SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 2+2 Coupe |
| Years Produced: | 1968–72 |
| Number Produced: | 6,526 |
| Tune Up Cost: | $1,000 |
| Chassis Number Location: | Front right structural rail under air filter |
| Engine Number Location: | Driver’s side of engine block behind cylinder head on bell housing |
| Club Info: | International M100 Group |
| Website: | http://www.m-100.co |
| Alternatives: | 1970–71 Mercedes Benz 280SE 3.5 coupe, 1975–86 Rolls-Royce Camargue, 1971–72 Ferrari 365 GTC/4 |
This car, Lot 93, sold for $350,000, including buyer’s premium, at Bonhams Cars’ The Quail Auction in Carmel, CA, on August 18, 2023.
While I don’t hold anything against Pininfarina or blame the original designer of this car, I do not think this one-off W109 has aged particularly well. I would not be surprised if the legal department at Mercedes-Benz Group took a page from the Ferrari playbook and requested that the new owner replace the wheels and the grille to hide its true identity.
Ugly but fascinating
Still, it is fascinating that this bizarre creation exists. The idea of an M100 V8-powered coupe has intrigued many Mercedes enthusiasts, and the fact that the original owner pushed so hard to be able to fulfill his personal fantasy is admirable. The only other avenue (a better one, at that) to attaining this sort of folly was a visit to the workshop of a certain Hans Werner Aufrecht, who would install an M100 V8 in a 300SE coupe or cabriolet if you wished.
I am unsure why I dislike this car so much. Perhaps it is because there was never really a way to make a 300SEL 6.3 more beautiful than it was originally. Our subject car’s owner wanted his own unique Mercedes but ended up with something that was anything but a Mercedes. It is as if Pininfarina used this opportunity as a styling exercise rather than a serious attempt at creating a W109 coupe.
Plastic surgery
What intrigues me most is how Pininfarina managed to pull off this feat. Our subject car bears almost no resemblance to the original 6.3, with significant modifications to every panel, every piece of trim and every dimension. At one point this car must have been reduced to a bare shell with every welded piece of exterior sheet metal removed.
Once that was accomplished, it seems Pininfarina shortened the entire unibody by at least half a meter, if not more. This, of course, opens the door for all kinds of issues. I can only imagine the bubbles in the photos are the tip of a giant, ferrous iceberg. (Indeed, a glance under the car at the auction preview revealed considerable amounts of rust. —Ed.) It is likely that the structure of the vehicle is affected, particularly where it was sectioned and welded back together. Not to mention the sheer amount of filler that had to be used to make all the imperfections disappear. Marrying precise German metal stamping with the more artistic metal-forming methods of the Italians will most certainly make for a difficult and costly restoration.
In addition, there is no solid mechanical assessment of the car, other than showing photos of it driving. With the 6.3 and most Mercedes of this era, many of the cars will still drive but few will do it as competently as they are designed to. A trained eye can tell that all the rear suspension bushings are collapsed, and if you look closely at the rear wheels, you can see they are cambered in. No mention is made of the original air-suspension system, but it is safe to assume little to nothing has been done to maintain or repair it.
Not Pininfarina’s finest
Mercedes has had a sporadic relationship with Pininfarina. Their better-known collaborations include the 230SL coupe, which was nearly as good as a Bracq creation, and a 300B Adenauer coupe, which was a much better execution of saloon-into-coupe than our subject car. The Pininfarina 300SC is possibly the best reinterpretation of a Mercedes design by a third party, with a gentler approach that reconciles the Italian design characteristics of opulent compound curves and contrasting proportions with the unmistakable Teutonic grandeur of the W188.
Following the design of our subject car, its exterior characteristics were recycled for the notoriously unloved Rolls-Royce Camargue. Although the Camargue did remain in production for over a decade, the consensus among enthusiasts is that the car was a design failure. While I am no expert in Rolls-Royces, the Camargue seems like a decadent nothingburger.
The original recipient of our subject car stated he was pleased with it, according to his follow-up correspondence with the staff at Pininfarina. (Could this have misled Paolo Martin into thinking that it was attractive enough to use on a Rolls-Royce?) The original owner’s wife, however, did not like the car, and her verdict led to it being offloaded to another Dutchman after only a few short years.
It came to auction here with a $400k–$600k estimate, but that is about as useful in determining value as the $25k Bonhams got for a true 300SEL 6.3 (also with a collapsed suspension) at its 2021 Scottsdale sale (SCM# 6939762). Certainly, any number of better Mercedes could have been purchased for less money than was paid for our subject car, but none of them is this singular creation.
Perhaps the buyer here is a dedicated Pininfarina collector, or they saw something special in this design that spoke to them. Tastes among automotive enthusiasts vary, and taking on a project of this sort requires nothing less than complete dedication. While this car was extremely well sold — not so much because of what it is but because of everything it needs — it is good to know at least someone appreciates it. ♦
(Introductory description courtesy of Bonhams Cars.)
