Classic Driver Magazine Mercedes-Benz SL ‘Pagoda’ 27 January 2013

Volume I Issues 1 - 10

An Interview with John Olson Issue 1 Living with a Pagoda in New York City 1 June Max Hoffman, Importer of an Age 2003 A Constellation of 216 Stars

Greatest Pagoda Racing Victory Issue 2 North American Tech Session 25 September Installing an Oil Pressure Failure Alarm 2003 Unique 230 SL Shown The Best Pagoda Model in the World The World’s Fastest Pagoda Driver: An Interview with David Coulthard

SL Day: A Four Day Pagoda Experience Issue 3 Second Mid-Atlantic W113 Gathering 49 December Pagoda Tribute in the Best Spanish Car Show 2003 Holland Tech Session 34 ISSUE 21 SEPTEMBERJUNE 2003 2003 an exception.Histwoprevious the “MarathonofRoad”hemade was themorepowerful300SE.For and theusualcarfor’63season Liège-Rome eventina220SE“fintail” EugenhadwonthepreviousRome- the time from Liège to Rome and back. and ’56editionsoftheevent runat the 300SL,whichhadwon’55 tracks ofitslegendarypredecessor Böhringer putthe230SLin tire meant something.With hisvictory, for thecrew, thatsuccessreally demanding rally, bothfor thecarand was recognized as the world’s most comfortable margin. Since that race What wasmore,theywonitbya Rally, the“MarathondelaRoute”. victory intheSpa-Sofia-Liège drove their230SLtoaspectacular Champion, andco-driverKlausKaiser Böhringer, the1962EuropeanRally Germany’s star rally man Eugen premiere attheGenevaMotorShow, shortly afterthePagoda’s world Just40yearsagotothemonth, Chrysler mediaarchive Photos from the Daimler- By Albert de la Torre the Spa-Sofia-Liège Rally Eugen Böhringer’s victory in Celebrating theAnniversary of 10 Victory celebrations were well deserved (DC Media Archive) Böhringer keeps ahead of the competition (DC Media Archive) Greatest PagodaRacingVictory competitors were Makinen and Paddy Eric Carlsson’s Saab. Other tough Healey 3000,Böhringer’s Pagoda,and between Rauno Aaltonen’s Austin- August 27, there was a fierce battle Fromthestartofrallyon opposite page. learned arelistedonthe incorporate thelessonsBöhringer changes thathadtobemade sporting regulations.The few modifications werelimitedbythe in the production car category, main GiventhatthePagodawasentered and KlausKaiseratthecontrols. part intherallywithEugenBöhringer announced thata230SLwouldtake Ed. the W113 PagodaSLGroup’s logo.– 39. ( went ontowintherallyascarnumber which (red colour, chassis #000014) of the Pagodas from Geneva, one of March 25 started workingontheproject.On Fritz Nallinger (Technical director) Karl Kling(RacingManager),and for itspresentation.SoBöhringer, available andallunitswereinGeneva for the fact that the car was not yet W113 was the natural choice except that wouldwintherace.Thenew him thatitwouldbemaneuverability experiences ofthisrallyhadtaught ) OnApril23itwasofficially This is the car that appears in th , Nallingerrecoveredthree © 2003 Albert de la Torre dust fromtherally. license plateandshowingreal Pagoda, stillwearingits“S-RV 441” was BöhringerandKaiser’s winning gleaming new230SLand600models, Benz exhibits,togetherwiththe September. Amongthe Mercedes- at thatyear’s IAAinFrankfurt Thetriumphwascommemorated the arduous race. 20 of the 119 starters had finished they were exhausted but happy. Only 6600 kmdependingonthesource), approximately 6100km(from5500to on August31,after92hoursand arrived atthefinishlineinLiège Saab 15 minutes behind. When they took overallvictorywithCarlsson’s was arelativeeasywalk.The230SL 900 kmtoLiège the remaining this Healey. Once Eugen was informed of and terminallydamagedhisbig Vivione, Aaltonen misjudgedacorner While climbing the precarious of just 4 and 3 minutes respectively. Aaltonen left Yugoslavia with the loss Despite all of this, Böhringer and competitors lost time as a result. boulders ontomanyroads.Most along theAdriaticandbroughtlarge downpours floodedpartoftheroute Hopkirk intheirHealeys. Heavy

Pagoda World, Issue 2 SL GroupPresidentCeesKlumper, onhandfromThe common witholder, wornparts.Joeandthe W113 Pagoda a firm, tight rubber feel, without a trace of body noises another that looked or felt more like a new car! It had I droveTom’s 280SLandIcan’t remembereverdriving couple. BobFellows(OH)broughtaveryoriginal280SL. of Tom Sargeant (VA) and Mike Salemi (MI) to name a the-top Pagodarestorations wereonhandwithcars NJ, TX,MI,CA,MN,andTheNetherlands.Severalover- 30 years.AttendeesweredrawnfromOH,VA, WV, NY, been repairing,restoring,andrallyingMercedescarsfor their suburbanColumbusshopandresidence.Joehas In Ohio, Joe and Mary Alexander hosted 55 people at By JohnOlson June Tech SessionDrawsBigAudience Pagoda World ------be coveredatnight. The front grille received a set of three additional headlights, which were necessary since many of the miles would To reduceweight,thesofttopwasfully removed. Thehardtopwasfixedinplace. (Speed-pilot, Trip master). The interiorwasstrippedoftheusualinsulationandfittedwithspecialbucket-typeseatsrallyinstruments The chassisandsuspensionwerestrengthenedaswastheframefloor. An air/oilcoolerwasaddedalongwithunderbodyprotection. The fueltankcapacitywasenlargedto85litresandthecarcarriedtwosparewheels. injection pumpandportswereoptimised.Itdevelopedcloseto170hp. The enginewasfine-tunedandequippedwiththelargestavailablepistonsize(83.022mm/2364cc). removed. Thesoundofthecarwasnoticeable. The exhaust system was altered in order to achieve a greater ground clearance and the main muffler was 5.5x13” wheels from the sedans. They lowered the center of gravity and gave much better acceleration. stones on the track. For the better Italian roads through the Dolomites and the Alps, Böhringer switched to the mountain stages through Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. They gave greater ground clearance to drive over the big The standard 5.5x14” wheels were switched to 5.5x15” (300 SL wheels) for the rough road sections on the The power steering changed to a lower pump ratio to keep the steering action light in quick slalom turns. change upto2nd. The 4-speed gearbox was taken from the 220 SEb because it had a higher-ratio 1st gear which provided a better handle the priority was acceleration. The rearaxleratiowasloweredto4.56:1.Itreducedmax.speed190km/h,butwithsomanymountainstages , Issue 2 North AmericanTech Session Modifications tothe#39Böhringerrallycar were givenaway. Microfiber Towels, RaggTopp, andZymolWax Co. Care, CaliforniaCarCover, Eastwood Co.,EdgeTech Becker NorthAmerica,BobGeco’s AutoAppearance drawing washeldandproductsfromeventsponsors Italy a few years ago, driving a 300 SL Gullwing. A free show ofmyparticipationintheMilleMigliaRally able to share some personal SL experiences with a slide reviewed detailed W113 series production changes. I was cars are scored by the MBCA and similar clubs. He also shops oftenmiss.PeteLeslerreviewedthewaythese end alignmentsaredone,andvariouslubricationpoints removing thesteeringwheelandsignalstalk, how front lead several sessions on practical knowledge, including differences of old and new paint and caring for each. Joe ance expert from Los Angeles, spoke on the technical event. Bob Geco, a highly knowledgeable auto appear- Netherlands, chosetechnicalsessionsforthetwoday (Photos byRoddMasteller) 11 Conversions Gearing The Elusive ZF 5-Speed Transmission The replacement of a manual 4-speed transmission The table below shows comparative ratios for vari- by the ZF 5-speed is relatively straightforward, ous mechanical transmissions used in the By Michael C. Egan however, the following parts are mandatory to make Mercedes of the 1960s and early 1970s. the switch. Little known to the majority of 230/250/280 SL own- Production ers is the optional 5-speed transmission which was If there is difficulty obtaining a front driveshaft sec- A total of only 885 W 113 chassis SLs were origi- WINTER 2005 available for these models and others in the tion, the existing one can be shortened. Also, it is nally equipped with the ZF transmission. In recent Mercedes lineup from 1965 through May of 1969. reported that a front driveshaft section designed for years though, a number of SL owners have Daimler-Benz subcontracted with Zahnradfabrik the automatic transmission has the proper length, replaced their original transmissions with a 5- Friedrichshafen AG (ZF) to furnish their 5-speed but its part number is different. (It is not necessary speed. I understand that this conversion was also type S5-20 transmission. Subcontracting to ZF was to change the speedometer, by the way.) performed on a small number of W 198 300 SLs, not new to D-B, of course; they had called upon ZF ISSUE 5 using bell housings that were cast in this country. to furnish differentials and the first 150 steering boxes for the illustrious Gullwing. The table below shows the distribution of ZF trans- All the indirect gears of the ZF transmission are missions across Mercedes vehicle types. The somewhat “higher” (numerically lower) than those Although this option was available to all SL buyers 96 types-057 and –058 replaced types –032 and –033, of the MB 4- and 5-speed transmissions. The main through model year 1967 (and European buyers respectively; type –064 was adapted for the mem- advantage of either 5-speeds over the 4-speed is after that), few took advantage of the opportunity. brane-type clutch plate of the 280 SL. Gear ratios that the overdrive 5th gear makes for a quieter ride, were the same in all MB transmissions except the giving an effective cruising gear of 3.46 with the “This option would have added about very limited production types, -068 and –069, which 4.08 rear axle, which was the only ratio furnished $460 to the base price of approximately had substantially lower numerical ratios in 1st, 2nd by the factory with the ZF 5-speed. $7,000 for a 280 SL. ” and 3rd (e.g., 3.32 vice 3.92 in 1st gear). The D-B Another characteristic of the ZF 5-speed: it is one part number for the ZF transmission for 230 SL and The ZF transmission itself and bell housing are no of the few transmissions that has synchromesh in It received little-to-no publicity in the U.S., and it is longer available, but the conversion parts can still its reverse gear; it is truly “fully synchronized.” This rarely found on US-spec SLs. This option would be purchased form Mercedes-Benz dealers on spe- has obvious advantages in gymkhanas and other have added about $460 to the base price of cial order. Most gears and other internal parts of driving events in which it is necessary to reverse approximately $7,000 for a 280 SL. Note, however, the transmission are still available from ZF and can quickly. Fortunately, it is still difficult to engage that the 5-speed option was not available for U.S.- be ordered through their U.S. facility. Parts are no reverse inadvertently while the vehicle is moving delivery Model 1968 250 SLs nor any U.S.-delivery longer being manufactured. forward. Reverse gear on the ZF shifter is exactly opposite that on the standard 4-speed transmis- 280 SLs. The reason is that starting with model While its most widespread use was in the sion, thus takes some getting used to. The spring year 1968, certain modifications had to be made to Mercedes W 113 series, the ZF S5-20 transmission action of the shifter is also different; there is a mod- the manual transmis- was also used in the Maserati Quattroporte sedan sion linkage in order to erately strong spring that centers the shift lever in actuate the fuel cutoff the 3–4 slot and it is necessary to overcome the 250 SL is 113 260 07 04; for 280 SL, it is 113 260 switch that was made “The reduction in engine speed spring pressure in order to enter the 1–2 or 07 04; for 280SL, it is 113 260 09 04. necessary by the U.S. is enough to make the engine barely 5–reverse slots. The lever and knob (except for the vehicle emission regu- It should also be noted that the ZF 5-speed trans- audible, yet there is no problem indicated shift pattern) are the same as on the W lations that took effect mission was superseded in May of 1969 by the MB 113 4-speed, so it is not necessary to lift up or climbing fairly steep grades in 5th once depress the knob in order to engage reverse. then. Due to the small G 76/27-5. The MB transmission, which is charac- you get up to speed.” demand for the terized by side-mounted shift levers, was optionally Driving Experience 5-speed, D-B chose available on later vehicles, including the European I had the pleasure of driving the late Frank not to invest in the R 107. and GT as well as Mercedes models 300Seb, 300 Mallory’s 5-speed 250 SL from Alexandria, Virginia engineering and support that would have been SE/C, 300 SEL, and 300 SEL/8. The transmission The ZF “Maltese Falcon” transmission remains to St. Louis, Missouri to attend the MBCA StarFest needed to adapt it to comply with these regulations. for the type nos. 1025 000 027/052/060 will not fit elusive to most seekers. When found, it is usually several years ago. The gearing makes for a delight- It can therefore be assumed that any Model 1968 into the W 113 chassis because they are not top priced in the $4,000 to $5,000 range; this for a ful long distance touring vehicle. The reduction in or later Mercedes with a ZF 5-speed transmission (center) shifters. Those for the Mercedes 300 used transmission that can easily incur additional engine speed is enough to make the engine barely encountered in the US is either a European car that series also carry different type numbers (1025 000 overhaul costs in excess of $3,000 to put it into audible, yet there is no problem climbing fairly was brought in under an exemption to the EPA reg- 033/058/069) and have a different bell housing; the first-class condition. When properly installed in steep grades in 5th once you get up to speed. In ulations or a US-spec car that was retrofitted. basic transmission housing, however, is the same. place of a standard transmission though, this gear- 5th gear, the engine speed is 2,947 rpm at 62 mph, The bell housings were manufactured by ZF and box can appreciably increase a vehicle’s value. as compared with 3,475 rpm in early U.S.-spec 280 the correct one for the W 113 series has part no. 2 1025 401 049. 3 138 ISSUE 7 April 2006 were lost. A copy help thetechnicianinshopordercorrectparts.Overyears,andthroughseveralowners,oftenthesecards 2 1 Bitte bei Ersatzteilbestellung Fahrzeug-Daten 2 Title oncard 1 Box following textcorrespondtothenumberingondatacard. follow. The large letters and numbers are added in “Image A” for legibility and clarification. The numbers in the There wereafewlayoutsusedforthedatacardduring W 113 productionrunfrom1963to1971andtheywill Our firstexample,shownas“Image A” anddetailedonthefollowingpages,showsdatacardofa 1964230SL. Example One: original partofthevehicle. The contact information is: offering anew“Zertifikat”whichcontainsthesameinformationasdatacard,butofcoursewasnotan Classic Centers,eitherinStuttgart, GermanyorMontvale,NewJersey, USA. Also, forafee,theClassicCentersare proof ofownershipistypicallyrequiredtofulfillanorder. Orderscanbe madethroughoneoftheMercedes-Benz E By Klaus Drexl The next three digits describe the model within the platform, where: The first three digits, 113, describe the platform, in this case the “Pagoda” SL built from 1963 to 1971. To expand on this 14-digit VIN in box 5 Fahrgestell-Nr. Typ 5 4 Disclaimer: The author readily admits that this document may contain errors and omissions! The “copy” isusuallycreatedfrom microfilmandisoftenofpoor quality. 6 very new Mercedes-Benz came with two data cards, usually inserted into the pouch in which the Owner’s to be carried in the car. The other copy did not contain the key codes and was supposed to be kept in the car to Manual or Service Booklet came. One of these cards contained the key codes, and therefore was suggested not Fax. (country code 49) 711 49) code (country Fax. 79054138 17 Tel. (countrycode49)711 1754138 Germany 70546 Stuttgart 096/R051 HPC AG DaimlerChrysler Center Classic Mercedes-Benz aretl-r nee Ps5 ordering spare parts Fahrgestell-Nr. angeben (Pos.5) The comprehensive edition will be in the book the Group is planning to publish in the future. future. the in publish to planning is Group the book the in be will edition comprehensive The Due to space constraints we will not be able to present all the material, but just the core details. identifying our Pagodas. This is his first article in a series which explains this critical information. and building in used Data on codes work of various body the and Cards extiensive an compiled and hisPagodawasfeaturedonthebackcoverofWorld issues2and3. After a 30 year career at DBAG/MBNA he retired in 1998. He is an active member of the Group before 1982. In 1977, he transferred to Mercedes-Benz of North America in New Jersey, USA. W 113his before months two about was This meet not would two the but produced, was 1968. in Stuttgart-Untertuerkheim in Benz started Daimler and of area Munich R&D in the in work University [ 042 =230SL Editor’s note: Editor’s 1 2 ofthecardcanbeorderedbycar’s presentowner. Duetotheconfidentialityofkeycodes,

Klaus, a native of Germany, of native a Klaus, the from degree engineering an received Technical An Introduction toDataCards An Introduction , it consists of the following elements: 043 =250SL Vehicle Data Chassis number/serialnumber/vehicleidentividation Please provide serial number (box5)when Translation number (VIN) Model Fax. 201-802-2151 Fax. USA Tel.866-622-5277 Montvale, NJ07645-0350 Classic Center Classic Mercedes-Benz USA,Inc. P.O. Box 350 044 =280SL Klaus has Klaus Pagoda World ] , Issue7 These first six digits, e.g. 113 042, are called the “Baumuster”, or model designation. Sometimes, like in box The eighthdigitidentifiesthetransmissiontype, where: The seventhdigitidentifiesleft-handorright-handdrive,where: next twodigitsareincludedintheBaumuster. during productionfromtheenginebayfirewall tothe A-pillar totheB-pillar, whereitisinthisimage. “Image B”. It is also embossed on the Type Plate, location 1 in “Image B”. The location of this Type Plate changed numbers canbefoundonthecar. The VIN isstampedintothelongitudinalframemember. This islocation2in The Owner’s Manual andthePartsPictureCatalogthatcamewithcar included“ImageB”.Itshowswhereseveral tion. The 230SL endedwith019832,the 250 SL with005196,andthe280SL with023885. The lastsixdigitsaresequential. With eachmodelseperate,they startat000001andend upwiththeendofproduc- Pagoda World 0 =manualtransmission 1 =left-handdrive , Issue7 2 =automatictransmission 2 =right-handdrive Image A Image B d , the 7 178 ISSUE 8 October 2006 Marcel atthewheelinatypicallysnowysection. O Photos donated byMarcelGeurts By RoddMasteller Geurts’ efforts with these words: gave full coverage of the event. They summed up the The May, 2006issueofClassicandSportsCar best finish nowduring thepast5years.” son andI werefeeling greataboutour greyMerc., our cars likePorsche911, FordLotus, Aston DB6,etc.My timing points. Our competitors in the Masters class were accelerator-to-the-bottom, map-readingdrivingwith13 the mountainsnearSanRemo,Italy. Fourhoursof of thisrallywasthe4-hour non-stop nightloopin About theexperience,Marcelwrites,“Thebestpart their ownerstothewinner’s circle. Alfons Geurts,picturedhere,these cars arestillcarrying 2006 Winter ChallengeclassvictorybyMarceland Charrier (seeinside frontcover ofthis issue),andthe Peter’s experience, thesuccessof Robertand Marguerite the annual Winter Challenge inEurope. As evidentby article on Peter van Es successfully running his 280SL in years later? You mayrecallthe is the W 113 chassisstillacompetitivevehiclesome40 22 f course, as described in the in 1963withBohringerandKaiser’s victory. But advertisement ontheoppositepage,itallstarted Competition Driving andNow. InaW113,Then Pagoda World Issue4 Motor Sport magazine Marcel and Alfons atoptheirchampionsteed. the route.” leaving SanRemo, allowing notimetoresearch when crewswere given marked mapsjustpriorto reallyexcelled Geurts on the final eveningThe run Master’s class. ’s hefty Volvo Dolk and JanBurt Berkhof 122S in fellow Dutchman finish threeminutes aheadof 280 SL battled through treacherous conditions to ‘67 Mercedes-Benz on 11 - 17 March. bulky Their dominatedthe17thWinterChallenge Alfons Geurts and Marcel Dutch paringof fatherandson “The Pagoda World , Issue8 Pagoda World , Issue8 23