, 2015 Edited by atombaum, Dec 13 2017, 07:32 PM.
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| toyotageek | Dec 2 2016, 11:05 AM Post #11 |
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
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Better mileage than my 2014 Toyota RAV 4 Beautiful car BTW! Reminds me of the Mercedes my parents had back in the 70's. I like the Mercedes from this era but know little about them. I wasn't into cars at all back then, and we have no photos of the Mercedes we had. I've never really been able to figure out what model we had. It looked a lot like yours, but I'm sure was a later model (maybe 70 or 71, I'm guessing). Any Mercedes guys here wanna help me figure out what we had? LOL... |
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| atombaum | Dec 2 2016, 12:18 PM Post #12 |
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The Quest Continues
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If it looked like mine, then it could have been one of the following... W108/W109 Production: 250S W108 sep65-mar69 250SE W108 sep65-jan68 280S W108 nov67-sep72 280SE W108 jan68-apr71 280SEL W108 jan68-apr72 280SE 3.5 W108 jul70-sep72 280SEL 3.5 W108 jun70-aug72 280SE 4.5 W108 apr71-sep72 280SEL 4.5 W108 may71-nov72 300SE W108 aug65-dec67 300SEL W109 mar66-dec67 (3.0-liter, 6 cyl., M 189 engine) 300SEL/8 W109 feb68-jan70 (2.8-liter, 6 cyl., M 130 engine) 300SEL 3.5 W109 nov69-sep72 300SEL 4.5 W109 may71-oct72 300SEL 6.3 W109 dec67-sep72 |
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| 250 TR | Dec 3 2016, 01:05 AM Post #13 |
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Toyotageek, do you recall what the headlights looked like? The ones like Atombaum's (W108) had two round headlights stacked vertically on top of each other. Then there was the W114 (These are chassis codes similar to AE86, not a model name, as there were multiple models within each generation depending on engine) that was a little smaller than the one Atombaum has. It also has vertically oriented headlights but with just a single round light within the light. Here is a link to some of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W114 Both the W108 and W114 also have hoods that sort of look like a W, in that the headlights stick up above the hood, the hood then dips down, the grill then sticks up above the hood, dips back again, and back up to the headlight. Then there is the W123 which is probably the most ubiquitous Mercedes model. It came out in the late 70's, so depending on timing if they had it early in the 70's or later in the 70's, that could also help narrow it down. Here is a link to the W123: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W123 It lost the vertically oriented headlights, and they are now horizontally oriented, so the front end no longer looks like a W, but more like an A, in that the lights and hood are relatively even and lower on the ends, with the grill rising up above in the middle. W108: ![]() W114: ![]() W123:
Edited by 250 TR, Dec 3 2016, 01:10 AM.
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| toyotageek | Dec 3 2016, 01:31 AM Post #14 |
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
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Thanks Jeff & Ben. That is certainly one of the things I remember about the car, and what I liked about it - the headlights. They were like the W108. For me at the time it was the iconic look of a Mercedes. We had the car until about 78 or 79 I think. I'd occasionally drive it to work when I was in high school. One unfortunate night I drove over someone's spare tire which resulted in the Mercedes getting a flat. I never changed a tire before that night. It was 9:30 pm on the fwy, and I placed the jack in the wrong spot... which resulted in some body damage. I felt so bad about that, but my folks were more concerned about me being ok.. the Mercedes was fixable. Good thing my dad worked at a car dealership with a good body shop. I guess I need to learn what the differences were between the 250 and 280 (and maybe the 300, although I don't think we had the 300). The other thing I can't recall is if it was an SE or an SEL Things I do recall are the color - deep blue. Fog lights on the front bumper (and I think they were amber). And the wood dash panel on the interior. I loved that wood. BTW Jeff, sorry for hijacking your discussion. But your car brought back good memories. |
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| atombaum | Dec 3 2016, 06:27 AM Post #15 |
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The Quest Continues
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toyotageek, Your memory of the wood on the dash probably means it was a W108. The smaller, a.k.a. "new generation" cars (came out in 1968) like the aforementioned W114 and W115 (the b+w photo of the 220D is actually a W115) were not adorned with as many creature comforts, etc. Counter-intuitively: the W115 (higher number) had "smaller" engines (four-cyl. gas and diesel) than the W114 series ("mostly" six-cyl. engines), but they looked almost identical to each other - except the W114 had "stacked" front bumpers (two-layer front bumpers). I believe some of the W114 models (single headlamp each side, six cyl. engines) had a wood veneer on the glove box door, but the rest of the dash layout was a mix of "70s style" plastic and metal. The Mercedes are unique (compared to the American cars I owned many moons ago) in that the jack points are actually holes where the jack "pin" fits into. Those areas tended to rot out - at least where I live. So I can understand you getting the jack in the wrong place. My 1957 Mercedes 190 had "structural integrity" problems in that area, so I carried an after-market floor jack in the trunk to place under something solid. I can't remember if my old Volvo 240 series cars had that style of jack. It might have been more common in European cars. Sorry to hear about the damage to your family's W108 car, but your parents had their hearts in the right place. What a cool car to drive to high school. Were you allowed to park next to the principal? I have a buddy (now 84) who ordered/bought a 1967 250S brand new, and drove it until 1989 (wow) and says it was really rotted by that point. He still has the red seats (front and back) mounted on wood platforms, and uses them in his man cave to this day. They show absolutely no signs of wear. He got the "MB-Tex" (vinyl) seats, which was the ONLY option on the car.Unless you have a photo of the trunk lid (where the model is shown), an old owner's manual, or somebody who remembers, you're probably not going to be able to determine the exact W108 model. How frustrating! I certainly don't mind the "hijacking" of the thread. At least it's still about M-B W108, etc. though. Edited by atombaum, Dec 3 2016, 09:24 AM.
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| toyotageek | Dec 5 2016, 11:36 AM Post #16 |
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Japanese Minicar Maniac
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Thanks again Jeff. Since my dad recently passed away, I plan on going through my parents old files, so maybe I'll find some old records of the Mercedes. I guess my next mission then is to find some diecast version, preferably in 1:64 BTW, I didn't drive the Mercedes to school, at least not very often. I had my own car at the time. For the life of me I can't remember my first car, other than I think it was a Plymouth, but I do recall my second car, which was 66 Mustang. The Mustang was in the shop the night I drove the Mercedes and had that flat tire. And I learned about the jack points the hard way... I didn't know about them before that night. |
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| Guntownal | Dec 5 2016, 02:37 PM Post #17 |
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Minivan
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Beautiful Mercedes! Thanks for sharing. |
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| Swifty | Dec 5 2016, 03:47 PM Post #18 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Gorgeous Mercedes-Benz! Absolutely stunning.
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| daniel60 | Dec 6 2016, 06:40 AM Post #19 |
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Personal Luxury Car
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A winner!!! |
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2:16 PM Jul 11
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Nice looking Mercedes 250S. Knew a guy in St. Paul, MN who had one when I lived there in the late '70's - got to ride in it once - very nice!







I have a buddy (now 84) who ordered/bought a 1967 250S brand new, and drove it until 1989 (wow) and says it was really rotted by that point. He still has the red seats (front and back) mounted on wood platforms, and uses them in his man cave to this day. They show absolutely no signs of wear. He got the "MB-Tex" (vinyl) seats, which was the ONLY option on the car.

2:16 PM Jul 11