Mercedes Benz W-111 Coupe 1965
I have always been a big fan of Mercedes-Benz cars since I was a kid. My neighbour had an Heckflosse sedan (W111, nicknamed Fin tail in US/UK) and I always thought it was a very interesting car compared to the other one's in my neighborhood.
As I grew up I got more and more interested in Mercedes Benz cars, especially the coupe's and the G-wagen. The car that I did learn to drive in was a Mercedes Benz 190 (2.5 diesel) and it was a great pleasure to drive. When I was around 20 years old then I, several times, "had to" drive two Mercs that belonged to my then current employer (500 SEC (W126) & 300 GE) and just simply got hooked!
For the past few years I've thinking that when I would move to a bigger place with a garage I would consider buying an old car as a Sunday driver - and of course it would have to be a Mercedes.
About 2 or 3 years ago I saw a Heckflosse Coupe in a bad shape at a used car sale in Reykjavik (Iceland). It made me remember about the old sedan that my neighbour had so I thought that maybe I might one day just buy myself a car like that.
And now I've got it :o) and hopefully I can restore it to its former glory.
I am located in Gar�ab�r in Iceland and am a member of Stjarna (Star) - The Mercedes-Benz Club of Iceland (Website: www.stjarna.is)
Here are some information about my car, Mercedes Benz (W 111) 220 SEb Coupe 1965 - European model (though imported to the US some long time ago - unfortunately don't know its original story).
I just got it shipped to me in March 2006 from California, USA.
Before this car arrived there where only two W111 Coupe's in Iceland so this one is the third and the only one that can be driven (one is a restoration project, see Runar's 1963 220SE Coupe) and the other one is just sitting outside his owners storage space and waiting to rust down (I guess :o( ).
My car is a restoration project. The engine works fine when it has reached "normal operating temperature" but has problems starting when cold.
Transmission functions perfectly and the brakes seem to be in order. It was great fun to drive home from the service center that did some minor repair for me.
Enclosed are several photos taken of the car:
The first one is a "sales shot" as it was presented to me (bought it according to the photos and description made by seller - following photos are from seller):
It looks nice, paint job seems to be okay (and was praised by seller) but when I got it I noticed that it was shiny but not very well done. Also the colour isn't one of my favorite either - but then you cannot really choose the colour of an old classic like this.
According to information from the ID plates in the car then the original colour is DB050 and here is a photo showing that colour according to information from "The" Fin tail website: Heckflosse.nl.
The colour in the picture may be distorted because here it is more like cream or a bit pink but I believe it is supposed to be classic white according to other MB sources online (i.e. mbzponton.org's colour chart).
If I am correct then DB050 is more like this here (photo by seller):
The white car in the picture above was actually the first car I did try to buy online but I didn't win, someone bid 51 US$ more than I so I was not so lucky :o(
But I believe that my car is in a better shape mechanically than this was though the seats and interior in this one looked better.
The weather in California seems always nice according to the following photos (photos by seller) :o)
Maybe you can spot it on the picture above that the hood doesn't fit is place as it should be (drivers side), something that the seller said was just his mistake, he didn't close it fully or something. Shouldn't be like this when I would receive it. So I guess he just lied to me - sh*t happens!
Well he also claimed there was only minor rust in the trunk as well but this is what I got (photos by me):
The interior and seats are damaged and that is what I did expect and knew it needed to be replaced and/or fixed (photos by seller):
The chrome seems to be more or less okay but still there is some rust and the person that did the paint job definitely wasn't bothered with removing the chrome parts first or covering them :o(
(Photo by me, well of me as well....):
What was totally disappointing was the fact that the car was damaged while shipping, how they could have done this I can't understand:
This also happened while shipping and I know why because the containers are so small that the workers had to open the window and "jump" into the car while pushing their arms on the roof and the wall of the container. This had presumably been done so often that something had to give in.... :o(
When the car arrived in Iceland it had to stay with the freight forwarder for a few days while waiting for customs to clear it. Then I took it to a MB service shop where it stayed for 3 weeks waiting outside (in the rain and cold) to be looked at :o( - which was a bit longer time than I had been first told and I am still a bit annoyed by that. And then of course it costs a fortune...
But I got to drive it home and that was almost worth every money that I had spent :o)
Following are photos that was taken by Stjarna (The Mercedes-Benz Club of Iceland) and can also be found on the Clubs Heckflosse (Fin tail) website.
(Photos by Sveinn �orsteinsson - Here is a link to his fantastic 300SEL 6.3)
Now the car has finally gotten home, to its small garage where I will keep it from time to time while during the restoration period. This will definitely be a challenging task and will take some time since I am a total beginner in this field. I am not a mechanic and have never really had to do much work on my cars in the past but one can always learn ;o)
Here are a few pics from "home:
More pictures and information on next page(s)
