Loving my "new" 250s - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Loz · #1 01-07-2009, 12:50 AM

This is my first S Class Benz of any era and I am just loving it. Got it on Monday and it had been stood for 2 years! Got a battery on it. primed the fuel and it started 5 turn. Auto box is lazy but its non standard (diesel conversion.

Never had a car before without seat belts. Great! cos I am lazy about wearing it sometimes. Now I can cruise in luxury and take my living room every where I go. I can't beleive how great these old girls are.

Sure it has the odd problem but as a daily runner, apart from being slow, its just dandy!

Long live the 250S! Can't wait till my folks come out for a visit. If I was met at the airport in a very tidy 250S Mercedes that would be a great start to my visit...

Will get some pics up when I get a new camera or fix this one. It ain't playin' ball right now...

Just happy to be rolling in a W108.

JimFreeh · #2 01-07-2009, 07:06 AM

First year for the 250S was 1966. Should have had seat belts, they were required safety equipment.

Kangol was the supplier back then, and they made some clever magnetic clasps.

My 67 250SE had 3 point belts, Kangols.

flacollect · #3 01-07-2009, 09:59 AM

I have a 67' 250S, and have seat belts front and rear.

sjefke · #4 01-07-2009, 11:15 AM

I heard a police officer once say that he had never pulled a dead person from a car accident wearing seat belts - meaning the dead ones were NOT wearing one. I cannot see myself not wearing one. Just second nature. I even put them in my 1963 MGB. Just feels safer.

Bert

todds · #5 01-07-2009, 12:37 PM

Quote:

My 67 250SE had 3 point belts, Kangols.

Ditto with my 67 fintail. Not sure if they are Kangol brand but they are heavy duty ugly OD green military looking things. Front and back, with funny chromed external reels. I believe they were stock, because the mounting points are most definitely as-built and there are original pockets on the sides of the front seat moldings to stow them. They are only lap belts, but there are factory anchors for shoulders on the posts, you can feel them under the trim.

LUVMBDiesels · #6 01-07-2009, 01:12 PM

My 1963 Corvair had factory seat belts, lap belts only.

When I bought the '57 Nomad, the first thing I did was install seat belts. The car had factory seat belt brackets, but the belts were an option back then -- CRAZY!

Get a set of belts before you end up regretting not having them.

Oh and Nice purchase! Congrats on the 250S!

Loz · #7 01-07-2009, 11:42 PM

Well that turn a bit morbid.

There's no trace of beltware in this car. Maybe it depends on what market the car was destined for. I'm going to guess you (who have commented) all have Euro or US Spec LHD cars. Mine is in Asia (Thailand) and even if it came from Japan I guess the specs are not the same as current models here differ from home (ENgland) even in 2009.

Be that as it may. I don't intend to put belts it. Maybe I am a big risk taker but, I enjoy the car (without passengers) and at a leisurely pace. I may come to regret that but the upside is at least I won't be here to here "I told you so!"

every cloud has a silver lining, eh?

Ps. thank you LUVMB Diesels, for your kind words.

JimFreeh · #8 01-08-2009, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loz

Be that as it may. I don't intend to put belts it. Maybe I am a big risk taker but, I enjoy the car (without passengers) and at a leisurely pace. I may come to regret that but the upside is at least I won't be here to here "I told you so!"

Loz, this is stupid logic.

No matter how careful you are, you cannot control the actions of others.

Put a set of belts in the car, and use them!

Jim

Loz · #9 01-09-2009, 12:48 PM

Sorry Jim,

think you missed the tongue firmly pressed in cheek.

gmatthewb · #10 01-10-2009, 01:25 AM

My 67 230 (Fintail) had lap-belts, but they weren't Kangol. They were more like the lap-belts you find in a old Cesna.

My 69 280SEL has the Kangol 3-point system.

I agree with others, Loz, and would recommend visiting your local MBenz bone-yard and robbing the most authentic belts you can find. Regardless of the destination market, MB usually manufactured the basic bodies of a model pretty much the same. If you remove the trim on the center post, you'll probably find the mounting holes for the belts.

You can be the first to insert your newly purchased seat-belt bolt right into the virgin receptacle.

Loz · #11 01-10-2009, 10:29 AM

deflowering a seatbelt anchor... It must be love.

liondancer · #12 01-10-2009, 11:23 PM

Do you have the full history on your 250s? My 67 250s (66 production) was a european delivery car. My papers show original owner drove it off the lot in Stuttgart, then had it shipped to SF after some fun in Germany and Italy. Although they should have spec-ed it for U.S. to include belts, the car does not have the seatbelts in it for some reason. I know the Germans didn't require belts until the 80s.

Loz · #13 01-11-2009, 10:14 AM

Thanks Liondancer. Real experience is always great to hear. Glad to know it is not unheard of to have belts fitted. The reason I think mine is ex Euro (UK) is two fold. One. the stacked headlights include orange side repeaters. not clear as per US. and secondly. While someone has fitted a km/h speedo. The clock registers Miles per Hour (like in England). Belts can into law in the UK in the 70's also, So that's three fold.

Loz · #14 01-12-2009, 06:54 AM

Further thoughts...

Wouldn't a '67 model 250S have the word "Oel" in English - "Oil" on the clocks?

I'm thinking now more likely that my car was GDM* Spec.

What say you?

* GDM = German Domestic Market.

Mark DiSilvestro · #15 01-13-2009, 02:02 AM

On the '60 Fintail I acquired several years ago, it was a major project to install lap & shoulder belts in the front seats as the car never had any belts or factory anchors for them. I believe by about '64 or '65 Mercedes provided threaded factory anchor points for lap & shoulder belts, so their cars could be fitted with whatever system was required where they were to be sold. I think by that time, shoulder belts were required in Sweden. A few years ago, a friend acquired a '65 Fintail, and though it too had no seatbelts installed, or evidence that any had ever been fitted, I found the factory lap & shoulder-belt anchors.
In the mid '70s, my Dad purchased a '66 Euro 250SE which, curiously, came only with Kangol magnetic-catch shoulder-belts in the front seats, without any lap-belts.
If I were to install belts in a car, rather than trust used ones, which can deteiorate with age and exposure, I'd get new ones like the set I installed in my Fintail. I was able to get non-retracting 3-point lap and shoulder belts from J C Whitney, with '60s stle chrome buckles. I just wish my early Fintail had come with the factory belt anchors. It would have made my installation a piece of cake!

Happy Motoring, Mark