Options, speed of production and initial high cost of our cars

[Bonnyboy]

I have been digging into the history / birth of my European car and it seems from what I read that most cars had to be ordered with desired options but that the time from order to production was fairly lengthy - to the point that some people got a 280 when they initially ordered a 230.   Was Mercedes creating demand or is that as fast as they could go considering facitlies?  Is this part of the reason that Mercedes offered less options when they went to a new platform in 1971 with a larger motor and different styling.   

The details on my car suggest that order to delivery was fairly quick.  My car was ordered September 1969 and was built December 08, 1969 and then delivered to a dealer in Munich.  Its registered as a 69 car so I am assuming it got its first registration in December 1969 - thats only 3 months from being ordered to being on the road.  Thankfully with a 3.69 LSD full of oil.  If delivered to US I assume it would be a 1970 car.

Looking through the members registry is neat to see Euro and Americal cars within 10 serial numbers of each other with all sorts of different options.  I thought that they would have been built in batches of US and then Euro cars but apparently not.  I would have thought it would have been onerous to have different bodies / engines / interiors and electrical items coming down the assembly line together or did they have two consequitive assembly lines working in tandem?   I guess Henry Ford was at the other end of the spectrum - any colour as long as it is black.

Am I on the right track here? or missing the big picture?

Ian

[Cees Klumper]

I don't know about MB delivery times back then, but I did have a strange experience with them much more recently, in 1995, when I was interested in buying a New C coupe. When I asked the dealer, he told me there was a six-month waiting period for ... The brochure! The actual car could only be expected to be ready about a year after that. So I told him they would be better off not offering the car at all.
An American colleague just went through buying his first car in Switzerland. He described it as 'an ordeal', used as he is to be able to drive off the dealer's lot with a new car shortly after arriving there. This is one of the reasons I won't buy a new car anymore, in Europe you just don't know when you might be getting it, unless it happens to be in stock, which is rare. I'm just always happy someone else went through the ordeal when he or she bought the car that I am buying used, new.

[49er]

 There did seem to be quite a long time from order date to delivery. I placed my order for a 230SL in November 1966 but soon afterwards (January15, 1967)  the order was changed to a 250SL. The car was assembled in March of 1967 and I took delivery on May 20, 1967, nearly 6 months after placing my initial order! My 280SL was ordered on May 12, 1968, built in July and delivered on Sept 18, 1968 and registered as a 1969 model, only 4 months this time. BTW, in looking these old orders over I noticed that shipping back in those days was only $16.23US. Amazing!

John

[kjn103]

Recognize that the story that I am about to tell goes back to 1966 and I was only 9 at the time, but I had the opportunity to take a private tour of the Mercedes sedan production facility with my father.  I recall being absolutely amazed at what I saw in regard to how they built each vehicle.  In regard to the options, I recall there being a number of different production rows that were designated for a differnt vehicle configuration/option.  If I remember correctly a car was coded to go down a specific row for its option, then may come back through a new row for a different option installation.
As I stated to begin with, this was a LONG time ago, but do remember being told by our personal guide about each of the seperate option rows.  Hopefully you can find more information and hopefully far more reliable than my faded memory!
All the best!
Karl

[66andBlue]

... I thought that they would have been built in batches of US and then Euro cars but apparently not.  I would have thought it would have been onerous to have different bodies / engines / interiors and electrical items coming down the assembly line together or did they have two consequitive assembly lines working in tandem? ...

I believe that the cars were assembled following the order number. Her are a two photos showing how this was done.

[mbzse]

There did seem to be quite a long time from order date to delivery. I placed my order .../.. and I took delivery on May 20, 1967, nearly 6 months after placing my initial order!.../..

Yes John, this was definitely so. At times, there was a six months delivery backlog. This was true for sedans, too, not just the SL's. The dealers placed "standard" orders for cars however, so that they would have some stock in their showrooms. Such a car you could buy and get immediate delivery of.   My 250SL 5speed was ordered in the summer, assembled in September and was road registered in Sweden, early November 1967.
/Hans in Sweden

[49er]

Hello Hans,
 Most of the SLs that the dealer had on the floor were automatics, and they were very few at that. I wanted the 4 speed, 050 white with Cognac interior and a tan soft top which was considered a special order. The wait was long but well worth it

John

[glenn]

More evidence that MB never built two identical cars.........

[zoegrlh]

Alfred,
Can you put the photos that you show in a jpg, so I can download them?
Thanks.
Bob Hyatt

[66andBlue]

Bob,
the photos are in jpg format. They are stored in Peter's experimental image bank: http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=15963.new#new
Just right click on the photo and download it.

[Markbhai]

Where do you look to find this information?

I would like to kmow more about my car.

Thanks

Mark

[Bonnyboy]

Markbhai asked where to get info about the cars....

Mark,

I started out with Mercedes Benz Classic Centre classicparts@mbusa.com and I gave them my serial number and they scanned my data card back to me.

There are locations to decipher all of the info on our site but for the life of me I can't find it today.

Ian

[peterm]

We did euro delivery on an e350 this past summer.  The lead time for production was 4 months- this is done to assure that batch and paint shop etc are prepped to assure you will have delivery at the date you select.  You pick the date for delivery.  The mb delivery center outside Stuttgart is phenomenal and you are offered a very nice breakfast or lunch and extensive factory tour.  I understand they deliver nearly 100 cars a day at the center.  Cees would be an easy train ride to stuittgart and taxi to sindelfingen.  The US euro delivery package is an across the board 6% off MSRP and 1 night hotel, taxi from airport to hotel and then hotel to Sindelfingen, great deal.  Also if you book this use their travel services as their hotels get preferred rates and you get royal treatment and phenomenal service.

this was our second trip to do this!