As it was and as it is now ...

First Classic Car Meeting ...

So, today was the "big day" ;-) ... first classic car meeting at the "Hirschberger Oldtimer Treffen Rosenhof". All people seemed to be desparate to have those meetings again after corona ... I guess more than 250 cars were there at least.

So I parked the car pretty early and it didn't take a long time when the first people stopped. "Ah an individual conversion" ;-) ... "no, it's original". So many many discussions started and the wow-effect got even bigger, as I opened the hood or showed the leather inside. I got many many compliments for the car (boosted my ego a bit ;-) and even the photographer of a magazine asked, if I were interested in an article. Surprisingly no "German envy" and no comments like "but that's not original" ... that was nice. The car made it back and forth, so on to the next optimisation steps!

First long drive ...

So, another "big day" yesterday. I did a drive last week 2x90kms that went alright (first time clocked 200km/h GPS with it). So after all the "troubles" I was pretty apprehensive (actually terrified) about the first long drive. So at 25-30° degrees, aircon on (works great btw), we started for our 300km drive, half Autobahn, half overland roads. Believe it or not, we arrived and we came back ... so 600kms in one day. I'm pretty satisified now with the fan: driving on the Autobahn it stayed around 85-90°C and in a traffic jam around 95°C. Maximum was at a steep uphill traffic jam, but it stayed at 100C° ... alright for me.

On a more emotional side: the trip went to my aunt and uncle; he is 83 years old now, car mechanic with his own company, now owned by his son. He was pretty impressed with the car. In 2004, before I bought my first old car, the R107, he took a full day and drove 300kms with me to have a look at it and see, if it is any good. I still have it, it is good and I'm pretty thankful for that!

P. S.: Got a lot of looks and thumbs-up ... best thing is still driving on the Autobahn at 125km/h, a modern car is behind you thinking "that's the max. speed for a 220D" and then shifting down to third gear ;-)

Second Classic Car Meeting ...

Same car meeting again and - again - lots and lots of interest and questions. Beautiful day today (28°C), beautiful cars. Again the aircon proved useful on the way home ;-) ... 

Edit: Tim from Ozbenz made a funny comment about the photo with the brown W111 Coupé on the right: 
"You certainly have the crowd - the benz coupe only has one looking while you are entertaining the rest" ;-)))

Photo Session ;-) ...

As I was asked for "finished" photos of the ute, I realised that I didn't have a lot of "just car photos" ... so today I changed that ;-)

Preliminary acceleration Video ...

It was too much traffic today, but I thought I upload this video anyway ... it shows a bit the acceleration in third gear ... the Audi SUV behind me couldn't believe it ;-) ... its passenger took the smartphone out and took a video ;-)

Two more driving videos ...

Again  too much traffic, but I invested in a suction cup for the camera, so better quality this time. Results:

Great acceleration
Probably worse aerodynamics than the R107 SL
Not enough empty road to stay on the pedal ;-)

Stay tuned ...

Last driving video ;-)

The reason for this project ;-)

Three more acceleration videos ...

As the weather was better today, I did a test drive again. Motor started straight away after 1.5 months and off I went:

First 80->120km/h in roughly 4.2 seconds ... not too bad in second gear.

Then 100->200km/h in third gear in roughly 25 seconds (went to 210 speedo, as this is roughly real 200km/h)

And third 0->100km/h in roughly 8 seconds, should go a bit faster as the first gear only went to 40km/h ... but this shows me, that the motor must have its power!

Last but not least a Cayenne driver without balls ;-) ... this one's for the Aussies, my favourite song ("Nobody likes a bogan" from "Area 7", a Melbourne band) ;-)

Karlsruhe Meeting

Great Pick-Up Video from Steffen ...

Today I got a really great video from Steffen, the organiser of the "Oldtimertreffen Rosenhof", an open classic car meeting, for more than 15 years (Rosenhof).

Parts of it was last October, when Chai visited from Australia. Thanks a lot to Steffen for that effort ... I really appreciate it!

Copyright of course by Steffen.

W114/115 Club Meeting Munich ...

We attended our first "Strich-8" Club meeting (Stroke-8) in Munich. Nearly 100 cars attended, very nice people and - may I be so bold to say "as usual" - there was a lot of interest in the ute. Two more V8 conversions as well as a long wheel base were there too. It was also the first really long drive for the ute ... all in all roughly 1,300kms ...

Hamburg "Stroke-8" Day ...

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 (!), i.e. that's why you put a V8 in this car!!!

Two years gone: First TÜV ...

I just cannot believe how quickly time passes! 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!

Cars & Coffee Stuttgart ...

Today we've been to Cars & Coffee again in Stuttgart at the Mercedes Museum. Wonderful day and a Pick-Up Mass-Event ;-) ... besides mine there was a conversion from the 90s with an extended wheel base (approx. 70cms extra) and a Bakkie from South Africa. I saw this car the first time in the flesh.

Also from the W114/115 club the "64-colour-car" was attending, painted by apprentices with all available colours for the W114/115 at the time.

W114/115 Club Meeting Rendsburg ...

Last weekend the annual W114/115 ("Strich-8") Meeting took place in Rendsburg, in the very North of Germany close to the Danish border. More than 100 cars were registered and it was a great event in the middle of town.

The 64-colour-car was there, three stretch versions, more or less all different motor versions as well as guests from the UK, Denmark, Holland and Finland.

The Ute got some attention (surprise ;-) and even the local press was interested in the history of this particular car. We met quite a few new people and the organisation was really perfect!

Although it was around 660kms, the ute made it there and back ... all in all I have driven the car now for 9,300kms ...

1:87 Model of the Pick-Up ...