The mighty Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 started out as a private venture in 1966 by company engineer Erich Waxenberger, which culminated in the world's first "Super Saloon" or "Q-Car". The body styling was by Paul Bracq.
The principle was simple: Take the powerful 6.3 litre V8 Mercedes-Benz M100 engine from the huge Mercedes-Benz 600 model, and fit it into the regular Mercedes-Benz W109 S-Class model which only had 6-cylinder engines at that time. The result was a nearly 2-tonne saloon with performance to shame most dedicated sports cars of the era, like Porsche 911, and a handling to match. Even today, this model can match modern cars at various speeds. What set this car apart from its contemporaries in the late 1960s though, was that it could cruise at over 200km/h with 5 occupants in complete comfort.
Surprisingly, the rather conservative company went ahead and produced this car from 1968 onwards, in order to make better use of the M100 engine production facilities. In the 1970s, the Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 was a successor to the 6.3, with even more modifications and power.
|
