Newsletter Number 110
26th September 2007

Hello everyone, sorry it has been awhile between newsletters. I have a bit of a sad tale to tell. On the 23rd of August I suffered a heart attack. Not a good thing when you are 42, it seems I had some family history of heart trouble that I didn't know about (thanks Grandpa) and that the pills I was taking (Vioxx) to relive the swelling and pain when I broke my back 4 years ago did the trick. No doubt along with the stress of running my own business and my involvement as a District Commissioner with the Scouts.

It was a shock to wake up the next morning in a ward full of people who were either old, smokers, overweight or all three in some cases. I have never smoked, are not overweight, are fit (did the Overland track in Tasmania with my son James two months ago) and don't drink that much. You never know what life has in store for you.

There are two positives in all this.

1) Lucky for me it was a mild one not the full blown lights out number

2) I have been told that the odds are now good. If you survive the first one then on average your don't eventually die of heart trouble as you know to look after yourself. The damaged artery is not able to be operated on, but I have been given a course of pills and a exercise programme that they say will bring me back to where I was before.

I have been back working a few hours a day now for the last two weeks and are easing myself back in. I need to thank Murray, Colin and Chris who have been doing a splendid job running the place in my absence. They have done such a good job I almost feel redundant. So for those of you who have wondered why I have not been at work now you know........

I would also like to mention that one of the things that does make these newsletters all worthwhile is the great comments that are e-mailed to me after each issue is published. I know I don't respond to all of these but I do truly appreciate the compliments.

Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks John and Sandra Green.

Website overhaul.

No doubt everyone has noticed the new look website. This is the 4th major overhaul done of the site over the 11 years we have been on the net and there is no doubt this is the best version yet. It is a lot more flexible and will allow us to do some of things we have wanted to for some time. We are still in the process of cleaning up some of the pages, here are some that we have sorted all ready:

Alloy wheels page. We have a new range of alloy wheels for sale at substantially cheaper prices than the old range. As we are selling more we are able to buy at a better price and pass that saving on to our customers. As we can now have up to five pictures per page on the new version of the site we will now be posting pictures of various cars with the wheels fitted over the next few months.

Picture gallery. We can now have a picture gallery to post as many shots as we like, the old system had only 10 shots. We will use this to post shots of various MB club events and other significant things. I am working on a new page for our 412D campervan and a page with a picture of all the cars I have owned over the years.

Online parts store. I have even done a page explaining why we don't have an online parts store. Don't laugh too hard at the picture on this page.....

As always we are concerned about subscribers information security. We care very much for your privacy and have some of the strictest anti-spam protection around. For this reason you cannot change your e-mail address or name by logging on and trying to edit it. You can however change your password.

If you have changed your e-mail address please start your subscription from anew. We are working on a new cutting edge system that will work around this problem, so you can change your e-mail address and still offer you the high level of security that we have currently built into our system, but in the meantime please re-register and then contact MBSpares to have your old account de-activated.

Lowering springs.

Several newsletters ago we had some lowering kits for W124's. Well we have found another 5 sets! 2x 4cyl version and 3x 6cyl version. These will lower the car 20-30mm depending on what size rubber spacers are used. Normal retail is $750.00. These are defiantly the last ones and are on sale at $395.00 a set.

A Gullwing story.

A friend of mine sent me this picture of a Gullwing arriving home at his father in-laws house for the first time in the mid 50's. It has an interesting story that goes a bit like this. Laurie ordered a brand new Gullwing and was in Germany when it was being built. He was taken on the production line to see it being built and commented he wants to make it right hand drive. They wouldn't sell him the car so he was not happy. From Germany he heard of Gullwing for sale in New York being sold by the Boss of General Motors. He flew to New York and bought the car and drove it across America. The car had a factory performance camshaft, Rudge wheels and later he discovered a Limited slip diff..

He had it shipped to Australia and delivered to his home in Strathfield (photo) . There has been a article going around that explains he gave it Col Rizzo when he went overseas and told him to see if he can work out how to make it right hand drive which wasn't that easy with the tubular chassis etc. In the end he worked out a plan and Laurie got him to go ahead and do the job.. It was during testing that the vehicle was found to have a limited slip diff which was a very rare thing. Believe it or not Laurie changed the colour to white after one year (probably too hot in the Aussie sun) and sold it a year or so later - he has never heard of the car since - is it still in Australia? Whoever owns it now would know it was Laurie O'Neil's car .

Laurie has owned I would say well over 100 Mercedes Benz's and driven them all over the world. He still says that the most stable and impressive Mercedes he has driven at high speed was his 190E 2.3 Cosworth that he bought new in 1986. When new he followed the Paris Dakar race from Paris and travelled at 150mph for long distances at great ease.

There are plenty of great stories out there on the cars that we love, if you know of one please send it in to me. I am working on getting a copy of the story about how it was converted.


Mercedes-Benz overalls

Don't forget we have for sale a limited amount of Mercedes-Benz dealership overalls and dust coats. We have also found a decent quantity of USED overalls that we will be selling for $40.00 each. The NEW overalls are $75.00 a pair and the dust coats are $50.00 each. Give us a ring if you don't understand the sizing system. Ph 1300 787 300 ask for Colin, he is the overall guru (he is the one on the left).

Another Barn find 300d Limousine.....

Four months back we reported on a 1953 Type 300 that we had recovered from under a block of flats in Sydney where it had sat for over 32 years. Well we have another one, this time in much better condition and it is a later model 1959 300d. This is the pillar less version with the fuel injected engine and automatic transmission. Avid newsletter readers will remember a beautiful black one that we sold about 2 years back. We will be doing a few clean up jobs on this one and then selling it possibly on an ebay auction. If you are interested please let me know.

Lube service instructions:

Do you do your own oil changes at home? Here is the list of what is done in our workshop for a basic lube service.

- Remove oil filler cap
- Raise vehicle, lock hoist
- Remove under trays if fitted
- Drain oil
- Safety inspection under vehicle
- Check diff oil level
- Replace sump plug
- Reinstall under trays
- Lower vehicle
- Change oil filter
- Add oil, start engine and check
- Test brake fluid for water contamination

- Test coolant freezing point (very important in Canberra)
- Check other fluid levels in engine bay
- Lube door hinges
- Clean windscreen
- Check tyre pressures
- Check all lights
- Check horn
- Check windscreen wipers/washers
- Check elec windows all work
- Check seat belts

What is this?

OK, it's been awhile and some of you may not have even remembered what the picture was so click here for a reminder. The question was What model and variant is this engine from. Now I must say that nobody got it first up, a few of you correctly worked out that it was a M120 V12 engine, but I was after more than that. It is a late M120 as fitted to a W140 600SEL. You can work it out from the lack of a distributor cap mount and no hole for the rotor button to poke through. Early versions had a distributor cap with rotor driven off the front of the camshafts, later versions had a coil pack for each cylinder. The engine variant is a 120 982. The red thing on the top is a rubber hammer..... :-) The most correct answer was Greg Yates who is a member of the NSW Mercedes-Benz club and avid poster on various MB forums around the world.

Upcoming events.

I have decided to have a section for upcoming events in our newsletters for the various Mercedes-Benz clubs to use. Over the years I have always tried to promote the major events, but I am sure I have missed a few. So if you know of an event that would be on interest to our Newsletter readers please e-mail me with the details. 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:

14th October 2007. The Mercedes-Benz club of the ACT 32nd Annual Concours d'Elegance to be held on the beautiful Rond Terraces overlooking Lake Burley Griffin. This event is sponsored by M.B Spares & Service and is a highlight of the Mercedes-Benz club calendar in Australia each year. Full details including the application forms can be found at their website click here and then click on the Concours link at the top of the page. The details and application forms are in a link on the r/h side of the page. The theme for the Concours is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Mercedes-Benz Four Wheel Drive?? Those of you who read the Geocentric (the AGOA magazine) or any of the other various magazines will have checked out articles on the Dernburg wagon made by Daimler in 1907. They are trying to get as many 4x4 Mercedes-Benz there as they can.

23rd - 25th November 2007. The Australian Geländewagen Owners Association (AGOA) is celebrating 25 years of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen in Australia. November 2007 marks the 25th Anniversary of the press release that marked the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen in Australia. To mark this event AGOA is holding it's first National Treffen (German word for meeting) in the Victorian High Country. The original press release was held at Mt Terrible in Victoria and AGOA is keen to revisit this historically (in terms of G-Wagens) significant area. Details can be found here or If you would like more information or would like to pre-book a space, then call John Kenny on 0417 544828 or email agoa1@hotmail.com

18th - 22nd April 2008. As reported in the last Newsletter the next Biannual rally for the Mercedes-Benz clubs of Australia is being hosted by the Victorian club. Maybe you will have attended or seen our reports from the ACT Rally held in 2006 which was a great success. This rally also is shaping up to be an excellent time. Please have a look here for a general overview as supplied by the Victorian club. If you are interested in attending the rally application forms will be available from your local Mercedes-Benz club. A listing of there contact details can be found here.

16th March 2008. Shannons Wheels Expo is one of two major annual events hosted by the Council of ACT Motor Clubs. Each March since 1982, hundreds of vehicle enthusiasts have participated in this trip down memory lane which is an official part of the Canberra Festival supported by Australian Capital Tourism It is held on the lawns of Old Parliament House, Canberra and this year is being hosted by EJ-EH Holden Club ACT. This event has traditional been very well supported by the Mercedes-Benz club of the ACT with over 50 cars on display.

Joke of the month.

SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING?


"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right. (Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "MT". (Are you doubting this?)
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet. (Now, you KNOW you're going to try this out for accuracy, right?)
The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes) . (Yep, I knew you were going to "do" this one.)

There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. (You're not doubting this, are you?)

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious." (Yes, admit it, you are going to say. A e I o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. (All you typists are going to test this out)

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds (Some days that's about what my memory span is)

A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years. (I know some people that could do this too.)

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.


If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. (Good thing he did that)

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Now you know everything!

What is in a name?

The late model black W124 300D that we sold two months back went to one of the administrators of the OZBENZ forum that we sponsor. Now he is a very observant guy. While we were filling out the paperwork in my office he spotted this framed on my office wall. It is an invitation to Christmas party in Johannesburg in South Africa. Many years ago we purchased a 1961 190c with an interesting history and this invitation in the glove box. The car was one of the first of the Fintail bodied 4cyl car to be made in South Africa. The owner was a journalist who was sympathetic to the civil uprising at the time. He claimed to have carried some of the leading political figures of that time in the back seat including Nelson Mandela. Anyway he had to leave South Africa in 1962 and migrated to Australia. He kept the car for another 30 years and sold it to us when he had to stop driving.

Anyway, he noticed it was from Cargo motors and when he got home looked them up to see if they were still around and found this. The name "Cargo" is a combination of the first letters of the first names of the founders of Daimler-Benz, CAR(L) Benz and GO(TTLIEP) Daimler. On occasion, it has also been said that means just CAR GO or that in our early years, we mostly sold trucks and were therefore in the "CARGO" business. Check them out here.

Links of the month.

Don't forget that if you find something interesting on the net to send me a link to it.

- Are you into AMG's? Here is the link for the AMG club in Germany, unfortunately in German but the pictures are worth looking at.

- Bored?? Try this.

- Not sure if this one is exciting or scary???

- OK, so how many of you have seen the pictures of all the cars in a barn in Portugal. We even had them as a link in one of our previous newsletters. Click here for the true story.

Cars for Sale.

As it has been awhile since the last newsletter there has been quite a bit of action in the used car department. I will try to summarise it. I guess most importantly is what we have for sale at the moment. The most exciting is the Rare R129 SL280, this is a six cylinder version of the R129 roadster, which offers all the grace and style of the SL500 without the fuel consumption. It is also no slug and can do more than just keep up with the traffic. This is a one owner car with great history and is in amazing condition. Other car we have for sale include a pair of white W210 E320's a sedan and a station wagon, we have dropped the price on the wagon to $26990.00

The most exciting car we have had in the last few months was a very late model 1993 190E 2.6 with the Sportline option pack, it has already been sold, check out the options list:

Finally I have decided to sell the W114 factory stretch that I have been working on for the last five years. It in a unfinished project, factory stretched W114 sedan. 2.8lt twin cam engine with 4 speed auto. Over $10000.00 spent on bodywork and full rubber seal kit. Black interior with perfect dash and timber work. many other new parts. Would make a great club car or wedding car.

You can check out all our Mercedes-Benz's for sale here. Or you can check out all the other cars we have for sale here:

New cars into stock:

E320 Elegance Sedan 1996

SL280 Roadster 1996 model only 71000kms

Cars sold:

190E 2.6 Sportline 1993 model

C240 1998 only 72000kms

2x 300TE wagon 1989 model

A200 2005 model "as new"

E220 wagon 1995 model

380SE sedan 19985 model

Also in stock we have:

E280 sedan 1995 spec

E320 Elegance station wagon

170S, classic sedan

170SD, classic Diesel sedan

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.