Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

The Mercedes-Benz W 108 and W 109 are luxury saloons that Mercedes-Benz produced from 1965 to 1972, succeeding the W111 and W112 Fintail saloons as a newly created upper middle class range. Designer Paul Bracq replaced the tailfins with a squarer, flat-roofed body on the W111 and W112 platform, which gave about 70 mm more rear width and 90 mm more front width inside while the outside grew only slightly; the windscreen was 17 per cent larger than the W111. They sold well in West Germany and in export markets including North America and Southeast Asia, and 383,072 were made in seven years. The W 108 carried six-cylinder engines such as the 2,497 cc M 108 of the 250 S, while the longer W 109 included the 300 SEL, the 300 SEL 6.3 with the 6,333 cc M 100 V8 from the 600, and from August 1969 the 300 SEL 3.5 with the 3.5 litre M 116 V8. Only four-door bodies were offered, with the W111 and W112 coupes and cabriolets filling the two-door niche.