W109 had everything
At the 1968 Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz introduced the 300 SEL 6.3, a V8-power thingamajig that ticked all the boxes.
The 6.3-liter engine – yes, it really was a 6.3-liter engine or 6,333 cc to be more exact – came from the 600 flagship in a slightly tuned twist that included a new injection pump fitted with auto cold start and warm up that corroborated car data like the position of the gas pedal, engine speed, air pressure and coolant temperature.
Power output was 247 hp (184 kW), fully active at 4,000 rpm and tasked with moving a 1,780-kilo sedan. And moved it did. According to Mercedes literature, the 300 SLE 6.3 needed 6.5 seconds to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standstill. Apparently, unsuspecting Porsche 911 drivers had to recover their jaws from their laps as one particular 300 SEL 6.3 which did not feature the 6.3 badge on its bodywork left them behind on the Autobahn during an auto, motor und sport test drive.
And it pulled that off comfortably – literally speaking, courtesy the air suspension and four-speed automatic transmission. The suspension adapted itself to changing loads thank to an automatic level control setup that allowed spring travel and the car’s posture to remain steady at all times.
Peculiarly, the 300 SEL 6.3 wasn’t something Mercedes-Benz cooked up in formal meetings with its engineers, designers and whatnot. It was the brainchild of Erich Waxenberger, who saw an opportunity in taking the 600’s V8 and using it for other cars.
The earliest 300 SEL 6.3 was, in fact, a test car build in secret right under the unsuspecting nose of Rudolf Uhlenhaut, head of passenger car development at Mercedes-Benz in the 1960s. The project eventually got the R&D go and Mercedes-Benz turned up building 6,526 units by 1972.
Today, a well-maintained Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 sells for €80,000, almost as much as a brand new entry-level S-Class.
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