Lot Ended
Description
From a deceased estate; one-family-owned from new; only 17,800 miles;
recently unearthed from 54 years in storage; fabulous interior; a proper
time capsule in need of sympathetic restoration; one of only 776 made in RHD;
what a find!
Although it was
based on the W111 ‘Fintail’ saloon, the Coupe version was an entirely different
animal which was completely restyled by Paul Bracq. Much more expensive than the
saloon, it had a vastly more opulent interior and sleek two-door coachwork which
did away with the pointed tail fins of the ‘Heckflosse’ four-door variant.
It was powered by the M127 straight-six 2,195cc
fuel-injected engine which produced 118bhp and gave the car a top speed of
107mph. Only 14,173 were made between 1961 and 1965 plus another 2,729 even more
expensive Cabriolet versions, the vast majority in LHD, and survivors are highly
prized today.
This wonderful 220SE Coupe has got us all very excited here at
Brightwells and has been entrancing everyone who has seen it on site. A proper
sleeping beauty, it has covered only 17,817 miles from new and has been
slumbering in dry storage for the last 50+ years.
One of only 776 made in RHD, it comes with a small but comprehensive
history file including the original purchase invoice which shows that it was
bought new by Barrell Bros Transport of Abertillery via Avenue Garage of Cardiff
in April 1965. Originally registered as EBO 497C, it was finished in Beige (181)
with Bronze (5400) leather upholstery, automatic transmission and power steering
and cost £4,149.
To put this in perspective, a
brand new Jaguar E-Type 4.2 Coupe would have cost around £2,200 at the time, a
new Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III would have been around £5,500 and a typical
family house cost around £3,500 so it was a very expensive car
indeed.
In light regular use for its first six years, it clocked up
around 17,000 miles before the owner ran into financial difficulties. So in May
1971 another family member, who owned Churchdown Service Station in
Gloucestershire, agreed to buy the car from him and keep it safely tucked away
until he could afford to buy it back. The registration number was also changed
to MAB 2 at this point.
Initially stored at the
back of the garage, the Merc was later moved to a nice dry barn in
Gloucestershire to join a few other interesting cars and motorcycles also
owned by the garage proprietor (some of which are elsewhere in this auction).
It was to remain slumbering in the barn for the next 40+ years until
we recovered it just a couple of months ago.
On
offer here from a deceased estate, it comes with an old style V5 recording no
previous owners although the original green logbook shows two owners with the
same surname plus Churchdown Service Station.
All
the original handbooks are also present including the service book which has
eight stamps, the last at 13,912 miles in March 1970 (see photos). There is also
a sticker in the driver’s door recording another oil change in October 1970 so
it was clearly well-looked-after, being serviced every 1,800 miles or so.
The original instruction booklet for the Blaupunkt radio is also
present, along with a full toolkit retaining the original Mercedes branded
spanners plus a tax disc on the windscreen which expired in August 1972. The
icing on the cake is the nice personalised number plate, MAB 2, which is
included with the car.
As you can see in the
photos, this glamorous Mercedes Coupe is a proper time capsule with a wonderful
‘barn find’ patina. Yes, the exterior has suffered slightly during 50+ years in
storage with dulled paintwork and tarnished chrome but open the doors and the
interior still looks wonderful with minimal signs of wear. The leather
upholstery is remarkably soft and supple and the woodwork looks superb. Even the
original carpets look good, having been protected by lambswool overmats front
and rear. Inside the boot is equally good and original with a barely a mark to
be seen.
As the car has not been run for at
least 50 years we have made no attempt to start it and we have purposely left it
unwashed so the next owner can enjoy the experience of bringing it back to life.
Most of the brightwork looks like it will polish up fairly well and even the
paintwork might come up nicely with a good machine polish.
It is now widely appreciated that cars are only original once so it
will be up to the new owner to decide whether to preserve the patina or go for a
full repaint to restore it to showroom condition.
Interesting history file; very low miles; one-family-owned; nice
number plate; rare model – this fabulous Mercedes Coupe ticks all the right
boxes. Bid vigorously now and it could be you who takes it
home…
Consigned by: james.booth@brightwells.com