Data Card Interpretation

[Mike]

I have searched the archives on this site and figured out everything on my data card with one exception.  In box 10 titled "Lackierung" there are two subparts to the box, one marked "UT" in which the digit 568 was inserted.  The other is marked "OT" in which the digit 050 is inserted.  I am assuming that the UT means the body color (signal red).  Correct?  How about the OT?  Does that mean the hardtop?  Since the digit 050 apparently means white, does this mean my red car was delivered with a white top?  Sounds hideous to me.  As a follow-up, if the hardtop was indeed white would that also mean that my wheels and hubcaps would also have been white?  This really strikes me as a weird color combo.  Thanks for any input.

Michael L. Hund

[Ben]

Yep thats the way it seems to me judging from my own data card which says UT -050 and OT-040 my car is white with black tops, white wheels and black hubcaps !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[rwmastel]

Mike,

You don't say, but I assume you have a 230SL.  If so, your steel wheels should match your body color and your two piece hub cap centers should match your hard top.

It seems the 280SL with one piece hub caps are typically all one color with the body, hard top, and hub caps all matching (can't see the steel wheels with these hub caps).

Congratualtions on understanding your data card.  Did you find anything else interesting?  Do you have axle assembly numbers, steering assembly numbers, transmission number, etc.?  I do on my card and they all match the components.

Do your stamped body panel numbers all match?  (hood, soft top boot, hard top)

Thanks,

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[Ben]

Actually Rodd I was doing some transmission work recently and had to drop the plate that the transmission mounts sit on.

Anyway this plate is body coulour and I discovered the body number on it that matches the data card and the hood, hardtop etc.!

Amazing stuff.

Forgot to check the axle/trans and steering number to see if they match !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[Mike]

Thanks Rod and Ben.  I do,in fact, have a 230SL (1967).  The other interesting things that I found, assuming my iterpretation is correct, is that the car was delivered with no radio, was built in June of 1965 (even though it's a 1967) and it had no seat belts.  I am assuming that the dealer added things like seat belts and radios but I will never know what kind of radio was originally there as it had a modern one in it when I bought it.  I have not yet traced all my numbers yet to see if they match but the key ones do (VIN and engine numbers).  The red body/white top combo, as hideous as it sounds, makes sense because the original owners were twin girls who attended North Carolina State Unibersity and their school colors are red and white.  I think I will change the top color to black (it's now red) but I will need to find someone to paint my hubcaps black.  I painted them red and they did not turn out very well.

Michael L. Hund

[rwmastel]

Mike,

Interesting story about the college twin co-eds owning a Pagoda, it makes the imagination run wild!

But, are you sure they were the original owners?  It's more common for Euro cars to be delivered w/o seat belts than USA cars.  Actually, it was the law at some point to have seat belts in the USA.  My 1966 Euro (built 10/66) still does not have seat belts.  There is a part of your data card (can't recall what part) that has a code that determines the original country of delivery, and maybe the original dealer.  If you're really curious, you could research that.

Perhaps red & white was considered so ugly at the time that it took until 1967 to get the car off the dealer lot!    I don't think it would be too bad.  What colors are the interior and soft top?

It was common to have no radio from the factory as dealers could provide a more customized car to the client.  If you want a period radio, I believe either a Becker or Blaupunkt would be correct.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[rwmastel]

Ben,

What part are you talking about that has the production number on it?  I'm not sure what you mean by "had to drop the plate that the transmission mounts sit on".  Can you tell me where to look?

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[mulrik]

Hi Mike you can figure out which radio your car was originally fitted with. Look in field 51, and check the number you have their. Mine says 6 which means it was fitted with a Becker Grand Prix. In return could you clarify for me where to see the country the car was originally sold in?

'67 250 SL Papyrus White 113043-10-000023

[n/a]

I have not been able to find data card code explanations for field no.61 which has the code 5 & field no. 62 which has the code 1. In addition, the 3 section box that follows field code no.68 has these nos. 720  326  323 I have no clue what these nos. mean. I would appreciate any help.
Regards, Paul Sorgen

[Klaus]

Okay, the codes are listed on the comprehensive list mentioned earlier today in a separate posting. The country is contained on the data card in the Auftrags-Nr. where it is the second-third-forth digit. This list is at the following website: http://mercedes-veterans.com/tech/dealers.htm
E.g. 517 would be Denmark; 704 would be USA.

Klaus
1969 280 SL

[Ben]

Rodd,
    The plate I was refering to is underneath the car and is bolted to the floor, you can see these bolts inside the car around the transmission tunnel. This plate need to be dropped to remove the transmission or to fit a new doughnut !

Paul,
   Feild number 61 refers to the headlights. My car is Right Hand Drive Euro and has the digit "3" inserted in box "61" which is "Headlights for left hand traffic". The "5" may be the opposite !

The box next to feild "68" is entitled "wenig gewunscht" not sure what it means but have been told it is "other options" and mine has similar numbers which the Classic Centre confirm mean 720 = Black Folding Soft Top, and the other two nembers in my case 323 & 328 are simply "packaging for Export cars" !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[rwmastel]

From this interesting web site I will try to update our own database of option codes.
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html

Paul,
615 Could mean two things:
 - "LAMP UNIT, ASYMMETRICAL L.H. TRAFFIC, AND FRONT AND REAR DOOR COURTESY LAMPS. LIKE 610, AND WITH TYPE 107 BIFOCAL BULBS"
 - "ADDITIONAL TURN SIGNAL LAMPS FOR ITALY"
621 Means this:
 - "EXPORT LICENSE PLATE (ELIMINATION OF LICENSE PLATE MOULDING)"
720 Means this:
 - "FOLDING TOP FABRIC BLACK (872)"
323 Means this:
 - "PAINTWORK PRESERVATION"
326 Means this:
 - "PARTITION PANEL (TAXI) WITH SLIDING WINDOW OR WITH RETRACTABLE GLASS PANE"

I don't think your Pagoda served as a Taxi!  The meaning for 326 states from 1/1/1968 to 7/31/1970, so if your car was from before 1968 then this code is probably another paint code or shipping prep code like the other 32x codes.

Was your car originally sold in Italy?  An Auftrags-Nr. with second-third-forth digits of "543" = Italian delivery.

Thanks,

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[n/a]

Thanks to all who responded. Yes my '63 230SL was deilvered to Italian dealer. It has unique tail lights, convertible top instructions written in Italian & small round front finder amber lights similar or same as the Fiats.
Regards,  Paul Sorgen

[rwmastel]

Paul,

My '66 is of Italian descent as well.  Delivered to the N.A.V.A. dealership in Bergamo (near Milano).  The dealer sticker from N.A.V.A. is still in the back window of hard top.  I believe I have the standard all red taillights, not the special Italian ones.  Probably busted in a small accident because there is a small dent in the body where the rear right bumper mounts over the exhaust.  My round signal lights on the fenders are not the same.  There must have been a accident on one side because the metal headlight scoop behind one light is messed up and evidence of a paint job is there.  My car came with no soft top originally, but some one installed an early style top at some point.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[230SL67]

Rodd,  It would be nice to have a list of the U.S. regional dealer codes.  The Mercedes Veterans site shows 704 to 706 as North America and my 230SL was first sold in Houston, Texas and the dealer code is 711.  I even have the metal stamp that the dealer made for the first owner.

Chris

[rwmastel]

Chris,

That oriental web site has the same:

704-706 = USA
707 = USA, Tourist (I assume this the American "overseas delivery")
719 = St. Pierre et Miquelon

So 708 - 718 are missing.  I don't know if they were used or not?  Perhaps a written request of the Classic Center is in order?

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[German Dude]

Mike,
I just stumbled over this old thread and immediately went "whoa, this guy has the same color combination I do". UT 568 (As a German, I would venture a guess and say UT means Unterteil (lower part), whereas OT means Oberteil (upper part)).

I beg to differ with your opinion: This combination is great! Signal red body, white hard top, red rims, white hubcaps, and chrome rings. I tell you, with a color combination like that, not only the North Carolina twins go crazy but also the California triplets. Which means one of them will have to walk.

In case you are interested I can post an image so you know what your car looked like originally.



Juergen
64 230SL #2933, 4sp, signal red, white hard top
93 Citroen XM station wagon

[n/a]

Hello all,
I have just asked for a copy of my data card at Stuttgart.
They send me a copy of the wrong car's card...
Anyway, the copy is of such a bad quality I can't see the boxes and their titles! They only writed again on the codes whith a pencil!
They apologise for the bad quality, telling me that all the datacards has been put on microfilms.

Has somebody a good picture of a 280 SL datacard (if possible '68)?
So I will understand the boxes and the codes when I will have my car's card.
Thanks a lot.  Alain.

alain

[gugel]

quote:Originally posted by Mike

...the car was ... built in June of 1965 (even though it's a 1967)

Are you sure the car was built then, not just ordered?  You can tell when it was built from the Fahrgestell-Nr.  -- see http://sl113.org/data/prod_month.asp.  The first digit of the Auftrags-Nr is the last digit of the year it was ordered -- for example, 3 means 1963.  Übernahmetag is the delivery date.

BTW, "wenig gewünscht" means "rarely ordered"

Chris Earnest

[Klaus]

Alain wrote:
<<Has somebody a good picture of a 280 SL datacard (if possible '68)?
So I will understand the boxes and the codes when I will have my car's card.>>
Cees' upcoming W113 encyclopedia will have an extensive chapter on data cards and codes, (hopefully) explaining all versions of cards used in these years. The draft of the chapter is already fifty pages long.....(includes a lot of pictures).

Klaus
1969 280 SL

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by rentsch1961

Has somebody a good picture of a 280 SL datacard so I will understand the boxes and the codes when I will have my car's card.

Perhaps your card will not be so illegible.  Mine is difficult to read, but I am able to make out all numbers and words.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[Ion]

Hello all

I've tried to attach a clean scan of my data card, including the back which has an abbreviated guide to the various sections.  If you still can't see it properly, email me and I can send a higher resolution image.

BTW, I always thought my 280 SL was a '71 model year because thats what is listed on the dealer's window sticker (actually, it says 'Registration Year').  Now I see it was actually built in July '70.  So how do I determine what the Model Year was?

Also, the Auftrags-Nr lists x703xxxx.  This falls outside the U.S. range listed previously as 704-706 plus 707.

Ion Mitchell


Download Attachment: Data Card front 280 SL.JPG
80.13 KB

Download Attachment: Data Card rear 280 SL.JPG
77.3 KB

1971 280SL automatic

[Klaus]

Ion,
703 has been seen on cars going to US possessions, Puerto Rico, USVI, Guam etc.
1971 US Model year began with retail sales as of October 1, 1970 and a serial number of 113044-..-018506 and higher.

Klaus
1969 280 SL

[TR]

Ion -- My '71 280SL 4-spd has VIN 113.044-10-019298 meaning, that like yours, my car was also built in July 1970.  According to your VIN your car was built 491 units after mine.  But thanks to Klaus I now understand that my 280SL really is considered a 1971 model year.  I'd long wondered about that.

[Ed Cave]

When you look at Production Figures, the 1971 is always listed as 830 units. I always assummed that meant there were 830 '71's built, but apparently it means there were 830 built in the calendar year (Jan 1 thru Feb 23) 1971 and in fact there were 5,379 W113's built and sold as a 1971 model.

Klaus suggests the 1971 begins with Production No. 018506 and the last one produced is documented as No. 023885 so, 23885-18506 = 5,379

Is that correct?

If so, I can quit scratching my head wondering how Daniel Schmitt & Co. could attempt to sell more 1971's in one year, than Mercedes even built.  

Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA

1964 356C
1971 280SL
2002 SC430
2004 A4 3.0