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91

General Discussion / Re: Tracking History of NATO Car

« Last post by IndySam on April 02, 2025, 01:40:30 »

If you look at the data card, under Auftrags-Nr. / Order No., the 1st digit refers the year ordered, the next 3 digits identify the country.  In my case, the 1st digit is 9 and the next 3 are "401" and "401" = NATO Affiliated.  I've seen on a couple of sites that NATO personnel & diplomatic mission members qualify and you need a NATO ID card to prove status.  As I understand it, NATO is one of the few organizations Mercedes has a deal with.  There are also 3 digit identifiers for "TOURISTS EXCEPT US" - 402 and "FOREIGN DIPLOMATS" - 403.

On my original Data Card, the back identifies the 1st owner as a "Capt. Lavoie".  I am assuming he was in Europe for part of a NATO deployment, perhaps with the Canadian military as the car ended up in Quebec.

By the way, I see you are restoring a Mustang with your son.  What a fantastic project that must be.  I envy you on that.

Sam

92

Body, interior, paint, chrome, and cosmetic items / Re: Trunk will not open

« Last post by Lori on April 02, 2025, 01:21:06 »

I have had this problem.  I just sent you a PM with the solution

93

Body, interior, paint, chrome, and cosmetic items / Trunk will not open

« Last post by Mpgeslak on April 02, 2025, 00:34:56 »

Hi, 

I have a 1967 250SL that I have owned for 5 years.   It is currently in final stages of being put back together after being painted and it seems the trunk will not open.   I have never had any issues with it and in fact I am not sure I have ever locked it or if I have the key to it!   The button pushes in but it doesn't open.   I have done some research on the forum but I couldn't find a solution.   I did read that Dr Benz has a solution but when I tried to PM him it said his box is full.

Any suggestions appreciated!!

thanks,

Michael

94

General Discussion / Re: Fourth Pagoda comes to life

« Last post by Cees Klumper on April 02, 2025, 00:11:45 »

Much looking forward to this final episode ...

95

General Discussion / Re: Tracking History of NATO Car

« Last post by Cees Klumper on April 02, 2025, 00:10:23 »

Could you please expand on what you refer to as "a NATO car" and "the NATO program" in relation to the Pagoda? So far I've not heard of any special program between MB and any organization like NATO. I am familiar with the European delivery program, that for example many American servicemen made use of when they were stationed in Europe, but I've never heard of anything else structured like that.

96

General Discussion / Re: Really Early W113 Photo

« Last post by 66andBlue on April 01, 2025, 23:27:29 »

Don't know in which section to post this. here is the beginning....

Mike,
are you not reading Pagoda World? 

What does "Subsidiary of Studebaker Corporation" on the banner mean?

Hi Don,
you can read the whole history of the "Mercedes Benz Sales Inc" in my article in Pagoda World Issue #14.

97

General Discussion / Fourth Pagoda comes to life

« Last post by twistedtree on April 01, 2025, 23:16:11 »

Some of you may remember back in 2010 when I went shopping for a Pagoda and came home with 4 cars and 4 rooms of parts.  My wife was not amused.  Here's the original story https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=12033.0

None of the cars worked, all were in various states of disassembly, but between the cars and the parts I figured I could get at least 2-3 cars out of it.  The first one I got running was a '66 230SL that had been retrofit with a 280 motor.  It was the most complete car, so that's where I started.  After getting it running well and cleaned up, I sold it.  The second was a '65 230SL that had a 250 motor in it.  That one I sold untouched, and not running, just to reduce my project load.  The third is a '64 230SL with a bunch of unique early features.  I have kept this one and been using it the past several years.  The last, a '70 280SL, just came to life a few weeks ago.  I did a lot of mechanical work to bring it up to snuff, and it's now for sale.

So pretty soon the story of how one Pagoda turned into four, will conclude with how four Pagodas turned into one.  The whole process took much longer than I figured, but the goal was to have a fun project and end up with at least one nice car.  It certainly fulfilled that goal!

98

General Discussion / Tracking History of NATO Car

« Last post by IndySam on April 01, 2025, 21:49:42 »

I am a fairly new owner of a 1970 Mercedes 280SL and a new member here.  I have the data card from my car and it has been very interesting using it to try to decipher my car's history.  From what I can tell, it was originally delivered as a NATO car and the data cards have 2 names, one "Capt. Lavoie" which would align with the NATO program origins, and then "Henryk Madler Kron" of Noyan, Quebec, Canada.  The next name I found was included with a stack of invoices from MERCEDES BENZ of Canada in Quebec and was Mario Levesque, who restored the car in 1990.  I also have a copy of a newsletter from the MBCA-Montreal section with a picture of Mario receiving a trophy the car won as "People's Choice" in the summer of 1990.  I have documentation that it was sold in the Kruse Auction in Auburn, IN during the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, to Glenbrook Dodge in Fort Wayne, IN.  From there, it was sold to my friend, Randy Strebig and I purchased from his estate.

In tracing/confirming the history, I wrote to the US Classic Center and they responded that they can't tell me where the car was delivered or any ownership information.  I've asked them to point me in the direction to any group internal to MB that might have the info but have not heard back.  Does anyone have any insight as to how I could find out where the car was originally shipped, ownership, etc? 

I did a search but may have overlooked the right answer.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
Sam

99

Research & Development / Re: Modern Europa Radios for 280SL - Being sold by Retro Manufacturing

« Last post by Rick Mills on April 01, 2025, 20:50:04 »

For those who want to retain their original Becker radio in the dash for authenticity, you can get all the current radio technology built in to your original Becker radio case such as Bluetooth, 180 watt 4.1 stereo, hands free operation of all your phone features.  I was able to replace the original low-tech dash speaker with a new 2-way 4”x8”.  Significant improvement in sound.  Best of all, no one can see any difference in the dashboard (no digital LED numbers) unless you take out your radio and open the metal case.

100

General Discussion / Re: New member introductions

« Last post by IndySam on April 01, 2025, 19:38:35 »

Vander, I was at Artmobilia last couple of years also.  I won my class last year with a Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 in the Artmobilia show and won the Mercedes Grande award for Best Sedan with the same car.  I plan to be there this year, but will probably bring a different car this year.  There were some beautiful W113s at the show.