See Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s...

 for a complete overview of all S-Class models.

The Mercedes-Benz W112 (also known as the 300SE) was a flagship model in Mercedes-Benz's line-up during the early 1960s. The car, produced in four modifications: coupé

Coupé

A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...

, cabriolet and sedans, was identical to the standard Mercedes-Benz W111

Mercedes-Benz W111

The Mercedes-Benz W111 was a chassis code given to its top-range vehicles, including 4-door sedans, produced from 1959 to 1968, and 2-door coupes and cabriolets from 1961 to 1971. The W111, was initially attributed only to 6-cylinder cars with 2.2 litre engines. The luxury version with big-block 3...

 Fintail car, but was fitted with the M189 big-block six-cylinder engine, as well as more luxurious features such as air suspension

Air suspension

Air suspension is a type of vehicle suspension powered by an engine driven or electric air pump or compressor. This pump pressurizes the air, using compressed air as a spring. Air suspension replaces conventional steel springs. If the engine is left off for an extended period, the car will settle...

, power steering

Power steering

Power steering helps drivers steer vehicles by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel.Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a...

, automatic transmission, more expensive wood and leather trim details, etc.

Description

To fully understand the significance of the W112, it is important to understand, that prior previous generation of vehicles consisted of entry-level 4-cylinder 180/190 series, mid-range 220 series of sedan, coupe and cabriolet, a sports 190SL

Mercedes-Benz 190SL

The Mercedes-Benz 190SL is a two door grand touring convertible with a removable hardtop that was produced by Mercedes-Benz between May 1955 and February 1963...

 coupe and roadster, all built on a unified Ponton unibody chassis. Topping them was the exquisite 300 series

Mercedes-Benz 300

Mercedes-Benz has sold a number of automobiles with the "300" model name:* 1951–1957 W186** 1951–1957 300* 1951–1958 W188** 1951–1958 300S* 1954–1963 W198** 1954–1963 300SL* 1958–1962 W189** 1958–1962 300d...

 of sedan, coupe, cabriolet and roadster, hand-built on the increasingly archaic X-frame chassis based on pre-war models. This construction was compensated with luxurious features and a price tag, that made these vehicles available only to elite of royal pedigree. In addition there was the 300SL

Mercedes-Benz 300SL

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster...

 coupe/roadster, built on a unique tubular platform.

In the late 1950s, Daimler began to initiate a new policy economy of scale, and decided to unify its luxury and standard range in the next generation of cars. Already in 1957, assembly of all 2-door 300S W187s stopped, in 1958 the fuel-injected

Fuel injection

Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....

 W128

Mercedes-Benz W128

The Mercedes-Benz W128 was a 6-cylinder automobile that was available in sedan, coupé, or cabriolet body styles and produced from October, 1958 to August, 1959...

 220SE Ponton arrived, and from 1959 the Mercedes-Benz showcased its new generation of fintail models. First came the 220/220S/200SE W111 sedans, these were joined in 1961 by the 220SE W111 coupe and cabriolet and the four cylinder W110

Mercedes-Benz W110

The W110 "Fintail" was Mercedes-Benz's line of midsize four-cylinder automobiles in the mid-1960s. The line was introduced with the 190c and 190Dc sedan in April, 1961, replacing the W120 180c/180Dc and W121 190b/190Db...

 190 and 190D. However a replacement for the big W189 Type 300 Adenauer limousine, was still being drawn-up. So, Mercedes-Benz decided to break its previous taboo and placed the big six-cylinder 3-litre engine from the W189 into a W111. This was a big gamble, as many 300 customers would not see kindly their exquisite vehicles replaced by an ordinary car, but the sales of the W112 showed the opposite.

Mercedes-Benz took a large set of measures in terms of marketing to separate the W112 from the W111. This included separate brochures, the cars were presented in different showrooms. Externally the cars were adorned with almost double the chrome details

Chrome plating

Chrome plating, often referred to simply as chrome, is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of chromium onto a metal object. The chromed layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, ease cleaning procedures, or increase surface hardness.-Process:A component to be chrome plated will...

 that were available to the W111s, bigger 14" rims

Rim (wheel)

The rim of a wheel is the outer circular design of the metal on which the inside edge of the tire is mounted on vehicles such as automobiles. For example, on a bicycle wheel the rim is a large hoop attached to the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel that holds the tire and tube.In the 1st...

 and features such as power steering

Power steering

Power steering helps drivers steer vehicles by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel.Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a...

, pneumatic suspension and automatic transmission

Automatic transmission

An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...

 as standard (though manual would return as an option). The car cost almost double the value of the top range 220SE W111. In 1963 Mercedes-Benz went on to create the long-wheelbase sedan, commonly, though incorrectly, referred to as the 300SEL (Mercedes-Benz would introduce the L suffix in the next generation). Performance-wise the 300SEs topped the range, with the M189 bix-six engine producing 160 hp (170 after 1964) and giving a top speed of 180 km/h (190 after 1964, both figures 175 and 185 for automatic transmission respectively).

The W112 turned out to be a very short-lived venture. In 1963 Mercedes-Benz premièred the true replacement for the Adenauer, in the new W100 600

Mercedes-Benz 600

The Mercedes-Benz 600 is a large luxury automobile offered in several variants worldwide. Introduced in September 1963, it had very few competitors, these being Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Cadillac Fleetwood 75, the stretched Lehmann-Peterson Lincoln, and the Crown Imperial Ghia...

 limousine. Having filled its top niche, demand for the W112 plummeted and production volume fell drastically: if in 1962 2.769 such cars were built, the next year this fell to 1.382, and in 1965 with the coming of the W108/109

Mercedes-Benz W108

The Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 were luxury cars built by Mercedes-Benz from 1965 through 1972. The line was an update of the predecessor W111 and W112 fintail sedans. The cars were successful in West Germany and in export markets that included including North America and Southeast Asia...

 series the sedan W112 went into history, with a total of 6.748 300SEs in standard and long wheelbase. The rarity of the car is further punctuated by the fact that in 1962 for every W112 sedan there was 24 W111s rolling off the production line, and by 1964 this ratio was almost 1:40.

The Coupe and cabriolet 2-door W112s fared better. Arriving in 1962, only a year later after the première of the 2-door W111s. The latter was offered as a single 220SE model and thus the 300SE served as its the only stable mate. Hence a 5:1 production ratio was kept. The two-door W111/W112 was production continued after 1965 with the coming of the new generation W108/W109 sedans. However in 1967, Mercedes-Benz chose to finish producing the now-ancient M189 engine, by this point, it had finished its planned changes in car classes and there was no point in continuing to market a separate car chassis number. Replacement arrived in face of the 280SE which took its place on the production line, though the true successor as a flagship model can be the V8 powered 280SE 3.5 which arrived in 1969 and was built until 1971.

Although its short production run, the W112, allowed Mercedes-Benz to tie together its top range vehicles with its mid-range series. In doing so, it ended the previous nomenclature of 190/220/300, and allowed a common practice of exchanging engines between one chassis and another. The LWB 300SE became another milestone, and long wheelbase models became standard in all future S-Class

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s...

 generations. The 300SE sedan was also very successful in international and European Touring Car Championship

European Touring Car Championship

The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...

 and won several rally

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

s.

Despite using the same number, the W112 has no relation to the 1991 Mercedes-Benz C112

Mercedes-Benz C112

The Mercedes-Benz C112 was an experimental mid-engined sportscar created in 1991 by Mercedes-Benz as a test bed, similar to the later versions of the Mercedes-Benz C111. Despite using the same number, it was not related to the 1960s Mercedes-Benz W112 series of limousines and coupes of the 1960s...

 experimental mid-engined sportscar.

Models

• 1961–1965 300 SE Sedan (5,202 built)
• 1962–1967 300 SE Coupé (2,419 built)
• 1962–1967 300 SE Cabriolet (Convertible) (708 built)
• 1963–1965 300 SE long long-wheelbase Sedan (1,546 built, often wrongly called 300 SEL)

Model timeline

Chassis	Type	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967
W112	sedan	300SE
				300SE long
	coupé Coupé A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...		300SE
	cabriolet (convertible Convertible A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle... )		300SE

External links

• http://www.heckflosse.nl/