If u folks wanna to see these pics can email me.
cheers

Andy D, you might like my W116 S-Class. It’s a 280S which has the M110 DOHC 2.8 I6 that has a 4-barrel carb on it. It’s very interesting needless to say.

The pictured car is not the one I drove, though both are red, the one I was in had a tan leather interior, and with the European headlights.

I’m actually in Victoria BC at the moment for another vintage rally, and my start time is in exactly one hour, so unfortunately I’ve got to run and will be offline for the day running TSD & Monte Carlo segments. Thanks for the kind words!

–chuck

You mentioned the MB 300 SLR. It was an obsession of mine when I was a boy, and it was the hottest car in the world. The 300 SLR had nothing to do with the 300 SL other than the name. It was basically a two seat version of the MB F-1 car.

The numbers were staggering. The car had a straight 8 cylinder engine with a desmodromic valve system* so it could be reved up to numbers that were then unthinkable. It made 310 horsepower at 7,400 rpm, and weighed a mere 880 kg. (1940 lbs.).

*A system that uses positive actuation instead of springs to close the valve. Explanation by Ducati the only current users of the system

Wikipedia Article on the 300 SLR

The shape of the gullwing doors meant that the windows couldn’t roll down. The cars had big vent windows and, I understand, interior air ducts that provided lots of wind at speed, but these weren’t much help in town.

I’ve always had a soft spot for these cars; they appeared at the same time I was becoming interested in cars, and I watched them being raced in SCCA airport races in western Washington along with the Porsche 356’s and 120 Jags.

The manager of buildings and grounds where I went to graduate school had a gullwing coupe. Ventilation must have been an issue because he drove around campus with both doors up during hot Kansas summer days. A quick way to separate car people from not-car people was to observe their reaction to this.

The Kansas Turnpike toll road runs for 130 miles between Wichita and Topeka. In those days, the speed limit was 80 mph and, if the elapsed time between entry and exit was too short, you paid your speeding fine along with your toll. One of the better stories about the gullwing owner is that, during one such trip, he had to take a 45 minute lunch break at one of the rest areas to stay “legal”.

By the time I met him (early 1970s), he had retired the gullwing to the back of his garage. He told me the the car would be his son’s inheritance.

The same guy shared an H production, bugeye Sprite with his wife. They each ran three races per year in the SCCA’s midwest division. They were in their late 50s at the time and used to wander around the paddock in matching tee shirts with the logo “Geriatric Racing Team”.

The other good one should be the C111. But Daimler refused to even sell any of them, anybody knew the underlying reason?
Too expensive no one can afford?

In 1979 Pierre Trudeau a liberal found himself as oposition leader to the short Conservitive government of Joe Clark. Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker another conservitive passed away,during this period. The Right Honourable
Pierre attended the funeral. Pierre parked his vintage Mercedes with the top down. All convertible owners fear the sudden down pour.

Well old John got the last word in.During the ceromony The heavens opened up and it poured
rain. The interior of Trudeau’s Merc got soaked.

Shortly after, Pierre and the Liberals resumed thier rightfull place as the government of our fair country.

I can only assume that Pierre had German craftsman restore the interior.

And yes, Justin Trudeau still owns it.

I hear the German car meet this Sunday at the N Van Waterfront park. I hope I could attend her too.

These 300sl are such a gem, our Late PM Pierre Trudeau has one, is passed onto his son now I heard.
There is suppose to be a very good vintage MB restorer in Victoria, who does the gull wings too.

In the old days our Historic racing on the Westwood Plateau attracted a few very nice vintages there.
perhaps someday we can meet for coffee here.
cheers

Undoubtedly not. The more cylinders for a given displacement, the higher (in the rev band) and peakier the torque curve is. Not to mention that the straight-eight was purely a racing engine. And on the race track, horsepower is the name of the game.

The Jag engine has a significantly greater displacement, and is a long-stroke engine, which means intrinsically much more torque than the smaller high-revving MB 3 liter.

Lucky you; nice write-up. Thanks.