Dealerships where our cars were sold from

[rmmchl]

I wonder why no records are given out by Mercedes as to the history of where our cars were delivered for sale.  Cities of port, dealerships etc. It would easier to trace the history of our cars. I have the data sheet and "birth certificate", but I have no clue  of the history of the dealership where it was sold.

[relbhcb]

Interesting that you should mention this, as by chance I discovered which dealership originally sold my '64 230SL only yesterday. The info came from a previous owner (who owned it from '75 - '96). But like you I was saddened to see that MB do not seem to have this detail.

Sadly the dealership no longer sells Mercedes cars, so I doubt I'll be able to get anything out of them.

[Richard Madison]

The Data Card gives some sales information the "Auftrag" (Order) box at the top center.

The Auftrag code usually shows the Geographic market area such as Italy then maybe the City.
This can help pin down where the car was delivered.

Here's a link to the Technical Manual with this information.

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/DealerandCountryCodes

Some present owners had an easier job of finding out who the dealer was.

The original owners here and some the lucky buyers have the original sales papers.

In my own case, there were some nice clues: The Auftrags showed Genoa Italy.

The iconic round front fender light used only in Itlay was on the car...and the

hardtop has the dealer's tag on it.

Others will probably never know very much about the origin of the car.

Richard M, NYC,

[zoegrlh]

For the European delivered W113 for German market, you can purchase, if still made available from Mercedes-Benz Classic Center USA, the Classic Mercedes-Benz Certificate (Zertifikat).  This document will give you the "Destination of Delivery", such in my case was Mercedes-Benz Reulingen branch, West Germany.  Then you will know the city/town, and you can start your research there to locate the car's history of ownership with the state office (Kraftfahrt Bundesamt) for car registration.  I was lucky in that the German owners (2, a medical doctor and a music conductor) passed the Kraftfahrzeugbrief document when car was sold to the person I bought the car from.  This Kraftfahrzeugbrief, has information as to the names of owners, addresses, dates purchased, even has the different license plate numbers used during it's life in Germany.  Side note, the last trip I took to Germany, two years ago, I even contacted the last German owner of my SL, the music conductor.  He was so surprised to find the car still on the road and in America.  The frist owner, the doctor had pasted away.  I still today write to the conductor about the current life of the SL.

Yes, Richard is correct, the Data Card also gives you information as to the Auftrags Nr. (the order number - 8 digits - the first digit is the last digit of the year in which order was placed, the next three digits identify the region, if in Germany the Niederlass Ungen (MB Company owned dealerships/branch, or country, if not Germany, from which order was placed, next four digits are the sequential order by region/country/year. Good luck in your search.  If your W113 was a USA delivery, you might have a harder time tracing the history.  I think the fun in ownership of these classics is the search. You know, the search to find a W113 to buy, the search to find parts for restorations, the search for a highly qualified mechanic, the search for the best roads to travel these cars on, the search for the individual history of you car, and in some cases for those that are unhappy with theirs, the search for a buyer.
Bob

[49er]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I still have the bill of sale for my 280SL from Carwell Mercedes which was located on PCH in Hemosa Beach CA. It is long gone now and a Holiday Inn is now at that location. Also have the bill of sale for my first SL from Hollywood Mercedes on Sunset Blvd. it too no longer exists.

John

[Flyair]

Bob, very useful info thanks. I was able to track down the detail of the owners that were three. Very interesting people all from Atlanta region. But the car was apparently purchased in Germany as an export car. I was told that most of such export cars were delivered in Stuttgart at the factory's delivery facility.

[280SE Guy]

Richard M from NYC is right, some of us lucky ones have the original window sticker which shows the selling dealer, port of delivery, ship number etc.

Here is a copy of Anthracites window sticker:



Regards,

280SE Guy

 

[49er]

Interesting to see the differences in the invoices. Shipping charges must have been based on how far the car was shipped from the port of entry. Now a days it is one size fits all:-)

John

[enochbell]

John,

What a great piece of history for your car.  If you noticed, the address of the Dealership and the "shipping" and "total" lines are typed on a different, albeit manual, typewriter than everything else.  The calculation of shipping and the addition to come up with the final price were probably the subject of some serious management review and therefor completed in a different office on a different machine. 

Wish I had that kind of history on my pagoda.  Unfortunately she is an orphan.

Greg

[Mike Hughes]

Manufacturers and Distributors started doing "Equalized Freight" for the 48 continental states back in the 70's to prevent folks from going out of town just to buy a car with a lower freight charge.

I don't have the window label, but I still have a copy of the original bill of sale for my 230SL from American Service Center in Arlington, Virginia (They now call themselves Mercedes-Benz of Arlington).  According to the stamped and dated service booklet, every scheduled mileage service has been performed at that dealership since the day it was delivered.  ASC was originally a Studebaker-Packard dealer that was one of the first to take on Mercedes back in the 50's when S-P became the distributor for Mercedes-Benz in the U.S.  The original owner was not a stranger to either ASC or Mercedes-Benz.  The bill of sale shows that he traded in a 1959 220SE on his Pagoda.

[mclewis]

My 1968 280SL was originally sold by Auto Engineering, Lexington, Mass.  The company still exists, but it no longer is a Mercedes-Benz dealer.  When I purchased the car (from the original owner, through Hatch & Sons) almost 20 years ago, I call Auto Engineering to try to get copies of the service records, but they were not particularly helpful.

Here is a copy of my car's window sticker:

[dtuttle123]

Maybe you could help me de-code my dealership number for my 1967 250SL - according to the datacard it is: 67124714

6 = year ordered - probably 1966 for 1967 delivery.  I have an early 250SL - March
712 = US.  There is a note in the technical manual that says that numbers 708 to 718 were used briefly for US.

What/where would be the last 4 digits - 4714?