Lot details Registration No: FYT116V Chassis No: 11603622006643 Mot Expiry: Sept 2013
Successor to the 300SEL 6.3 super saloon, the 450SEL 6.9 was launched at the 1974 Geneva Salon. Based on Mercedes-Benz's flagship W116-series platform but boasting its own dedicated assembly line, the newcomer featured such niceties as hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension and a limited slip differential. Crediting with developing some 286bhp and 405lbft, its 6834cc V8 engine was allied to three-speed automatic transmission. Reputedly capable of over 140mph, the uber-saloon was among the first cars to be equipped with electronically controlled ABS (from 1978 onwards). Total 450SEL 6.9 production amounted to just 7,380 units with director Claude Lelouch apparently using one as the camera car for his cult film 'C'Etait Un Rendez-Vous'.
Finished in Metallic Brown with Beige velour upholstery, this particular right-hand drive example is understood to have been used in France by a person of royal descent before becoming part of the State of Qatar's UK embassy fleet during January 1996. Entering the current ownership almost twelve years later, the super saloon has reportedly been professionally stored ever since. Described by the vendor as being in "good overall" condition, 'FYT 116V' shows some 96,000 unwarranted miles to its odometer and is offered for sale with MOT certificate valid until September 2013.
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