Manufacture Date

[crossword]

Is there a way to determine when my 280SL was manufactured (e.g., from the S/N)? The last "Pagoda World" issue detailed changes made to the 230SL/250SL from 1963-1967. That piqued my interest in determining when (month/year) mine was made. Attached is a copy of the original data sheet, but it is written in German and I am unable to make heads or tails of it.

[alpina]

February 1970

[WRe]

https://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/USModelYear

[Pawel66]

Quite close to mine.

[rwmastel]

Crossword,

As you can see in PW35, the VIN an engine number are more important than the mfg date.  The link from WRe will help narrow the date, but your car's numbers are critical to originality and parts ordering.

Like Pawel66, I have a "rubber stamp" date on my data card image that was sent to me from the Classic Center years ago.  I think this is not a mfg date, but rather a shipping or delivery date regarding the car's trip from factory to the selling dealer.  If I'm mistaken, I will accept correction from the wise members here.

[Pawel66]

I also think it is more a factory departure date or alike. I also think it is a good approximation of abstract term “manufacturing date”, whatever it could have been.

[WRe]

Hi,
in a data card I have of a /8-W115 from 1978 it is the day of handover to the customer.
...WRe

[Pawel66]

I received a copy of my datacard from Mercedes archives, it was not the one that accompanying the car.

If that stamp is the date of handover to customer (someone in Dortmund), this copy of the datacard would have to be stamped at the dealer and come back to Daimler archives. Do you think it worked this way?

I am not arguing - just thinking loud how it might have worked.

[WRe]

Hi,
I don't think that a dealer stamped data card went back to MB but a copy for their files.
In my /8-data card the date when it officially was registered is the day before.
...WRe

[MikeSimon]

The stamp on my data card is the same date as first registration according to the original title.

[Pawel66]

Ok, I am confused how a stamp on the datacard buried deep in Daimler archives can have anything to do with car registration or dealer giving out the car.

[zoegrlh]

I have a German delivered Pagoda and it has a date stamp. Also I have the original TUV registration card/booklet that also states the stamped date as the date of build off the assembly line. So I assume that this stamped date was done at factory at the time car came off assembly line.

[Pawel66]

That is how my car was delivered and that is what I assumed the stamped date to be.

[neelyrc]

I have stated on the forum previously that in my opinion, the stamped date on data cards from the Classic Center microfilm files are only an approximation. Mike Simon indicates the stamp on his card coincides with the initial registration date. It was a German registration and the actual manufacturing date would have been earlier. I don’t know what our technical manual indicates for his particular VIN number. 

In the case of my car, it was delivered to me at the factory on February 12, 1969. The data cards that came with the car had no date stamps but our technical manual indicates January 1969 as the manufacturing date for my VIN. During the period that the Classic Center was providing data cards free of charge, I requested a copy thinking that I might get a more precise date than the January, 1969, date provided by our technical manual. The number “4” copy of the card they provided included a date stamp of February 24, 1969, 12 days after actual delivery of the car.  Based on this I surmised that the date stamp was put on a copy of the data card as part of an administrative procedure at the factory shortly after production and that the stamp date does not represent the actual manufacturing date.  Based on my experience, I think the dates in our technical manual are likely as close as one will get to the actual manufacturing date.

I don’t know if the date stamp on the data cards in Classic Center microfilm files was always on a number “4” card.  Cards number 1, 2, and 3 plus a couple of extra pink cards came with the car.  No number “4” card.

[Pawel66]

These are approximations indeed...

Well, "Ubernahmetag" is a takeover day...

[MikeSimon]

Ralph: My car falls into the November production run according to the VIN number. The first registration date in the title and on the data card is December 16. The stamp is in the data card field "Zulassungsdatum", which means "registration" Both stamps have exactly the same font and are somewhat crooked. It indicates to me that they were done by the dealer. I have no date stamp in "Übernahmetag" field in the data card. In order to confuse the issue further: On page 7 of the original German title is an affidavit by Daimler Benz which confirms the accuracy of data as shown in Column "A" on page 4, which deals with allowable towing weight, number of seats and vehicle weight. This confirmation is signed and dated by Daimler Benz and has the same date of December 16, 1970.

[crossword]

Thanks, all, for the valuable information. I really only wanted a ballpark figure (month/year) and I think I got that.

[MikeSimon]

Just one thing to add: My data card (I am sure others too) has two fields. one is "Übernahmetag" - "Handover Day", the other is "Zulassungsdatum" - date of first registration. The Übernahmetag field is empty. The registration date field is stamped. In the title, there is also a registration date field and it was stamped by the same stamp, clearly visible as some characters are crooked the same way. And the exact same stamp with date is in the back of the title on the signed Daimler Benz affidavit. Yes, the question would be "Who stamped it?"  I wonder what would be shown on a replacement data card. One fact that could explain some of the mystery in my case is, that the car was sold through "Niederlassung Frankfurt", not a private dealership but one of the wholly owned Daimler Benz service dealer subsidiaries.

[DavidAPease]

I wonder what would be shown on a replacement data card.

Mike,

As a data point, I have a '66 230SL, originally sold at Royal-Elysées in Paris.  My replacement data card has nothing in the Zulassungsdatum" field, but the "Übernahmetag" field is stamped 3.März 1966.  According to the table in the Technical Manual, it would have been built near the end of February, 1966 (but I have no registration date information).

           -David

[MikeSimon]

For the entertainment of everybody here are the three stamps in my document. As you can see, they are all from the same stamp "tool". While the two stamps referring to "Zulassungsdatum" could have been done by the same entity, the third stamp in the affidavit should not.

[DavidAPease]

Mike,

Just looking at the photos, I would say that the first and third stamps could be from the same tool ("1" lower than "6", "Dez" fairly level with "1970").  I don't see either of those attributes on the middle one, plus "Dez" is not aligned with the year, and the shape of the "D" is subtly different; I would guess it's from a different stamp.

          -David