1963 Mercedes-Benz S-Class W111/112 - 300 SE/C Coupé

German-delivered

In the same family since 1964

One of only 2,419 Coupés built

Preserved in largely original condition

Matching numbers

With the old 300 series approaching the end of its life, Mercedes-Benz found itself without a new flagship at the top of the range. From April 1961, that gap was to be filled by the W 112 series, although at first glance it was ‘merely’ a W 111 with the engine from the old 300. That did it a considerable injustice. The new 300 SE was much more than that, for beneath the W 111 bodywork sat a new technological tour de force. Mercedes had developed air suspension to provide a constant ride height and supreme comfort. From the outset, the 300 SE also came as standard with disc brakes all round, a new four-speed automatic transmission, power steering, a limited-slip differential and an anti-lift device at the rear axle to prevent excessive suspension extension. An opulent amount of chrome made the W 111 look almost plain by comparison.

The Coupé and Cabriolet followed the saloon barely a year later. The recipe remained the same. The bodies came from the W 111, the technology – including the air suspension – from the saloon. And, as with the latter, demand fell short of expectations. By 1968, only 2,419 Coupés and 708 Cabriolets had been built, considerably fewer than their W 111 counterparts over the same period. At the end of 1962, Mercedes added a hand-built saloon with its wheelbase extended by 10 centimetres, an attempt to give the series a little more exclusivity and bridge the gap until the W 100 was ready for production. Konrad Adenauer, for one, found the W 112 too ordinary. For the time being, he remained faithful to its predecessor – the car that had become popularly known by his name.

This 300 SE/C Coupé was delivered in the summer of 1963 to a businessman in Dortmund. Just over a year later, in October 1964, the Mercedes was acquired by the owner of a machine-building company from the same city, and the 300 SE has remained in his family to this day. The most striking feature of this sophisticated Coupé is its B-Netz car telephone, ruinously expensive in its day and with equipment that occupied a good part of the boot.

A particularly delightful anecdote survives in the correspondence between the owner and Stuttgart concerning his request for special approval to tow more than 1,500 kilograms. Eventually, a compromise was reached: boat and caravan trailers up to the desired weight were acceptable. Anything beyond it was not.

The car was taken off the road in June 1975 but has remained in the family ever since. It comes with its original maintenance booklet, regularly stamped until 1968, as well as its original old-style German registration document. The Coupé itself survives in exceptionally original condition, both inside and out.

After a lengthy period of inactivity, the mechanicals will certainly require some attention. That the telephone will ever work again, unfortunately, we can safely rule out. Nevertheless, the 300 SE/C delights with its history, its wealth of original details and its remarkable state of preservation. A car like this has more than earned the right to return to the road.