Newsletter No.118 March 2009
Hello and welcome to the latest Newsletter.
In this newsletter we have an invitation to have dinner with me, a great series of pictures of some Benz's rotting away in country Victoria, another entry for the "Registry" and the usual list of interesting links for you to check out.
Please don't forget that if you have any ideas for Newsletter content please let us know .
Thanks, John & Sandra Green.
Interesting workshop job.
Many of you will know about the problems with the front suspension subframe on the W107 SL and SLC models. The problem is very well documented across the web. Just Google "W107 subframe crack".
Well we seam to have found a problem with the rear subframes! Have a look at the two pictures to the right (click on them for a bigger picture). This is a rear subframe from a 1972 350SLC. It cracked in the middle where the diff mounts. So we would suggest that all W107 owners might want to add this to the list of things to be checked at your next service. The second picture is the new unit installed in the car.
The customer with this car reported a few strange noises over about a week and then the handling went all strange. It didn't break into two pieces, bit would have if left for to long.
OZBENZ dramas.
For those of you who have been trying to register to our forum www.ozbenz.net we need to apologize and explain what is going on. Here is the word from the admin team:
"OZBENZ administrators have detected a malicious exploit in the software used to host the forum. Attempts have been made to rectify the issue but to date have not been successful. In the interim, all new user registrations have been disabled until the exploit can be verified as extinguished. There is no threat to existing users security"
Hopefully we will have it sorted soon. I would however ask for patience from those of you who have been trying to register. The OZBENZ admins do their work on a voluntary basis, so the needs of their respective families and work commitments obviously come first.
Register's
Work continues with the new "Registry" for rare models and variants. The latest entry being the very rare 10 seat version of the O319 mini coach. The O319 was available in a number of seating configurations, each with a number of different specifications for options. But basically they came in 10, 17 and 18 seat versions.
Of all the O319's made, reportedly only 961 of them were the 10 seat Luxury version. Most original owners were Motels, Airlines or big business's.
Unfortunately very few survive these days and what does is very sought after by collectors. One theory for them not surviving is that as many were brought by Motels and Airlines they would have all been traded on the newer model in the late 60's/early 70's as they all wanted the latest model to keep up with each other.
As a result of this there were a lot of used ones on the market in the early 70's. Now apparently these did not sell well as the market for used small buses was strong for the 17/18 seat version as these could be used as school buses or route busses. Obviously 17 paying customers is better than 10!
So what happened to all of them, well the word is that the seats were taken out and they were just sold as plain vans or converted to campervans. I only know of five examples that are left, maybe there are more. If you know any details of these please e-mail me.
You can see the registry here . In time we may include the 300SE LWB sedan and a few others….
MBCWA Presidents dinner
I would like to extend an invitation to all WA Newsletter readers (and any
east coasters for that matter) to attend the Mercedes-Benz club of WA
Annual Presidents dinner. Details as posted on their website:
http://mwa.mercedes-benz-clubs.com/
look in the calendar section...
Date 17.04.2009, 19:30 Hour
At West Perth
Organisers Mercedes-Benz Club WA Australia
Country Australia
Event Partner
Event Location Perth Soccer Club
Street / No. Dorrien Gardens, 3 Lawley Street
Postcode / City West Perth
Contact Chris Flamer
Telephone 08 9444 7685 (ah)
Join our President, Jeremy Ludlow, at the annual President's Dinner for
2009.Please note that this event has recently been rescheduled to Friday 17
April 2009.
Our guest speaker will be John Green, proprietor of MB Spares and
Service in Canberra, and sponsor of the well known enthusiasts' forum
ozbenz.net.
Anyone who's been to the President's Dinner in the four years we've run it
will remember a fabulous evening, where the meal is memorably good and the
company excellent. We're aiming to make this a big night in 2009, and in
addition to our guest speaker, have some special prizes arranged for every
table.
The cost will be $75 per person and we have arranged a delicious menu for
the evening. The menu begins with antipasto, continues with either veal
parmigiana or snapper fillets, and finishes with tiramisu. We're
encouraging members to bring along friends and family members - especially
any who are Mercedes-Benz or smart owners. If you can, please make up a
table of up to ten people.
It's a chance to dress up and have a big night out with great company.
Arrive at 7pm for canapés and sit down at 7.30pm for a wonderful 3-course
meal. Venue is the Perth Soccer Club, Dorrien Gardens, 3 Lawley Street,
West Perth WA 6005.
Tickets are available by pre-booking only and payment may be made by
credit card.
Yes folks that's right I must be getting famous or something as they have
invited me to come and bore them with stories about the business and MB's
in general. To be honest I feel very honoured by the invitation and are
excited to be attending this event. Just to give you some idea, they had
Allan Moffat last year!
The members of the OZBENZ forum are also arranging a BBQ for the Saturday
night. Detail of this will be posted in the April Newsletter, but it will
be the 18th of April.
Mercedes-Benz Grave Yard
I have posted a Gallery of pictures taken at a Mercedes-Benz graveyard in Victoria. Whilst it would not be advisable to give away the location, I can say that it is one collector's personal supply of used parts. Many of the cars were purchased to obtain parts to restore his small collection of 50's and 60's model Mercedes-Benz's.
You can find the pictures here along with a brief description on each one. If you have any great pictures of collections like this please feel free to send them in.
Cars for dismantling.
Recent cars in for dismanlting include:
A160 hatch 1999 model, see the picture at the top of the newsletter. A great example of how strong these little cars are. Noting on the front worth having but perfect from the windscreen back. 110000kms. Has a set of 5 hole alloys!
C220 sedan 1995 model, very slight r/h/f damage, but enough to write it off. Perfect bone M.B-tex interior.
180E sedan, 1992 model. Blown head gasket and damaged grille. Not a bad car apart from thoe two problems.
500SEC coupe, 1984 model. Very rusty as was stored outside for a long time. Mechanicaly excellent.
Computer problems?
I was having trouble with my computer so I called Richard, the 11 year old
next door whose bedroom looks like Mission Control, and asked him to come
over. Richard clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong?' He
replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'
I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired! , 'An, ID ten T
error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.' Richard grinned.
'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?' 'No,' I replied .
'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'
So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T
I used to like the little kid
Upcoming events.
I need to start this month's list of upcoming events with a correction. The 2010 Mercedes-Benz clubs of Australia rally is to be held on the Anzac day long weekend not over Eater as advised. The dates are from the 23rd to the 26th of April. See below for more details:
Here is the current list of upcoming events. If you know of an event that would be of interest to our Newsletter readers please e-mail me with the details as you will see below it does not necessarily have to be an exclusively Mercedes-Benz related event. The plan is not to put each clubs entire calendar on here, just the major events. Here are a few that I know are coming up:
22nd march 2009 The Mercedes-Benz club of the ACT will be displaying their member's cars at the Shannons Wheels 2009 car show being organised by the Council of ACT Motor Clubs. This is an annual event with over 1000 classic/historic/vintage cars on display. It is held in the gardens in front of the Old parliament House and this year is being hosted by the EJ-EH Holden Club ACT . You can get more details from either the MBCACT website or from the Council of ACT Motor clubs website .
25th August 2009 . Shannons Eastern Creek Classic, an excellent event run by the NSW Council of Motor Clubs and is open to all clubs and their members. It is a great family day out and you even get a chance to do a lap of the circuit in your car!! More details here.
17th May 2009.Mercedes-benz Club of Victoria Concours d'Elegance Held in conjunction with the RACV Classic Showcase promoted by the AOMC at Flemington Racecourse. Discounted Concours entry fee when paid on or before the April Club Meeting. More details here .
13th September 2009. Mercedes-Benz club of NSW
Concours d'Elegance is the highlight of the club year. A time when the Club
exhibits its marque to Club members and the general public. The 2009 event
will be held at Parramatta Park, Parramatta NSW. Enquiries to Karen Fail ph
02 9482-2216 or Concours
Director
20th
September2009.Mercedes-Benz
club of the ACT annual Concours, held in conjunction with the ACT
German Autofest. More details next newsletter, but you can see some
pictures from the 2008 event here.
Easter 2010. Yes I know that is a long way off, but there is no harm in advance planning. The Mercedes-Benz club of WA will be celebrating their 50th birthday and running the next Bi-annual Mercedes-Benz Clubs of Australia rally from April the 23rd till the 26th. It will be flowed immediately by a tour of the South West of WA from the 27th till the 31st of April. You can register your interest in this event by e-mailing them here . Further details will appear on this website soon .
Links of the month.
- Here is a great YouTube video on the assembly of the AMG E55 engine.
- Last Newsletter we had news of the new W212 E class, here is a link with a lot more pictures and details
- Quite a number of Newsletter readers have sent me links to this car . It is a SLR reputably made from White Gold. Now sorry, but I are not quite so sure about that. I suspect that it is another version of the chrome look paint that is available now. Here is an example from Renntech. Also if it was made from white gold it would not be very strong?
- Here are some pictures of a W220 that has had a station wagon conversion. A very nice looking job.
- Want your humble W107 450SLC turned into a clone of the World Rally Championship cars?? Well first you need $270000.00AUD and then you need to ring these guys . Have a good look around this website, there is a good historical article on MB rallying in the late 70's.
- And finally here is one man's webpage about his cars. There are plenty of these all over the net. What is very special on this one is the chart of colours with links to pictures of most examples. On the left hand side are a series of links, click on the link that says Farbtabellenand then select your chassis style.
Cars for sale.
Car sold in the last month include the beautiful 1979 450SLC, an 1998 A160 and the E280 sedan that I never even managed to get listed on the website before it was sold.
One car worth mentioning that has been sold is the A160. These great little cars have all of a sudden become a very affordable second car. The example we sold had 207000kms on the clock and sold for $6990.00. Examples with less mileage would still be under $10k.
It is strange how sometimes things happen. People often ask me when I will get a certain car into stock. The answer is always the same. "You never know what will come next" two weeks ago we purchased two 1994 C250 Diesels within two days of each other. Now these are a rare car with very few C class diesels being sold here in Australia. So getting two at once is very long odds. Both are listed below.
The other car new into stock worth mentioning is a very smart looking C200K sports coupe. In black with black and factory AMG alloys (the ones with the staggered offsets front to rear) it is a very striking looking car and great value at $22000.00 It also has the great option of Panoramic roof!
Don't forget Sandra's Viano 7 seat van , have had this for sale for some time and I must admit it is a difficult vehicle to sell. The main problem is that most people don't even know that Mercedes-Benz do a "Tarago" style people mover. This has been our family transport for the last two years and is a great vehicle for a large active family. It has been a wonderful car, over Christmas we drove to Melbourne, across to Adelaide and back via the Hay plains averaging 9lts per 100kms for the trip including driving around Melbourne and Adelaide. Not bad for such a big car.
You can check out all the cars we have for sale here.
New cars into stock include:
C250 Diesel
Cars sold include:
E280 sedan 1995
A160 hatch 1998
450SLC
Also in stock we have:
450SL Roadster, 1979 great history
280CE coupe 1978 only 154000kms
W114 long wheel base sedan project
So that's it for another newsletter . Hope you liked what
you saw. If you have any ideas or want to contribute any articles, pictures
or other material please
e-mail me
here. Also, don't forget that you can check out the
old newsletters here
Thanks, John Green.
