W116 Crayfords around the world

[GreaseMonkey]

Updates on the Crayfords.
Mine has been sold to Malaysia, and I am hoping the new owner will keep in touch with progress.
The silver 280SE from WA that was on ebay years ago, still exists in Mt Barker, but is in even worse condition, and the owner is still caught between thinking he will restore it one day, or relist it on ebay and get rich!
Considering where it is, unless by chance a local wants to take it on, for anyone else, the transport costs to the east coast would be far more than it is worth.
Still, keep a watch, it may show up again.
Any other finds, post 'em here.
Chris M.

[Chalda]

Hello,

a striking number of W116 Crayford estates turned up in Germany within the last few years, and at one moment three of them were located together in the Meilenwerk company of Berlin. This reminded me of the Crayford register that OzBenzHead started a few years ago but that is no longer available on the internet. While he was still running it, I managed to grab the register data at least and now decided to build a temporary register based on his data. The purpose is just to keep up-to-date and revert to a more detailed listing again later.

So please have a look at the W116 Crayford register and let me know about any news:

http://maps.google.de/maps/ms?hl=en&gl= ... 773438&z=2

With kind regards,

Christian
1972 220D/8 Crayford estate
1973 250/8 Crayford estate

[GreaseMonkey]

Hi Christian,
Although I sold my Crayford wagon a while ago, I still keep an interest in their whereabouts, and would like another.
John Green - sponsor of this forum - has compiled some register information on his MB Spares website, but since Gordon 'OzBenzHead' has gone off-line we need to keep in touch to swap info.
Those photos of the three at Meilenwerk I had posted across to Gordon a year or two back, and I also emailed Meilenwerk to ask for any further details but received no reply.
I do know of two other 116 Crayfords surviving, but it seems both are in a bad way.
Regards,
Chris M.

[Chalda]

Hi,

Thanks for your message. What happened in Berlin, Germany about five years ago is confusing to say at least.

Three W116 Crayfords turned up at the Meilenwerk, and to make matters worse they changed their appearance now and then.

Number 1:

VIN 116033 12 051032, 450 SEL built in 1976

The first car arrived at Berlin being red and with the californian registration 1HUS191. I have a copy of the californian title that states that this car belonged to Christopher McMullan (of the Crayford McMullan family) of Los Angeles, California in 2003.

This picture was taken at the Meilenwerk in Berlin, showing the car being red and in unrestored condition:

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/35/1 ... nwerk1.jpg

This car has then been restored (and extensively altered during this process), now being silver and registered in Berlin. It is currently for sale on the internet:

http://www.mercedesoldies.com/attachmen ... MG4133.jpg

Yes, this is the same car. I saw it myself.

Number 2:

VIN unknown but with a 450 SEL sign on the lid, said to be of 1979 vintage

Burkhard Steins of CarClassics Berlin GmbH once said that in 2005 he imported two 450 SEL Crayford estates from USA, a 1976 car and a 1979 car. The 1976 car is thougth to be "number 1". The 1979 car is thought to be this car. It arrived in silver and has been seen in and in front of the Meilenwerk in Berlin from time to time:

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2261/pict2980mw7.jpg

Outside the Meilenwerk in 2007, with the interior in pieces

http://www.motoraver.de/gallery2/main.p ... OISSES_PMT

Completed, outside the Meilenwerk in 2008.

In 2008, it was there to be sold and confirmed by Burkhard Steins as being one of the cars he imported.

Number 3:

VIN unknown but with a 450 SEL sign on the lid, in fact everything unknown

HOWEVER, there is a third W116 Crayford at the Meilenwerk, or this car has been confused with number 2. It is also silver, but with whitewall tires. On the first picture above, the car is parked to the right of the red W116. A very similar car turned up in a USA internet discussion board with the information that it had been sold via eBay from there in 2007 (!). However, it was seen in Berlin as early as 2005 (?).

http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/9785 ... ordtm9.jpg

Internet picture of the car from USA

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/9761 ... 2xhhk3.jpg

The car outside the Meilenwerk in Berlin some time ago.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6708/w116001oe9.jpg

The car being attended to at the Meilenwerk.

Resumee:

A Meilenwerk dealer was quoted that he imported two 450 SEL Crayford estates from USA in 2005. There are early pictures that show two cars (number 1 and number 3) together at the Meilenwerk, but the pictures are not dated. One of those cars (number 1) is still there, this is the 1976 car formerly owned by the McMullan family in LA. I also got the information that one of the two cars has been sold to switzerland in 2005 or 2006, but also know that something went quite wrong with this (or another?) sale. Car number 2 may be the same car as number 3. No picture exists of all three cars together.

What a confusion.

With kind regards,

Christian

[GreaseMonkey]

Christian, you have posted just about what I had guessed from the photos and known dates.
I wish Gordon was still with us.
Anyway, I will get back to you in the next couple of days with the rest of what I can find out.
Regards,
Chris M.

[Chalda]

Hi,

$5 from me for the person who will identify the W116 Crayford on this lovely postcard from France in the 70s:



;-)

With kind regards,

Christian

[GreaseMonkey]

Well I can identify the location.
It is the Novotel Thalasso Hotel Spa at Le Touquet Paris Plage.
It has not changed much since then, except the car parking is a bit more organised.

http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-0449-no ... ndex.shtml

I used to spend a lot of time driving in France between the 70s and 90s and before the tunnel opened the easiest way from England was the Dover Calais ferry, which is why I, and a lot of other Brits would have been through Le Touqet.
As for the Crayford wagon, that looks to be Astral Silver with a door mirror on the left.
We know Sophia Loren had one registered in Switzerland but the original company demonstrator and the one featured in all press releases was Astral Silver, left-hand drive and used by company boss David McMullan.
I have emailed him myself to see if he remembers visiting that hotel.

That must be worth $5!

Chris Martin

[Chalda]

Hi,

unbelievable! Go on...

With kind regards,

Christian
1972 220D/8 Crayford
1973 250/8 Crayford

[John Green]

Hi,

$5 from me for the person who will identify the W116 Crayford on this lovely postcard from France in the 70s:

Christian

It is a SE, not a SEL if that helps. The rear door window is slightly differant, so you can tell..

[GreaseMonkey]

This is the car I was referring to, a 280SE.
Chris M.

M-B_W116_280SE_CrayfordEstate_DM-2.jpg

[Chalda]

Hi Chris,

just to keep you and other Crayford enthusiasts updated on what happened over here in Germany regarding the Crayford W116s...

Those photos of the three at Meilenwerk I had posted across to Gordon a year or two back, and I also emailed Meilenwerk to ask for any further details but received no reply.

In spring 2009, I bought the 250/8 Crayford estate from UK, drove it to Germany (a story of its own), checked it over and took it to the VDH (largest German Mercedes-Benz club with approximately 5000 members) spring meeting in the south of Germany. Beforehand, I had arranged to meet there with Alfred Barg, the late owner of the (formerly red) Meilenwerk 450SEL W116 Crayford that used to belong to the McMullan sons in California. See the cars at the meeting:



Because we are discussing W116s, I put his car in front and my green 250/8 Crayford in the back. Alfred Barg (the owner) arrived with his flying mechanic on board and we discussed in length what he did to his car during restauration. In fact, he changed the appearance of the Crayford side windows in the back to realise a more fluent line. They did not manage to fit chrome strips there, and the car is today for sale still without the chrome. The interior of the load area had been completely re-made from scratch without refering to the original Crayford material. Accordingly, there has been some discussion here in Germany because the car is for sale being described as completely original and with "prototype roofline" - which is probably not quite true.

At said VDH meeting in spring 2009, I was looking forward to bringing three Crayford MBs together: the silver 450SEL W116, my 250/8 (nobody in Germany had ever before seen a Crayford /8 in flesh) and the red 280SE W116 Crayford that the VDH club aquired in 2008 in California while on their annual raid of the wrecking yards in USA. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that the 280SE W116 Crayford had been sold and was not present at the meeting. However, it went to Oliver Stork, a well-known W116/W126 parts dealer and is due for restauration there, the best thing that could have happened to it. This picture has been taken at this workshop later in 2009:



On this picture from the VDH meeting, everybody concerned is present:



From left to right: The mechanic that fettled the 450SEL Crayford, Alfred Barg who owns it (in grey shirt), Oliver Stork (with sunglasses) and myself.

With kind regards,

Christian
1972 220D/8 Crayford
1973 250/8 Crayford

[Chalda]

Hi,

while we are at it... A few days ago, I battled my way from Germany to the Crayford Convertible Car Club x-mas lunch in Westerham, Kent (UK) through the worst winter we had over here in Europe for years. Normally, 30 to 40 CCCC members turn up for the x-mas lunch, this year there were only two: Barry Priestman (the CCCC boss) and myself. The text of the following report is in german but you might enjoy the pictures anyway:

http://www.strichacht-forum.de/read.php?1,77156

However, Barry gave me some Crayford documents that he salvaged when the company went bust in the 80s. The first one shows a W116 during conversion at the Crayford works in Westerham, Kent:



Another picture shows a finished car in front of the Crayford works:



FYI: Its 23:21 ocal time on Dec 30th, 2010 over here... 2011 not even in sight ;-).

With kind regards,

Christian

[John Green]

And some more... Christian, did you know that David Mcmullan came and saw me here in Canberra a month ago?? he was very interested to look at my two cars.

DSC03102.JPG

john green 1 018.jpg

john green 1 020.jpg

[GreaseMonkey]

John, it is a shame Christian did not post that postcard photo a month ago, you could have asked David if he recognised it.
I have emailed him asking if he remembers taking the silver 'demonstrator' to Le Touquet, or maybe it was on loan to the press when that photo was taken.
It is a small world and coincidences do happen, did you hear the story of how he overheard a young couple discussing a Crayford parked in Los Angeles and the girl seemed to know a fair bit about the cars, but he was too shy to reveal who he was?
And I used to go to a rented holiday house in Javea in Spain in the 70s and 80s near where he now lives.
Meanwhile, as Christian is keen to put the information known to date on an accessible website, and given that your facility is mainly dedicated to your business, I was wondering if there is any way we can contact Gordon and ask if we can use what he compiled.
He did a great job with his website, but if he can no longer maintain it online, either you, I or Christian could take it over as it would be a shame to lose all his hard work.
I am still trying to get confirmation of two other cars out there, as well as keep in touch with the new owner of my old green wagon now in Malaysia.
And do keep us posted on any news of your cars too.
Regards,
Chris M.

[GreaseMonkey]

Hi,

while we are at it... A few days ago, I battled my way from Germany to the Crayford Convertible Car Club x-mas lunch in Westerham, Kent (UK) through the worst winter we had over here in Europe for years. Normally, 30 to 40 CCCC members turn up for the x-mas lunch, this year there were only two: Barry Priestman (the CCCC boss) and myself. The text of the following report is in german but you might enjoy the pictures anyway:

http://www.strichacht-forum.de/read.php?1,77156

However, Barry gave me some Crayford documents that he salvaged when the company went bust in the 80s. The first one shows a W116 during conversion at the Crayford works in Westerham, Kent:

FYI: Its 23:21 ocal time on Dec 30th, 2010 over here... 2011 not even in sight ;-).

With kind regards,

Christian

So you braved the trip from Germany and none of the UK members could get there?
That must have been a fun time!
That photo of the gold one could be the one Barry now owns, I don't recall any others known in gold?
And you refer to 'the late Alfred Barg' and mention his car is now for sale. I did not know he had passed on, I had been in touch a few times until about a year ago, and I know he had sent some replacement side windows to Gordon over here.
I am sure his car will find a new home in Germany seeing as he did a nice restoration on it, although I agree his modifications do detract from it's originality.
Regards,
Chris Martin

[Chalda]

Hi,

I did not know he had passed on

I did not want to imply this, sorry for my wrongly choosen words.

The car is for sale here (strange website however):

http://www.mercedesoldies.com/index.php

Barry Priestman told me during the CCCC lunch that David McMullan was is Australia just then, nice to see that he got in touch with John there.

With kind regards,

Christian

[Universal]

Hi evryone,
Anything new going on?
Any other Crayford wagon sightings?
It seemed like they cam out of the wood works and then all of a sudden it stopped.
Chris Trosch, L.A. California, U.S.A.

[John Green]

Hi Chris, I have sold both of my Crayford's. The 280SEL is now in New Zealand doing duty as a Hearse. The new owner was making up a fancy set up where the casket went in over the lip for the tail lamps and then lowered onto the floor on the wagon (hope that makes sense). The 450SEL went to a local collector here in Canberra who has added it to his list of cars that he will get around too one day.

[Chalda]

Anything new going on?

Barry Priestman of CCCC fame in England sold his 350 SE Crayford via eBay perhaps a year ago, and the new dutch owner completely restored the car to as-new condition and converted it from RHD to LHD. This car is was formerly registered "RGC 742P" in England.



While I have not seen the car "in person", the result is looking quite encouraging.

Christian

[Chalda]

The 350SE Crayford estate, ex-Barry Priestman and recently restored and converted to LHD in the Netherlands, is for sale at the Artcurial auction in November 2015:

http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/fullCat ... gLdtX.dpbs

Chassis 116.028.22.026049

Christian

[Chalda]

Estimation was 18000 - 24000 Euro. Sold for 42912 Euro.

[npk]

Help needed.

Looking for rear windscreen n quarter glass(left n right) rubber seals.

Mine is a 280SE crayford...was "WASABE"...the lime green 280Se

Thanks in advance