For this forum a "vintage" car was made from 1975 and earlier. Now, I own a W116 which MB built from '73-'80, does this make my car a "vintage" car since it is the same body as the '73 models? Also, according to Mercedes, a "classic" is a series that has been out of production for 20 years. I know that in some states a car is not a classic until it is 25 years old. What got me thinking about this is, someone commented on my car saying it was a classic. Though he was probably referring to the style of the car which dates back to 1973.

[Edited by rickjordan on 06-12-2001 at 09:02 PM]

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

I own a 76 300D w115. I see some manuals that are for 76-84 300d's but they have a w123 body. I have also seen parts listings that have 75-76 300d and 76 300d only. Ther must have been a transition where they made both bodies that year. Possibly early and late year. If someone knows please enlighten me. Anyway classic here is 25 years old.

According to some MB books I have,
the 114/115 cars were sold in USA through the 1976 model year. The 123 cars were introduced in Geneva Switzerland in March of 1976 but not sold in USA until the 1977 model year.
Hope this helps, Mark DiSilvestro

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DrDKW

Since the subject has come up, the confusion comes from Europe's model years vs. ours. I have read that in Germany, the new model year starts in the summer. So while MB was still building, for example, 1976 models for the U.S., they were already building 1977 models for Europe. My car was built in April of '80, yet at that time they were already starting up production of the W126 chassis. So there was an overlap. The other factor to this confusing matter is the books. These books everyone uses were not meant to be just sold in the U.S.. The books list all MB models and production dates based on Europe's perspective. There are models that we in the U.S. did not see, and there are models and options that we got that Europe didn't. I guess that is why it is easier to order parts by chassis number versus model number. My car was originally intended only to be sold in the U.S., yet the chassis (body) was used in all markets. It definetly takes some time to sort all this out.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

Here is a production chart that seems to be more detailed than most I have seen.

http://members.aol.com/ajdalton7/prod.jpg