Hi. I will preface my inquiry with the fact that i am a novice to the older Mercedes arena. I've found a fellow in Canada who is selling a 1972 250 Wagon. He says it is a rare prototype, 1 of 200 made. It looks legitimate, not something made up with a MIG in someone's metal shop. I can't find anything on this prototype on the web. I've always like the 250 and recently i've been in the market for a wagon, so i really find this car intriguing, but want to know what i might be buying. Any input appreciated. Thanks, -paul

Over the past 30 years, I've seen one of these 114 wagons (actually a '73 280), a 121 Ponton wagon and three 111 Finback wagons. I've heard that, before Mercedes started building their own wagons, various coachbuilders in Germany and Belgium would custom build / modify sedans to special order as police, ambulance, hearse and commercial vehicles. Custombuilt or prototype, these wagons are pretty rare. The perfect vehicle for flea markets.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

There was a flurry of activity on this car or one like it on the mercedes-veterans list. The conclusion was that it is not a rare prototype because MB does not sell them, but a fairly rare creation by one of the custom builder-partners, probably Binz.

Sounds like a fun car that will get a lot of attention from the MB crowd. You should do your due diligence for mechanicals and rust and make sure the heater blower works.

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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

Got a picture of it? Would like to see it.

Thanks for the info guys. I'll going to try to get up to Ontario in a couple of weeks to check it out, that is if it hasn't been sold by then. I'll certainly write back if I pick it up! Cheers, -paul

That is the one, Bill. The auction was over last week and the seller (apparently not the owner) is not going to relist. We've exchanged e-mails over the past couple of days. I offered him $3500 and he sorta got highbrow on me, saying I'd never own any Benz with that kind of offer. Maybe so, but it seems like people are offering desent 250 sedans out there for that kind of money. Is the wagon worth an order of magnitude more? Are there other older non-deisel/non-custom MB wagons out there? -paul

I had seen pictures of a W116 wagon that was done up by a German coachbuilder, also a W140 wagon. Since these were not sold by Mercedes, parts are going to be VERY hard to find. Mercedes didn't start making wagons until 1978, with the W123 chassis.

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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

Paul,
I have seen a 300sel 6.3 109 chassis wagon in DB180. But it was a custom made car.

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"BECAUSE KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE"
G. I. JOE.

I took a picture of this 114/5 wagon at a classic car show in Germany last april...

http://groups.msn.com/w114115/nashers114s.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4