"Barn find" -- Five 6.3s

[Since66]

Five 6.3s in outstanding condition.


Colorado "barn find" nets five Mercedes-Benz 6.3s in outstanding preserved condition | Fox News

[tyl604]

The red one has bundts. Is that proper?

[POS]

Yep - they're 15" bundts.

[Skid Row Joe]

Pretty cars from what few pics. there are. I love survivors!

[Since66]

The dealer hit let me drive a new one when they first appeared.

I'm assuming that's what an F-16 jet feels like at a full throttle take off.



Of course, they don't compare to today's numbers, but in '69 they were the cat's ass.

[Alain V.]

WOW! cool find

[Edward Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Since66

The dealer hit let me drive a new one when they first appeared.

I'm assuming that's what an F-16 jet feels like at a full throttle take off.



Of course, they don't compare to today's numbers, but in '69 they were the cat's ass.

My dad drove a 1971 W109 3.5 for almost 25 years as a daily driver, and I remember him test driving a couple of 6.3 models back in the day. Back then, they really were something special, the fit and finish was out of this world. and that smell, the smell of the wool carpets, the vat dyed leather was something else.

[Mölyapina]

Wow, 25 years in the same daily is quite impressive.

[Edward Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Jooseppi Luna

Wow, 25 years in the same daily is quite impressive.

He never planned on keeping it that long, because my mother has issues with the inadequate factory air conditioning. Only two small vents under the dash that were supposed to cool a car with a large greenhouse of glass.

Anyways, that car was intoxicating to drive being so well balanced with the air suspension and the powerhouse M116 3.5 engine. It even had the optional limited slip rear axle, that came in handy on rainy days due to the idiosyncrasies of the fluid coupling automatic with a very short first gear.

The M116 engine in that car produced more than one horsepower per cubic inch, while yielding a consistent 18 mpg. For a car built in 1971, it was so far advanced, except for the pitiful air conditioning, that pops just saw no need to replace it. For starters it had electronic fuel injection, a four speed automatic, Teflon coated shifter, a true dual exhaust with cast iron headers, self leveling air suspension, electronic ignition, four wheel disc brakes, and everything on the car was adjustable. You could even adjust the tightness of the vent windows on the front doors to eliminate wind noise. It even had three point seat belts.

The only major repairs in those 25 years was one transmission rebuild, and he had to have the cylinder heads removed in the mid '80s to do a decarbonization because even with modern high octane fuel, it started to ping under acceleration. He passed the car to me in the late '90s and I used it for three years as a daily driver with no major issues. We estimate it had around 300k miles on it when we sold it to a fellow who promptly let his alcoholic wife wrap it it around a tree. She walked away without a scratch.

I still regret selling the car, but modern fuel would cause it to vapor lock on hot days, the distributer was worn out and causing issues with the trigger points that fired the fuel injectors. Plus, parts were starting to get scarce/expensive for a car that really had little value except for sentimental value. It was time to let it go.

[JimFreeh]

Back in 1972, Mom got a 69 6.3. DB904 dk blue with light grey leather.

Mom didn't really grasp what it was at the time, but Dad and I knew....
She still remembers the car fondly, says it was the best car she ever owned.

Dad replaced it with a 6.9, a great car in it's own right, but it never had the feeling of raw power that the 6.3 had.

I owned the 6.3 for 8 years, loved it as well, but the repair bills were just killing me financially. I figured I could own one car (the 6.3), or a half dozen other cars for the same investment of time and cash. My wife called it our $600 car. Every time we drove it, it cost $600.......

Do I want another? No, not unless my bank account was much fatter than it is now.
Unless those cars have been run regularly, the future owners will be shelling out a ton of money to recommission those cars.

Jim

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by JimFreeh

Back in 1972, Mom got a 69 6.3. DB904 dk blue with light grey leather.

Mom didn't really grasp what it was at the time, but Dad and I knew....
She still remembers the car fondly, says it was the best car she ever owned.

Dad replaced it with a 6.9, a great car in it's own right, but it never had the feeling of raw power that the 6.3 had.

I owned the 6.3 for 8 years, loved it as well, but the repair bills were just killing me financially. I figured I could own one car (the 6.3), or a half dozen other cars for the same investment of time and cash. My wife called it our $600 car. Every time we drove it, it cost $600.......

Do I want another? No, not unless my bank account was much fatter than it is now.
Unless those cars have been run regularly, the future owners will be shelling out a ton of money to recommission those cars.

Jim

And that's it in a nutshell. Many cars of yesteryear cost a small fortune in money to keep up to speed, just to make them daily-drivers. If you spend endless hours working on them yourself to keep them up to speed? That's a different story then. Cool story though, for sure!

[tyl604]

Jim - you are right about the maintenance cost. When I sold my '70 6.3 after owning it ten years, I was averaging almost $1000 per month in maintenance. Had 150K miles on it then. I always got about 10-11mpg in town and maybe 15-16 mpg on the highway.

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by tyl604

Jim - you are right about the maintenance cost. When I sold my '70 6.3 after owning it ten years, I was averaging almost $1000 per month in maintenance. Had 150K miles on it then. I always got about 10-11mpg in town and maybe 15-16 mpg on the highway.

Yowser!

[tyl604]

You know what? I need to think about that again. That is what I seem to remember ($1000 per month) but that just does not sound right. Too bad Quicken did not exist back then so I could check.

So I am going to take that statement back. I just remember that it got so much that I could not take it any more.

[Edward Wyatt]

Originally Posted by tyl604

Jim - you are right about the maintenance cost. When I sold my '70 6.3 after owning it ten years, I was averaging almost $1000 per month in maintenance. Had 150K miles on it then. I always got about 10-11mpg in town and maybe 15-16 mpg on the highway.

Dealer parts weren't that expensive back in the day, plus we had a factory trained Indy mechanic who was from Germany and really cared about these cars. I remember parts and labor for having all four air bags done in the mid '80s was right around $800, and they lasted around 50 to 60 thousand miles for a set. Keeping moisture out of the air suspension system kept the valves in good shape for much longer than normal. I still have the tool my dad made to drain the condensate out of the air tank once a week, man that was a revolting smell.

Your right, they are very high maintenance cars even though they are very durable. Every three months it would get a full service. That included greasing the 25 or so grease nipples, putting talcum powder on the weatherstripping, lube all locks and door hinges, checking lights, cleaning the wiper blades and probably a couple of other things I can't remember. I also still have the tool for adjusting the valves once a year, and the tool for opening the crazy R12 valves to charge the air conditioning.

It helped that dad bought the car when it was only a few years old and babied it, I couldn't imagine trying to bring one back to daily driver status in this day and age. I see that used parts on eBay sell for more than what they used to cost new. I remember dad buying the wood that goes on the the dash over the defroster vents because the cabinet shop ruined the original, it cost around 200 and the dealer special ordered it without even asking for for prepayment.