Lot details
Registration No: 676 ML
Chassis No: 18901022002641
Mot Expiry: Feb 2005

This Mercedes-Benz 300d with righthand drive pillarless-saloon by DB Karossorie first left the Stuttgart works in 1961. The current owner tells us that he purchased the 300d known as the Adenauer model from the Wiltshire family, who had owned it since 1964 and were only the second owners. When they bought the car at approximately 5000 miles, they believed it had been in Mercedes-Benz GB ownership, the car having been assigned for the sole use of Lord Brabazon of Tara since November 1961.
The Wiltshires, in Publishing and living in London, mainly used the Mercedes for Continental driving, their original Mercedes-Benz Club badge number 771 still being on the badge bar. After the couple retired to Devon, where the car was stored for many years having only covered 426 miles in sixteen years, it was acquired by the current owner with only 30,609 miles on the clock. For the next two years, he tells us, the car was trailed from repairer to refurbisher, and then from car show to car show. All rubber components and brake parts were renewed and the central lubrication system overhauled.
The existing grey exterior paintwork had faded very badly, however, and refused to give off any sheen despite professional buffing. So, in 1992, the car was stripped by S Bolz Limited in Manchester, and repainted in its original 190 Grey colour, at a cost of over £5000. The interior was thoroughly cleaned although not badly soiled, the car appearing not to have been used by smokers. The interior red leather upholstery, the roof lining, woodwork and carpets are still as original.
The crossplies that had been on the wheels for some twenty-six years, and had only done 4000 miles or so, were replaced. Whilst a new stainless steel exhaust system was manufactured and fitted as an exact match to the original design. After problems with a fuel pipe blockage at the point of return to the tank, the pipework was removed, cleaned and repaired, and the Bosch fuel injection system overhauled. The vehicle was also converted to run on unleaded fuel.
The current condition of the bodywork is described as good, the grey paintwork very good and the interior in red excellent. The 2996cc six-cylinder engine is reportedly in very good order, the three-speed automatic transmission good and the electrical equipment very good. The 61,483 mileage displayed when entered for the sale is believed by the vendor to be the genuine total for the German classic from new.
Registration aficionados will realise, of course, that the original 676 ML registration which is still in place on this car could be worth circa £4000 on its own...which might just be a bonus worth considering for some clients.
The car was featured in "Mercedes-Benz Legends", published by Osprey Automotive Books in 1993, and, later in 1994, was the subject of a "Classic and Sports Car" magazine feature comparing the 300d with the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud S1. A similar feature appeared in the Rolls-Royce & Bentley Enthusiasts Pinnacle magazine.