Still on
the Mercedes Benz theme, let’s talk about one of the most iconic cars of the
60s and the 70s, the Mercedes Benz W108. The W108 was the S-Class (‘Sonderklasse’
meaning ‘special class’ in German)
of it’s time. It succeeded the Mercedes Benz W111 / W112 (also known as the ‘fintail’)
in it’s class. The W108s were built between the years of 1965 – 1972 before
being replaced by the Mercedes Benz W116. There was also a rare long wheel base model (LWB) known as the 300SEL produced which was given the designation W109.
Mercedes
produced various models of the W108/W109 with various engines ranging from a 2.5
litre inline 6 to a 6.3 litre V8 similar to that of the Mercedes Benz 600 which
I will also talk about in later posts. Though the big V8 powered cars never
really made it to our shores (it was mainly for the US market), the 250S and
the 280S models became popular cars in South East Asia in it’s time including
Malaysia and it became a status car for the wealthy especially those involved
in business.
My passion
and obsession for this model was the reason I acquired one for myself, a 1970
Mercedes Benz W108 280S late last year and is currently being restored. I will
be updating on the progress from time to time and meanwhile I shall leave you for
the weekend with this clip from the 1978 movie ‘The Driver’ which I’m sure some
of you may have already watched it. Do admire the beauty and the capability of
the car except for the part where the car get’s thrashed of course. Haha.....
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