I had a pristine low mileage '76 euro 6.9, so it had no smog equipment nor, thank god, the battering-ram bumpers that Mercedes slapped on for the American Market (and never bothered to better intigrate even on the SL model that was produced until the late 80s). Although the engineering was not compromised from the previous generation 108s, the cosmetics were, even on this top-of-the-line model. Much more plastic and much less wood. I never liked it as well as the 109s, and so it was sold and replaced with a fine 300SEL 4.5, which I plan to keep until I die or run out of money (the latter case looking more likely than ever these days).

Parenthetically, the cost of mechanical refurbishment of my 37 year old 300, though low mileage and garaged for life, was much higher than expected. So many rubber parts and seals need replacing, not to mention the plethora of "O" rings in the 5 air suspension valves.

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Berfinroy in CT
Present vehicles:
1973 300 SEL 4.5
1959 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud I
1973 Citroen DS23 EI five speed
Past vehicles;
1959 Thunderbird convertible/430
1958 Bentley S 1
1976 ex-Max Hoffman 6.9
1970 300SEL 2.8
1958 Jaguar MK IX
1961 Jaguar MK IX
1963 Jaguar E-type factory special roadster
1948 Plymouth woody
1955 Morgan plus 4
1966 Shelby GT350H Mustang