Love your Pagoda?

[bjudd]

What is it you love about your pagoda?

What do you love about driving, owning, working on your 113?


bjudd
1969 280 SL 5 sp

[Cees Klumper]

- working on the car = doing something completely different from my 'day job'; the satisfaction of accomplishing something that can be in principle very difficult to do, working with my hands; in the garage with an interesting program playing on the radio

- driving = being in an environment that is totally different from everyday life; taking me back to days gone like a bit of 'time travel'; knowing that I bring a different experience to fellow-road-users; enjoying the exhaust note when I drive through a tunnel or when accellerating hard with the top down; going places because of my Pagoda that I would not otherwise visit

- owning = there's always something that needs doing and improving; I am custodian of a piece of history; the comradery I get from fellow-owners and enthusiasts

Now what I dislike (I know, you didn't ask for it but I am an accountant by trade so like to present a true and fair view):

- there's always something that needs doing and improving
- until I take the whole body back to bare metal etc., the ever-lurking rust issue
- the fact that I drive and work on the car less than I would like due to other demands on my time

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Chad]

I think Cees pretty well summed it up.

One other thing to like is that many parts are readily available and there are a lot of experts still around that are interested in this marque. That helps you keep from sinking.

[AGT]

- that it does not have any computers;
 - that the guys who built it meant most of it to last for at least 40 years and would not be surprised that it is still on the road in 2006;
(guess whose two year old E-class broke AGAIN resulting in a cancelled New Year family holiday?)
 - and, best of all, that the folks who stop to admire it in the street can only see a beautiful and highly polished 60s classic. They don't know where the rusted bits are, how much you have already spent on it and they don't hear the strange noises that might or might not be...

Happy New Year to you all with best wishes for safe and trouble free motoring in 2006.

Regards
Andrew

[bjudd]

I love just looking at the car.  
- that the first time I took my 5 year old son for a ride and gave it a little gas he threw his arms in the air and blissfully sang out "wheeee".  
- that he and his little brother call it "the Blue Batmobile" and love to ride in it
- that driving it is not just a matter of going from point a to point b.
- that another pagoda lover sold me a part from 10,000 miles away for a fair price
- that many of you have been gererous and encouraging with us novices

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bjudd
1969 280 SL 5 sp

[peterm]

Cold icy winter day .... open the garage take off the cover  ahhhhhhhhhhh

then you notice that turned up edge of the ragtop, or that divot on the door edge or that missing half of the firewall pad  arrrrrrrrrrrgh

[waltklatt]

Just hang in there Brian.
The complexity of it is the easiest part.  
I'm a pretty complex person and feel the car matches my personality to a 'T'.
After restoring two other SL's and stripping a few of them, I can say that they are easy once you know them.
Also after the nightmare restoration of the 1967 200D Universal IMA wagon(nightmare from day 1), which took me 4 years to complete. Picture the two chrome horns on the rear fins-those took me 2 days to get back on(not enough room and large hands). Time is not a problem, just the patience and perseveration is what you need to keep in check.  I have ruined many perfectly good parts from lack of patience.  So once I got back onto the diesel SL it was a blessing that my hands knew where to go and what to do without the frustrations.
Parts prices are shock to many, but once you know how and where to go it will be easy.  No one ever said owning a classic is easy, just make sure to contact the list members if you have a problem or need some pats on the back.
That's the great part about the list!
It makes the pagodas more worthwile to own and repair.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Walter Klatt
1967 220SL-diesel
1963 230SL-gas

[Kenneth Gear]

bjudd,

Nice car and family to go with it.  You're a lucky man!  Which one gets the car in your will?

Question, from one father of three little ones to another, did you install seat belts in back?  if so, how did you do it?

Ken G
1971 280 SL
Silver/red

[bjudd]

Ken:   rear seat belt is on the list but not done.  Anyone else have experience with a rear belt on the jump seat?  It will happen this spring because the two little guys love riding in the back!  

We'll see which one falls in love with the car and enjoys working on it before putting it in the will.

Walter - thanks for your ongoing encouragement and parts!!!

bjudd
1969 280 SL 5 sp

[waltklatt]

Brian,
Yep, I have seen a 230SL with the rear jumpseat seatbelt.  A wierd one too, but it is a thrid pair of belts with bolt directly to the floor.
I will install the belts into my 1967 220SL as I have the belts ready(kangol with the rotating spring retractors).  I will document the installation for everyone else, so they can install theirs.
No problem on the parts, there is another one going out today.
Walter Klatt
1967 220SL-diesel
1963 230SL-gas

[J. Huber]

quote:Originally posted by bjudd

What is it you love about your pagoda?....

bjudd
1969 280 SL 5 sp

... to steal a quote from Old Elizabeth, "let me count the ways..."

Actually, this is might sound a little creepy. What I love about my car is the comraderie and a long-time friendship we have shared. Ok, its like this: the dang car took me to my senior prom. Then it took me to and from my graduation from college. Then it got me through grad school. Then it delivered me to my wedding. Then it shared joy rides with each of my three kids as they came along. Other friends have come and gone, but its still right there (I can see it from here!). What more can I say?

Oh and maybe it's taken me to therapy a few times too, in case anybody is wondering...



James
63 230SL

[pferg]

Well the thing that I like about my car is driving it.  Each time I drive my car I feel that the experience adds years to my life (currently 54 years of age).  

PFerg

[mbzse]

quote:Originally posted by cees

- working on the car
- driving
- owning = there's always something that needs doing and improving .../..

Cees and List,
Very well put Cees! I fully agree. Re: the "never ending project" which is the ownership and driving of a classic car like the W113: I see this as a thing to cherish, the constant striving towards better restoring and improved skills, the urge to learn more...

To the joys, I would like to also add the dimension of reading/collecting facts and factory literature pertaining to the car, I enjoy this as a fun part of the hobby as well.

And, as others have mentioned here, the great friends I have come to know through this classic automobile hobby, virtual as well as club friends  


/Hans in Stockholm

[mbzse]

quote:Originally posted by Andrew

- that the guys who built it meant most of it to last for at least 40 years and would not be surprised that it is still on the road in 2006

Andrew and List,
This is a subject I have put a lot of thought into...

And, contrary to yourself, I definitely think that if one could have stepped into the design department of M-B in the late fifties/early sixties, and addressed the designers there (busying themselves with the intricacies of the W113):

 -Gentlemen! Please design each aspect of the car with the thought of ease of maintenance and ease of disassembly in mind! This is because, in forty years time there will be tens of thousands of these SL cars still running, all spare parts will still be available and much effort will be spent to keep the cars on the road for many many more decades!

I can just imagine that many of them would have laughed out loud,   and _no way_ most of those designers would have put any credibility into those predictions.

I believe, this is the reason we today sometime have to shake our heads when working with the innards of the Pagoda and exclaim:

 -How on earth could they put the car together in this backward manner

And, this also being the reason why they didn't put more effort into rust prevention. (well, a shared trait of course with most contemporary auto manufacturers)


/Hans in Stockholm

[TheEngineer]

To mbsze: I'm old enough to have been around - and did engineering design - at that time. I take strong exception to your view that the designers would have laughed at your suggestions. At that time, we tried to come up with the best design we could think of. There are always shortcommings that become apparent later. But the car is still - fifty years after it was designed - the best looking automobile in the world that was ever conceived, thank you Paul Bracq! The engine still delivers more horsepower per displacement than contemporary cars. When you push that car, it still performs very respectably and when you don't it's a perfectly tame family car. Yes, it requires some maintenance, but show me another car that is as old and requires less work. I can't even get parts for a 20 year old Dodge! Happy New Year!

'69 280SL,Signal Red,113044-12-007537,tired engineer, West-Seattle,WA

[mbzse]

quote:Theengineer wrote

To mbsze: I'm old enough to have been around - and did engineering design - at that time. I take strong exception to your view that the designers would have laughed at your suggestions. At that time, we tried to come up with the best design we could think of.

Heey, please, don't interprete what I wrote as if I am putting "the designers" down, or saying that anything they did was below par. Definitely not.
 I have the deepest respect for those designers, and those of other auto manufacturers, at that time and since. The quality of the design result, our beloved M-B cars, speaks for itself, right!  Also, contemporary automobiles from the sixties were not any easier to disassemble, or any more rust proof.

Further in not putting designers as well as myself down, I was active doing mechanical vehicle design in the end of the seventies  

No, I simply think that with the mindset and thinking of this time period of the end fifties/early sixties, people who designed the W113 (and people designing other cars) saw them as very likely becoming obsolete and replaced with newer more advanced designs in a 10-20 year period. Thus, they did not design them to be easy to strip down and rebuild, I claim they could not foresee this happening to the extent which is a reality today.

The hobby of owning and restoring old cars at the end fifties was not nearly as common and at such a level as it is today. Cars from 1945 to 1950 (10-15 yrs old at that time) were seen as "old" and not very attractive. I base this on numerous interviews with people in our auto historic society here in Sweden.

quote:
../.. conceived, thank you Paul Bracq!

Hmm, wish I could have been at the M100 Group meet in June last year to meet Mr Bracq, would have been great! Rodd Masteller was also interested to go, he and I discussed this...

Would have liked to ask about Bracq's work tasks with the Pagoda. He was certainly involved but to what extent is not really clarified. He was a junior in the design department at the time. The Engelen book does not even mention his name in the chapter on (body) development, "Personen und Geschichte" and "Entwicklungsgeschichte".  They mention primarely Karl Wilfert, Friedrich Geiger, Bela Barenyi and of course Fritz Nallinger, who BTW put down the framework for the W113 design in the autumn of 1958.

/Hans in Stockholm

[J. Huber]

Ok, so I am answering twice... Another thing I love about mine occurred today. The sun finally broke through, so I jumped in for a scoot. It is hard-top season. What I love is, each of the three top scenerios is pleasantly different -- top down, ragtop up, and hard-top on -- all are enjoyable in their own way. Not only in looks but in feel.

James
63 230SL

[TR]

James -- You make a very good point about the 3-top scenarios.  I've always thought this too.

Yesterday I drove the car with the hardtop on ... first time I've done that in a couple of years.  The feeling was really different; and that alone made it a fun experience.

Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced

[n/a]

I love my Pagoda at all occasions:

When I am driving it, I enjoy all the admiration looks. I enjoy driving a classic, a convertable, and a beautifully engineered sport car. I enjoy the mere fact that it is running.

When it is parked in the garage, I enjoy looking at it's beautiful lines and subtle elegancy. When I am down, I only need to step out to the garage and look at this beauty to get the lift. It is so beautiful just sitting there. I enjoy the little tinkerings that I am capable of doing. It is a great therapy.

All and all, it is just love at first sight.

Louis 70 280sl Red Auto

[J. Huber]

Very well said Louis!

James
63 230SL

[enochbell]

I really like the sounds.  The mellifluous exhaust note, under hard throttle, anything above 3500 rpm.  There is a long uphill stretch near my home that has a thick guard rail off which the sound seems to bounce amplify.  Nothing sweeter.  And the burble at idle, and the popping on engine braking under light throttle.  Let's see, did I miss any?

Best,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[waltklatt]

Standing in the middle console tray with both of my hands grasping the sunvisors, with the wind rushing through my hair, wind whistling in my ears, growls from the exhaust and the light chirping of the tires on the tight twisty curves of a tree lined mountainous road.  
Wow, what a rush that was.  My earliest experience in my dad's 1966 230SL, when I was a mere 5 years old.
Now I'm a hulking behomoth that seems to fill the entire drivers side with little room to move around in.
Still get those goose bumps sitting behind the wheel and dreaming while the car is in the garage.  Sometimes, I've dozed off and find myself sleeping in the car.
It can't get any better than that!
Walter Klatt
1967 220SL-diesel-drools on the floor and steering wheel
1963 230SL-gas-too drafty for a good sleep

[TheEngineer]

IMHO Best looking car in the world !!!!!
Paul Bracq.jpg[/url]
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[TR]

Engineer -- That is a fantastically beautiful image.  Thanks for posting.

Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced

[RBurg]

Engineer:  Thank you for sharing the photograph (painting). A nice and refreshing to enjoy while we store our beloved cars away from the salt & sand that is used on the roadways to make the crazy drives safer.

Is Paul Bracq available to do other pieces?

Ron - Minnesota
71 280SL Tobacco "O GIGI"
97 E420 Silver Mist