W115 Ute Project starts ...

[Christo C]

Great video

[Chai]

[T-Modell]

Hi guys,
is this rumour true, that Mercedes owning and driving is forbidden now in Australia?

Well, I have a really exceptional story for the remaining guys here today (as if this project wasn't full of "stories") ...

Last weekend I was at a classic car meeting and someone approached me "I know these cars". Hmm, surprising. He drove an Opel (German for "Holden") and explained to me, that his grandfather, Paul Längle, was in Argentina for six years to improve production there!!! At his farewell, they gave him a booklet with photographs from the production in Argentina!

I was flabbergasted and couldn't believe my ears. So I asked him, if I could have it, maybe for scanning. After some emails back and forth he was willing to give it to me, what a gift! So I have an original 30 page booklet (A5 format) of the production of the time incl. trucks, unimogs and buses.

I want to sincerely thank Frank from Mannheim here, to be so generous to actually give it away. It will be cherished in my little collection of original Argentine Mercedes memorabilia.

Kind regards
Thomas

[CraigB]

Amazing pics and not a robot in sight! Not even a Dr Who looking one.

Trying very hard to drive one and hopefully motor back in this week for the 2.3 in the 180e.

Was helping my crash repairer today to solve a cold start problem on his granddaughter 180e and he happens to have a lhd 500 e sitting there. Recent import from Japan and he is welding in our agricultural door bars in to get compliance. Car looks brand new like its never been used. I think it is the whole world except Australia and California that trusted mb to make a safe car, but we need to get out the welder and put pipes in the door to make it safe here! Shame having to strip and repaint all these perfect doors and match the otherwise pristine original paint. I’m a bit angry about it, in case you hadn’t noticed!

[T-Modell]

Hi guys,

another - longer - tour done this weekend. For quite some years, the Hamburg chapter of the German W114/115 Club ("Strich-8") has a yearly meeting at a vintage gas station. This gas station is originally from the 50s and kept like this incl. the interiour. You can actually have your TÜV there, there's catering and just a great location.

After Sascha from the Hamburg chapter asked me three times in Munich if I could come, my wife and I made our way to Hamburg on Friday morning. Saturday was the event and roundabout 70 cars attended incl. two strech limos (one RHD), two station wagons and one cabriolet. "Surprisingly" the ute caught a lot of attention and my throat is sore today from all the talking

We made our way back home safely last night and did 575kms in 4.5 hours (!) and in the Kassel mountains (Autobahn, but sharp bends, up and down, no speed limit) I showed some much more powerful SUV's how you drive those bends That's why you put a V8 in this car!!!

Kind regards
Thomas

Driving to Hamburg on the Autobahn ...


Original 50s style gas station ...







This car was taken out of a lake in Germany, probably lying there for 40 years, the last TÜV was in 1979

[Nabstud]

I like the rusted one!!!

How many km have you done in your car since completion? You seem to be getting some good use out of it.

[CraigB]

I saw the last photo first and was going to try and make a clever comment and say "so many W114/5 mercedes in same car park, how did you find yours (the bright orange one!) - but lots of others there.

Great gas station - were lots of these around Adelaide but usually near intersections or on valuable land and I can't think of one that is left. Also flash old car dealerships from 1920's on - there were some magnificent grand examples with curved glass and tall pillars etc..... all gone to make way for boring office buildings.

[Bartman4800]

Thanks Thomas for the nostalgic pics! I love those old gas stations!

A few years ago I walked into the little museum we have here in Medina. There was a display of old pictures.
Medina was planned in early 1950's by one of the first female town planners in WA and probably Australia - Miss Margaret Feilman (probably a name from German settlers). Local people pronounce her name as "feelman" but I keep telling them it should be pronounced as "fileman" (E before I etc. and I use the example of Einstein, who is obviously not pronounced as "eensteen")

Anyway, on the old pics I saw a service station not dissimilar to the one above. They should have kept it but it disappeared in the 70's.

It was situated on "Thomas Rd".....

[T-Modell]

Thanks for your comments guys,

it was a lovely weekend ... Friday night on the Reeperbahn attending a musical, which was very good! Maybe a funny story:
As I was contacted during the Munich meeting three times to come and it is nearly 600km to drive, we were thinking about if we go or not. So finally I gave the organisor a challenge: Get me a hotel with a garage, as I don't put the ute on the street overnight. "OK I try" was the answer.

For three weeks I heard nothing, then a phone call: You can stay the night at Uli, he's got a garage and a guest room ... I didn't even know the guy! So we had a phone call, we could use his guest room and the garage and on Friday afternoon he took us to Hamburg city centre with his 1964 Volvo 544!

How many km have you done in your car since completion? You seem to be getting some good use out of it.

True, counter is at nearly 6,500kms now.

It was situated on "Thomas Rd".....

Kind regards
Thomas

P. S.: That's the website of that fuel station, unfortunately only in German: https://www.tankstelle-brandshof.de/

[T-Modell]

Hi guys,

long time no hear ... I just cannot believe how quickly time passes! Two years gone! Last week, the first TÜV (roadworthiness) was due and - of course - I got the sticker for the next two years ;-)

I had it done through my Mercedes dealer here and the TÜV-guy is there for years, so he could "follow" the project "as a witness" and knows the car in and out.

6,800kms I have done in those two years and I can tell you: every bloody kilometre was just fun and worth every drop of fuel!

Kind regards
Thomas

September at the cars and coffee in Stuttgart ... acceptable cars in the vicinity

[matthewz108]

The orange one is the nicest two door car in that picture

[Ivanerrol]

The orange one is the nicest two door car in that picture

All in the same price range too.

[T-Modell]

Hi guys,

this week I tackled the last leaking bit ... the steering box. I had it refurbished for a lot of money by a "specialist" in 2019, then it was lying on the shelf for two years. It was leaking from the start of the rebuild and that leakage got more and more.

So I took it out, gave it to someone else, got it back and reinstalled it ... let's see if it stops being incontinent
Kind regards
Thomas

[eddie]

Nice work Thomas

Specialists are frustrating!

I'm just about to pull out the automatic transmission and the cylinder head again as they are both not working correctly after having specialist perform work on them during the rebuild of the Green Beast!

Good to see it's still a project and keeping you entertained though

All the best