The photo was taken on a family holiday from Melbourne (Victoria) to North Queensland in 1967. Long road holidays in those days were commonplace for my family and the venerable W111 illustrated would easily clock over around 3,000 miles return per trip. In this particular scene, I’m the little guy on the left next to my older brother. Mum is sitting in the car, perhaps a little bored, or maybe just hot and tired – many of these journeys were undertaken during the Australian summer.
We never had any car problems and as kids would happily point out all the other makes of cars along the road stopped with their hoods up! The car is a 1963 220S, assembled from kits at that stage by AMI (Australian Motor Industries) which were located in Port Melbourne. The use of the Finnie on this occasion is notable, as just a few months earlier, Dad had taken delivery of a shiny new W108 250SE. I can only surmise that the 250SE had not yet been fitted with the necessary towing gear.
The photo was taken on a family holiday from Melbourne (Victoria) to North Queensland in 1967. Long road holidays in those days were commonplace for my family and the venerable W111 illustrated would easily clock over around 3,000 miles return per trip. In this particular scene, I’m the little guy on the left next to my older brother. Mum is sitting in the car, perhaps a little bored, or maybe just hot and tired – many of these journeys were undertaken during the Australian summer. We never had any car problems and as kids would happily point out all the other makes of cars along the road stopped with their hoods up! The car is a 1963 220S, assembled from kits at that stage by AMI (Australian Motor Industries) which were located in Port Melbourne. The use of the Finnie on this occasion is notable, as just a few months earlier, Dad had taken delivery of a shiny new W108 250SE. I can only surmise that the 250SE had not yet been fitted with the necessary towing gear.
This photo shows Dad’s mighty W108 250SE at Coffs Harbour, New South Wales during a holiday there in 1968. I’m on the very right – a little taller than in the 1967 photo of the Finnie but alas, a bit skinnier! The 250SE was used by Dad for his business use and come weekends and holidays, it became the family chariot. Mum at this stage drove the ‘hand-me-down’ 220S Finnie and I have fond memories of being delivered to and from school in the re-assuring surroundings of the W111.
The third photo shows Dad’s first Mercedes, a 1956 180. I wasn’t around then and my oldest brother is seen in the photo. The 180 replaced an old Ford V8 and from there Dad never looked back. The 180 was replaced by a 1960 W111 220S which in turn was superseded by the 1963 W111 220S in the top picture, the only difference being the upgrade to automatic transmission. During 1966, the W108 250SE arrived on the scene and finally in 1971 came the last Mercedes, a W108 280S.
In 1976, Mum decided the 280S was a little ‘dowdy’ and seeking a more contemporary image, traded the W108 for a brand new Mazda rotary engined RX-5. This proved a comfortable car but short-lived and in 1978 Dad purchased a new BMW 528i for Mum. They both like driving the car, and appreciated its handling, but the BMW was plagued with a series of reliability issues. Thinking this was not endemic to the brand, they replaced it in 1981 with a new BMW 323i. Well, reliability didn’t improve and shortly after my parents became devotees to the likes of Honda, Toyota and Subaru.
Thanks, Jeff. In the US, it was pretty uncommon to see these cars pulling trailers, for obvious reasons. But in Europe, and obviously other parts of the world, they were relatively powerful and strong cars, certainly up to the task.
I enjoyed your description of “Dad’s mighty W108 250SE”. At the time they certainly seemed so. Today they look positively delicate and small. Times change…
Thanks Jeff for a great read and pictures.In the UK a Mercedes was very expensive and they were a rare sight in 60s Britain due to the price and anti German feeling(the end of WW2 was only 20 years previously).
It does make me wonder just what the price premium for a Mercedes in Australia over a similarly sized and powered Holden or Ford was.
I’ve seen early ’60s price guides that put the starting price of a four-cylinder Fintail about level with an Olds 88; by 1979 with the weak dollar they cost double the base MSRP of a Cadillac Coupe de Ville (and people were buying them for that money!)
A Benz cost about double the price of a Holden or Falcon here they competed head on with Jaguars and the like with no better reliability, a broken Merc could remain that way for months waiting for unobtainable parts to arrive from Germany to repair it, consequently very few people had the financial wherewithall to sustain buying them twice.
Repeat BMW buyers are a rare animal too usually the lesson is learnt with the first one, but some are gluttons for punishment and BMW will happily sell you another lemon to prove the point. Good story but I had a 63 Holden that towed a horse float up and down that highway in the 60s basicly trouble free and was still running in 03 when I sold it.
The scenes are familiar even if the car isn’t. Heavy sedans were the normal thing. Bought a buick once with a trailer package but strangely enough for me, I had no trailer. Heavy radiators, heavy springs, and heavy brakes.
1993 300E towing a 1990 Skamper. Photo taken September 2013. Tows pretty smoothly and still has passing power.
mercs were kind of akin to race horses rather than plow horses.
i read many of merc auto do start on 2nd but under load they will drop down to 1st.
My w126 300sd do start on first, then my 190 e 2.6 starts on 2nd.
my friend’s 300sd did start on 2nd too.
Good pics, Jeff. I can see where you get the need for your current fleet from! I do suspect, though, that a definition of an optimist is someone towing a caravan with a type 180. The poor little M136 only made about 40hp. so it must have been a slow trip!
MB’s were expensive here, but we were one of the primary markets, as at that time we were riding on the sheeps back, so to speak. In 1971, my mother bought a new Holden HQ Premier (202 with the traumatic trans) for $2100. List for the 280SE, built in the same year, she traded it in on 26 years later was $9500. The HQ did almost the same mileage as the car with which it was replaced (about 200,000). The 280SE had a perfect history, had never been apart and had no major faults when purchased. The HQ was on it’s third engine. (broken piston crown in no 1 cylinder, twice. First time repaired by Reg Hunt, second with a repco changover). I know which I would buy…
I worked for a mechanic doing warranty work for BMW in the early 80’s. A continuous stream of 5 series cars with head gasket failure was enough to put me off the maker for life. Nice to drive, but every time you turn left something falls off!
The first Mercedes I know and remember really well, given my age, is the W115.
Now the W115 and its successors were over-built by nature. So apart from the diesel engines that made them “professional” trailer pullers.
Sure, a decent Ford or Opel could pull the happy camper. But towing loaded tandem axle trailers, day in day out, is another cup of tea. And that’s why a midsized Mercedes with a diesel engine was the blue collar’s hero. If you couldn’t afford a new one you just bought a used one, whether 3 years old or 10 years old. Or older.
Photos look like outtakes from The Road Warrior…
I like the shot of the 180. One of my brothers had one, I think it was a ’55 model, with flathead four. It wasn’t quick, but a sweet car nonetheless.
Love the pics and comment Jeff – thankyou. I am a long term collector of old benzes, but only recently bought a big dual axle Adelaide built roadmaster caravan. It was only supposed to be cheap shelter on a scrub block we have and intended for a one time tow with my later model land rover. But it is a lovely original old ‘van and I pictured it behind my 1970 280se 3.5, but with the rear suspension layout I didn’t think it could tow that sort of weight. But seeing your pics there may be hope with an appropriately strengthened towbar!
Our family has had mercs for a similar length of time .I saw my first in 1958 when a local woman bought a 220S ponton ,a seriously expensive car in New Zealand at that time . Over the years my Dad bought lots of new ones but we also had work vehicles around the place such as new HQ holden ute which had the normal HQ 202 cu.in detachable piston crowns and rubber cam followers as no cost options.
Dads main car in 1970 was a W114 230 6 in which he covered 118,000 miles in 18 months and sold it for a profit to buy a new 280E W114 . He wrote that off 6 days later when a beetle did a u turn in front of him. The Merc ripped the nose off the beetle, the 280 turned onto it’s roof and went spiining off the road upside down. Dad cut his ear getting out of the wreck. Any other brand and he would not have survived the accident.
In ustralia a lot of W109 6.3’s and W116 6.9’s were used for heavy towing ,who remembers the massive tri axle caravans from the 1960 and 70’s ? and you think todays grey nomads hog the roads….