Body Number Plate

[RCS Coupe]

I am doing some work on a 250SL for a good friend of mine and happened to look at the body plate attached to the left front inner fender. The second line of embossed numbers caught my interest: it has the first 8 digits of the VIN and then a single digit separate from the rest at the end of the line. According to the Data Card section of the Technical Manual on this web site, this single digit gives the market the car was built for - most cars here in the U.S. have a 7 - America; my 250 California coupe has a 2 - Germany; my friend's car, interestingly enough, has a 4 - NATO, Visitor, Diplomat. His data card shows the  car was built to European standards, like mine.  In fact, according to the data cards, our two cars left the factory 13 days apart and were shipped to the same dealer in Nuremberg.

Curious about the NATO thing. Does anyone know why NATO had a special market number? What would be different about the car from other markets? Is the "4" commonly seen on the body plate?

[Richard Madison]

In the 1960's,  a deep discount on the price of a Mercedes was given to diplomats. It was prestigious to have Mercedes seen around the world and seen in the press when driven by "important" people,  some with fender flags flying. NATO employees would have been included.

The "4" Market Code includes diplomats and NATO so perhaps it was for special pricing or special quality standards. My theory about this is weakened by the inclusion of "Tourists" in "4" who did not get the discount (unless Tourists were added to "4" later.)

Richard M, NYC

P.S. Happy to say that when I bought a 220SE as a US GI stationed in Germany,  received the same discount, about 33% less than the same car was selling for in the USA    :0) 

 

[Peter van Es]

In my view, these codes were used for indeed diplomats and nato personnel, who would be able to order a car specced for their home country, when living in another country. The idea would be that you could take the car with you after your posting, or you could have it shipped to your destination. E.g. a US NATO officer ordering a US spec car whilst living in Belgium. There would be deep discounts primarily because of no taxation being applied, and indeed because of promotional value.

These programs still exist: http://www3.mercedes-benz.com/diplomaticsales/

There would be some restrictions on selling the car, usually raised by the taxation regime in your home country (e.g. you have to own the car for a number of years before you can resell it).

Peter