David Wilkins
Today, the successor to the recently featured Mercedes W109 300SEL 6.3. This is the W116 S-class in stonking top-of-the-range 450SEL 6.9 form. The legendary 6.9 was popular with racing drivers, most notably the 1976 Formula 1 champion, James Hunt. In addition to its enormous engine, it received other refinements over and above the standard S-Class, including hydropneumatic suspension. I snapped this one at this year’s #TechnoClassica show in Essen. #Mercedes #WeirdCarMastodon #davidsdailycar
Oct 15, 2023 at 7:51amWeb
Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023

PS - back in the day, the 6.9’s sub-eight-second 0-62mph (100km/h) time and 140mph top speed* put it almost in the same bracket as contemporary supercars. Today, these performance figures are fairly unremarkable and are just about matched by my everyday runabout, a 2019 W205 C180, one of the least powerful rear-wheel-drive Mercedes models of recent years. I’d still rather have the 6.9, though. #MyCarHistory

* the performance figures for the 6.9 vary quite a bit between different sources

Show threadBlingoAliOct 15, 2023

@davidwilkins
Such is progress: my old #Riley was the 'sporty' option in the BMC range in 1960, with a 0-60 of around 20 seconds.

Hmmm. 1489cc vs that 6.9…

Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023
@blingoali Looks good though!
Show threadTonyOct 15, 2023
@davidwilkins I remember well going and test driving a “mint” condition 6.9 when values dropped in the early 2000s - it was disappointedly ponderous esp given the 3spd.
Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023
@AWStephen Never meet your heroes, or so they say! I love reminiscing about old cars but in all honesty, many of them are a disappointing drive by todays standards, which makes the good ones stand out even more - the best oldies I’ve driven are an early Jag XJ, Series 2 E-Type, the Peugeot 504 and the various big Citroens. And a good few Mercs too. They were all class.
Show threadTonyOct 15, 2023
@davidwilkins yes very good advice! And agreed about the 504 🙂
Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023
@AWStephen My dad had a 504 in the seventies - my favourite of the cars he had when I was growing up. I only had my first chance to drive one a few years ago. I was really surprised how good it was.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEOct 15, 2023
@davidwilkins @AWStephen I once knew someone who had an old Jag. I think he said something about the only way to get it through the MOT was by tweaking the brakes to perform well about their original design specs.
Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023
@TimWardCam @AWStephen IME most old cars seem to have not very effective brakes compared with moderns. I think it must be one of the areas where progress has been greatest
Show threadTonyOct 15, 2023
@davidwilkins @TimWardCam I can remember the pre hydraulic boost “power” brakes were an exercise in forward planning. Power drums on my 404 were pretty good but the discs on my 16TS were really excellent.
Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023
@AWStephen @TimWardCam I got some nice Renault 16 photos at the Festival of the Unexceptional this summer I’ll try to work my way around to them before too long.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEOct 15, 2023
@davidwilkins @AWStephen Ah, back in the day each number Renault was a very distinctive shape. Several of them with their own "distinctive" location of the gear lever.
Show threadTonyOct 15, 2023
@davidwilkins remember being disappointed that Aust got a detuned version under 200kw and literally shocked at the 3 speed auto when MB had been a noteworthy early adopter of 4spd in the 1960s. No doubt the torque of the 6.9 was more than anything in the MB parts bin 🙁
Show threadDavid WilkinsOct 15, 2023
@AWStephen Yes - although the engine was increased in size over the previous generation 6.3, I think this car was actually slower, at least in markets with stricter emissions rules than Europe. On the transmissions, I think it was a similar story decades later when the most powerful Mercs stayed with the five-speeder for some time after the seven-speeder was introduced.