I dunno, this one grabbed me. The basketball. Only slightly flat tires. A piece of trim on the door to continue the fin, but not on top of the fin itself. Fake C pillar vents. The little chrome things sticking out of the inner edges of the taillights, one tarnished. Mismatched but brand matching wheels, or a seriously corroded rear one. A missing rocker trim piece. And the way you angled the first shot so we see every bit of the car, but just barely; a few inches left and the corner would have been obscured by the Caravan's bumper. And... the year! Wouldn't this have looked old-fashioned and square in 1966, with the stance of a '58 Rambler, which was already a car for bowl cut typewriter salesmen in the year it came out?
Excellent background for the profile shot. Interesting mark on the grille where some sort of medallion had been mounted. Microscopic mirror outside which was not unusual for the era.
But I love the look of these old Mercedes. They were expressing a purposeful and rational worldview, with their own style, ignoring the competition. They marched to their own tin drum. (Tip of the hat to Günter Grass, RIP).
Yes, these were designed for German function. They used them as taxi cabs in N. Europe. Seems like here in the states, they were always gray or a gun metal blue. They were way out of style in '60s America. The Big 3 went longer, lower, wider in '59.
Nice car. Indeed...Rambler-esque. But, Rambler did pink and mint.
Love fintails and have come within an inch of owning a few, all diesels...The gas engined cars of this era get poor mileage and have very little power advantage over the diesel.
I've chatted with the owner of this car, who, like myself, is a bit younger than one might expect to be driving one of these cars. They have now come into their own for long and low retro style cruisers among hipsters and especially so here in Portland, a town where owners are fortunate due to the high number of oldtimer Benzes equating to parts availability and a handful of mechanics who still know them inside and out. Mine only has two doors but I love the fins on the four door version. Addressing a couple of points made by others, the c-pillar vents are not fake, they are indeed functional and these cars are not slow by any means, but many people do not know that the fluid coupled transmission requires you to shift it like a manual, so most unsuspecting owners simply pop it in drive and leave it there and leave most of the power untapped. Mercedes even issued a special brochure in-era explaining how to operate the gears after American consumers failed to understand how to drive the car properly.
Best of OPC. 
7 comments:
I dunno, this one grabbed me. The basketball. Only slightly flat tires. A piece of trim on the door to continue the fin, but not on top of the fin itself. Fake C pillar vents. The little chrome things sticking out of the inner edges of the taillights, one tarnished. Mismatched but brand matching wheels, or a seriously corroded rear one. A missing rocker trim piece. And the way you angled the first shot so we see every bit of the car, but just barely; a few inches left and the corner would have been obscured by the Caravan's bumper. And... the year! Wouldn't this have looked old-fashioned and square in 1966, with the stance of a '58 Rambler, which was already a car for bowl cut typewriter salesmen in the year it came out?
Whut Calvin sed. Plus:
Excellent background for the profile shot. Interesting mark on the grille where some sort of medallion had been mounted. Microscopic mirror outside which was not unusual for the era.
But I love the look of these old Mercedes. They were expressing a purposeful and rational worldview, with their own style, ignoring the competition. They marched to their own tin drum. (Tip of the hat to Günter Grass, RIP).
The left rear wheel is missing the beauty ring.
Yes, these were designed for German function. They used them as taxi cabs in N. Europe.
Seems like here in the states, they were always gray or a gun metal blue.
They were way out of style in '60s America. The Big 3 went longer, lower, wider in '59.
Nice car. Indeed...Rambler-esque.
But, Rambler did pink and mint.
Love fintails and have come within an inch of owning a few, all diesels...The gas engined cars of this era get poor mileage and have very little power advantage over the diesel.
This particular model was never sold as a diesel - thank goodness. No seld-respecting reichsmarschal would've ever approved the diesely rattle.
i love how intense these five comments are. great find, and great shots, ben.
if i could have any benz, i think it would be a fintail sedan.
the most opc model of benz? and in the most opc color of all?
damn right this gets the fceb tag.
I've chatted with the owner of this car, who, like myself, is a bit younger than one might expect to be driving one of these cars. They have now come into their own for long and low retro style cruisers among hipsters and especially so here in Portland, a town where owners are fortunate due to the high number of oldtimer Benzes equating to parts availability and a handful of mechanics who still know them inside and out. Mine only has two doors but I love the fins on the four door version.
Addressing a couple of points made by others, the c-pillar vents are not fake, they are indeed functional and these cars are not slow by any means, but many people do not know that the fluid coupled transmission requires you to shift it like a manual, so most unsuspecting owners simply pop it in drive and leave it there and leave most of the power untapped. Mercedes even issued a special brochure in-era explaining how to operate the gears after American consumers failed to understand how to drive the car properly.
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