Beschreibung
THE PAPERWORK:
As well as the purchase receipts and confirmation from Gallery Aaldering, the car comes with a number of receipts and invoices for maintenance and service items, as well as the import paperwork from HMRC and the current V5. With the car having undergone full restoration, recently, there is little in the way of paperwork from before its recommissioning.
THE INTERIOR:
As with all Mercedes of this period, the cabin is a delightful place to spend time in. The seats, door cards and dash are swatched in gorgeous, tactile Cognac leather, complemented with deep-pile biscuit- coloured carpets and perforated, cream headlining. All of the interior materials are immaculate condition, with the look and feel of the very highest quality.
I have also had bespoke, complementary coloured ‘Cocomats’ fitted (ordered direct from the manufacturer in the USA) in both the cabin and the boot compartment. These high-end, period-correct items are woven from coconut fibres and were a factory option, at the time of production.
Throughout the cabin are highlights of sumptuous walnut veneer and high-quality stainless brightwork. In combination with the classic Mercedes dials and switchgear, the original Becker stereo and the ivory-coloured wheel, it makes the driving environment truly lovely. All of the cabin’s switchgear works perfectly, from the column-mounted automatic shifter to the front and rear power windows. The gauges on the dashboard are also in perfect working order.
The cabin has acres of space – you will certainly have no trouble carrying four adults in comfort. The vehicle is built with a cavernous boot which provides all the room you would need for their luggage too. Even with the full-size spare wheel and toolkit, there is still plenty of room for everything you need on a touring holiday.
THE EXTERIOR:
Mirror coffee brown and chrome is such a classy combination on this era of Mercedes, and really shows off the subtle but striking proportions of the W111 to their best. On this car, the paintwork is utterly flawless. With a deep shine and mirror finish, it is completed with beautifully preserved and restored brightwork, including brand new front and rear bumpers that were fitted just before the car sale in December 2018.
All of the exterior trim and elements are in similarly fine condition, from the coffee brown/ maroon and chrome hubs shod with classic whitewall tyres to the period correct grille badges, this is a perfectly judged restoration. The underside of the car is similarly clean and pristine, almost looking like it’s recently rolled off the production line at Stuttgart.
Just look at the photos for evidence of how well-restored the exterior of this car is. No editing has been done to remove blemishes, what you see there really is precisely how the car presents. As someone with very high standards, when I say this beauty is in concours condition, I mean it.
THE MECHANICS:
Under the bonnet, you are presented with Mercedes’ legendary M130 2. 8-litre straight-six, mated to a four-speed automatic transmission, the perfect recipe for effortless cruising. Developing a healthy 158bhp, this meaty engine sounds brilliant and matches the laidback, touring feel of the car.
As with the exterior and underside, the engine bay is pristine and very well cared for. It is evident that significant work has gone into making the mechanical aspects of the car as beautiful and show-worthy as the bodywork and cabin; as well as efficient.
The car performs very well, starting, driving and stopping smoothly; and without other issues. It certainly sounds lovely, the throaty warble of the straight-six idling smoothly and revving freely. There is no noise or inappropriate movement coming from the drivetrain and suspension either.
THE APPEAL:
Few cars are as desirable as a big Mercedes-Benz coupe. As a way of covering vast distances in effortless comfort and style, nothing comes close to them. They have a way of cosseting you in not only vast quantities of gorgeous leather, wood and chrome, but acres of comfort too.
This example really is one of the finest you will see too. Beautifully restored to the very highest standard, aesthetically and mechanically, with the kind of specification and quality that makes us go a little weak at the knees. The stunning silky coffee brown and chrome of the exterior works match so well with that Cognac interior. This is one of the most beautiful colour combinations I have ever seen, throughout several years of me having owned a fleet of high quality classic cars.
The Mercedes W111 is not only beloved of the glitterati, but is enduringly beautiful and loved by almost everyone. There is no hint of snobbery, no whiff of pretension, just vast wells of quality and a deep, aching coolness. It is the kind of vehicle that is welcomed everywhere – not showy, just very, very pretty. I will be sad to see it go.
To conclude few cars can truly be described as “concours quality”, but this is one of them. 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE Coupe (W111)
An absolute concours quality example of this classic touring coupe.
Year: 1970
Model: 280SE Coupe (W111)
Mileage displayed: 45, 143
VIN: the details below
Registration: BHY933H
Number of owners: 2+
Location: Smethwick, UK
HIGHLIGHTS
· Fully restored and rebuilt in the Netherlands
· Beautiful Cognac leather interior
· Show-stopping mirror coffee brown paintwork.
THE BACKGROUND
Designed by Paul Bracq as a replacement for the 1950s two-door Pontons, the W111 coupe shared its platform with the saloon car. It went into production in 1960, with the 280SE coming along in 1967 and staying in production until 1971.
THE HISTORY
This car underwent a substantial restoration and rebuild, cosmetically and mechanically, in the Netherlands before being offered for sale by the world-renowned classic car dealers -Gallery Aaldering, in late 2018.
It was from here that the current owner purchased and imported it to the UK, the car being registered here in February 2019. Since then, the car has been kept covered, in a heated garage, and only taken out in very fine and dry weather.
I am reluctantly selling this beauty owing to a house move, not having a garage to store it in, at the house I intend to move into. Thus, this is a great opportunity to become a keeper of one of the finest and most elegant cars ever made.
