celebrating the world`s - Classic Mercedes Magazine

NE
W
GREATEST
!
CELEBRATING THE WORLD’S
CARS
F
pubrom the
lishe
rs of
Classic Mercedes is the new quarterly magazine that will
focus on the very best models from the 1950s to the 1990s
For further information visit
www.classicmercedesmagazine.com
Available from all good newsagents and online
NE
W
!
is the new q
quarterly
uarterly magaz
magazine
from the sa
same
ame publisher tthat
has broug
brought
Mercedes
ght you Merce
Enthusiast
Enthusiasst for over 10 years.
Taking an
international
a internati
view, it will cover the best
Mercedes
classics from
Merce
edes clas
the la
last
years, with
ast 60 ye
drive
stories, buying
e storie
guides
profiles of
guiides and
a
the
the top
to specialists.
Don’t miss it!
Do
D
★ IN THIS ISSUE ★
COVER
R
STORY
SUPERFAST!
SUPERFA
14
15
64
65
TOP TO BOTTOM
By the standards of today’s
supercars the 15-inch
wheels are modest in size.
The 1954 300SL Gullwing
was Mercedes’ first road
car with fuel-injection.
The quarterlights are the
only opening windows on
the 300SL; cabin gets hot.
The
Specifications
Specifications
COVER
STORY
Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
Mercedes-Benz 300SL (W198)
M198 2,996cc 6-cyl
212bhp @ 5,800rpm
Torque
202lb ft @ 4,600rpm
Transmission
(W109)
IMAGES Reed Hitchcock
Engine
Power
4-speed manual
Weight
The first road going SL, launched in 1954 is the most
celebrated of the six generations. David Sutherland gets
behind the wheel of beautifully restored example
1,295kg
0-62mph
10.0sec
Top speed
163mph*
Fuel consumption
29.7mpg
Years produced
1954-57
All figures from Mercedes-Benz
* depending on rear axle ratio
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MERCEDES
PEOPLE
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‘THERE WERE 6,526 6.3S
PRODUCED – IMPRESSIVE FOR A
CAR THAT COST OVER THREE TIMES
MORE THAN THE 280SEL’
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MERCEDES PEOPLE
Erich Waxenberger
CLASSIC
CHOICE
X
M100 6,332cc V8
247bhp @ 4,000rpm
Torque
367lb ft @ 2,800rpm
Transmission
4-speed auto
Weight
0-62mph
1,780kg
6.5sec
Top speed
138mph
Fuel consumption
18.2mpg
Years produced
1967-72
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THESE WERE FRIENDLY
CONVERTIBLES TO BE
ENJOYED BY THE
WHOLE FAMILY
’
X
Seasoned classic car journalist Martin Buckley recalls a
fascinating conversation with Erich Waxenberger, the
renowned, radical Mercedes engineer who in the 1960s
introduced reluctant management to big horsepower
E
Waxenberger’s competitive
adventures began in the Eugen
Böhringer/Fintail period of the early
1960s. “There was the time I was on
the Acropolis [rally] with a 220SE.
Böhringer was driver number one,
[Dieter] Glemser was number two but
he got sick the night before the start
– I was still in Stuttgart,” he tells us.
“The co-driver calls me – what can
we do? I said I’d find him another
driver. I didn’t look for another driver!
I told my assistant to find a connection
to Athens. This is five hours before the
start. My wife was at the hairdresser’s
and didn’t know anything about it. I
got a connection via Zürich and got to
Athens one and a half hours before
the start. No time to ask the bosses…”
one of our group had gone off with
the key to the room of a local hotel he
had booked for us!
Waxenberger recounted joining the
factory in 1953, helping develop the
300SL, 190SL and Pagoda, and working
to the end of the 1990s. In the early
days his reputation as a hard driver
X
IN THE EARLY DAYS HIS
REPUTATION AS A
HARD DRIVER CAME
TO THE ATTENTION OF
STUTTGART’S BEAN
COUNTERS AFTER HE
SMASHED SEVERAL
TEST CARS
A
X
came to the attention of Stuttgart’s
bean counters after he smashed several
test cars. Luckily, Uhlenhaut
recognised a kindred spirit and always
protected the youngster’s back.
Waxenberger’s pet project,
the 300SEL 6.3.
ll he had time to do was test
the pace notes, but this didn’t
seem to hold him back. “On
the first special stage I was third overall.
On the second the throttle kept
sticking so during the cornering I
switched off the engine and in the
corner I switched it on again. I had a
piece of wire to operate the throttle
71
30
31
Open
verdict
Martin Buckley drives a 220 Cabriolet B from 1951
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drophead cars of pleasant but different character
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IMAGES James Mann
70
rich Waxenberger
created the world’s
first ‘super saloon’
the celebrated
300SEL 6.3 of 1967.
Now 81, the burly
Bavarian, protégé
of the legendary Mercedes engineer
Rudolf Uhlenhaut, was however also a
frustrated racing and rally driver – he
competed in the 220SE Fintail when
one of the official drivers fell ill, and
turned out to be equally quick.
Visually he has the rugged, craggy
appeal of George C Scott and talked
non stop explaining himself clearly in
good English about his career in
development as we settled down in the
Germanic comfort of his sitting room
at his home in Switzerland. There are
dozens of other questions I wanted to
ask, I realised, about cars like the 6.9,
the M100 engined Pagoda prototype,
but I didn’t want to interrupt his flow.
It is hard to say what he would have
been like to work for, but a sharp
memory and attention to detail were
still among his attributes. After we’d
left he became deeply concerned that
Behind the
wheel of the
6.3-litre V8
stormer that
could leave
Porsches
for dead
CLASSIC
DROP TOP
220 CABR
CABRIOLETS
ENGINES
‘ SIX-CYLINDER
HUMMING PEACEFULLY,
W A X E N B E R G E R
POWER
SUPPLIER
Engine
Power
All figures from Mercedes-Benz
X
E R I C H
IMAGES Daimler AG/Dan Trent
A Mercedes
engineer in
search of
horsepower.
We profile
Erich
Waxenberger
SUPER
SALOON
DRIVING THE CLASSICS
300SEL 6.3
‘THE 300SL FIRST SHOWN
IN 1954 WAS EXOTIC AND
EXCLUSIVE, PRICED AT
THREE TIMES THAT OF A
BASIC PONTON’
In 1967 a 6.3-litre V8 was shoehorned into the 300SEL
saloon, as an experiment – but instead th
the Mercedes
super saloon was born. Reed Hitchcock tried one of
the best examples to be found in the U
US
IMAGES Eric Richardson
We drive a
beautifully
restored
1954 300SL
Gullwing, one
of the best in
the world
COVER STORY
300SL Gullwing
Two classy
cabriolets
from the
1950s, the
220 and
220S are
compared
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