If Merc did S Class estates......

[219]

My dad's 1964 W110 190 cost almost what he paid for the house I grew up in only a couple of years previously ; that house last changed hands about ten years ago for 1/4 Million !

Ours was the only MB in town back then .

 

[Grease-Monkey]

W116 S-Class Estate by Crayford

Well, Hi guys, from a new member from 'down-under'.
Here is a photo of my S-Class estate.
It is a rolling resto project, but has also been serving well as my daily driver.
It is a '75 280SE converted by Crayford, and one of only two on the road here in Australia. There are two more being restored, and two known in Britain, out of a total of twelve known worldwide.
Check this link for more info on these.
OzBenzHead?s CRAYFORD-BENZ WORLD
The side windows and top half of the tailgate were grafted on from a Ford Granada Estate!
My only complaint with the design is the tailgate does not open down to the floor, but with air-con, self-levelling rear suspension and usual S-Class comfort I like it.
I plan to repaint it the original Silver Green one day.
Any further queries, please let me know.
Chris.

 

[219]

Nice car , I'm aware of the Crayford Conversions on the W116 ; they also did some earlier ones based on the W108 and W111 chassis .

I saw a W116 Crayford estate in Inverness ( Scotland ) many years ago , when it would have been almost new , and I'm sure I saw your car pictured somewhere , again a few years back .

Enjoy it and look after it !

 

[Shude]

The side windows and top half of the tailgate were grafted on from a Ford Granada Estate!

The first thing I thought when I looked at the back end was "cortina estate" so I wasn't far wrong!

 

[Robbie T]

The first thing I thought when I looked at the back end was "cortina estate" so I wasn't far wrong!

Exactly, and for that reason i'm out!

 

[glojo]

Well, Hi guys, from a new member from 'down-under'.
Here is a photo of my S-Class estate.
It is a rolling resto project, but has also been serving well as my daily driver.
It is a '75 280SE converted by Crayford, and one of only two on the road here in Australia. There are two more being restored, and two known in Britain, out of a total of twelve known worldwide.
Check this link for more info on these.

Hi Chris,
Thank you very much indeed for sharing those pictures. It must be nice to own such a unique vehicle and it looks like the steering wheel is even on the correct side

Thanks

 

[Grease-Monkey]

Nice car , I'm aware of the Crayford Conversions on the W116 ; they also did some earlier ones based on the W108 and W111 chassis .

I saw a W116 Crayford estate in Inverness ( Scotland ) many years ago , when it would have been almost new , and I'm sure I saw your car pictured somewhere , again a few years back .

Enjoy it and look after it !

Thanks,
factory records no longer exist, but all evidence (ex-employees, dealers, memories etc) indicate no more than 20 built between '73 and '77.
Crayford did not do any conversions on W111 or W108 chassis, although a 'Photoshopped' W108 estate often turns up on the 'net.
They did however do estate versions on the W114/115 model, a couple of which survive with a collector in Germany, but otherwise they seem rarer than the W116s.
My car was painted this colour by a Sydney dealer a few years back after accident damdge to the side, nothing serious, but apparently his painter had some of this paint cheap, and rather than pay to get the correct colour mixed.....
anyway, it has taken me a year of fiddling about, after years of neglect, but now it runs and drives like it should.
G'Day,
Chris M.

 

[Grease-Monkey]

Hi Chris,
Thank you very much indeed for sharing those pictures. It must be nice to own such a unique vehicle and it looks like the steering wheel is even on the correct side

Thanks

Indeed it is, down here we drive on the left, just like in Pommyland.
And yes, the car does get a few looks, even non-Mercedes people seem to recognise it is something they have not seen before.
I have to drive across to Canberra sometime soon, so I will call in on the only other one on the road here, and then I can post a photo of TWO together - wow, it'll be almost like a club outing!
Back later,
Chris M.

 

[suitcaseau]

Hi

The other Crayford estate in Australia apparently used to belong to the actress Sophia Loren and is still driven regularly.

 

[Shude]

And yes, the car does get a few looks, even non-Mercedes people seem to recognise it is something they have not seen before.

Ford officionados will probably have no problem recognising if the front 3/4 of the car is obscured

I might have another go at some S221 pics if some S212 pics ever surface.

 

[Grease-Monkey]

Hi

The other Crayford estate in Australia apparently used to belong to the actress Sophia Loren and is still driven regularly.

Sorry, don't know where you got that from, but the LHD Sophia Loren car is still in Switzerland, (but not known if she is still the owner).
All the cars in Australia are RHD.
The only other known registered car in Australia is the blue car in Canberra owned by John Green and used to promote his M B Spares business.
He also has a silver 450SEL Crayford (bought a year ago in Mornington Vic) awaiting some restoration, and another collector is rebuilding the yellow ex-Rolf Harris car in Lismore NSW. There was another 280SE in a bad way on a WA property, but the contact is elusive and after asking an unreasonable price on bay five years ago it's fate is not certain.
The two known cars in UK belong to historic Mercedes racer Stewart Imber and Crayford Convertible Club chairman Barry Priestman.
I also have info on a few others, two in USA, two (possibly three) in Germany, and one in St Croix in Virgin Islands!
Any more sightings, do let me know.
Chris Martin.

 

[macscrooge]

S-Class estates

I used to see an S-Class hatchback (!) around Sheffield. Not seen it for a few years though. The hatch looked similar to the panel fronm a Rover 800.

 

[KNU7S]

What about this one

Limousine Hearse Conversions

 

[renault12ts]

I like the eight wheeler:

http://www.customcitysa.com/limousine_hearse.jpg

 

[Dave Lewis]

I like the look of this:
Binz W126 Station Wagon

 

[W140]

there was few (I think 5) done by AMG with 7.3 engine. You can find some photos on google.

 

[The Boss]

Very nice..

Im guessing this is yours Chris?

MERCEDES-BENZ 'CRAYFORD' S-CLASS STATION WAGON - RARE! - eBay, Passenger Vehicles, Cars, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 09-Sep-09 09:30:47 AEST)

 

[hawk20]

Is the R class bigger than the E Tourer? If so then maybe a long wheelbase R with all the options might be the way forward...

Disappointing thing with the R class is the legroom in the front, especially if you like the seat raised (it swings forward and reduces legroom a lot as you raise it. Designed by a pimple-brained student on work experience IMO) Legroom in the middle row is also tight in the SWB. Long wheelbase has more legroom in the middle and more 'boot' space but same legroom in the front. And virtually everything is extra on the R class price list unlike the S class.

Sad because the R class could be so easily made into a big estate car fulfilling the functions of an S estate. To achieve that they need to move the front seat back a bit to provide S class legroom (or even A class legroom would be nice). Then move the middle seats back to give S class rear legroom. Then fit a proper bench seat in the back not the funny mishmash they now have. Dump the forward facing rear seats and make it a 5 seater estate like the E class but with the option of two rear facing seats like the E class again -but roomier. At the moment all the extra length is used for the forward facing rear seats at the expense of front and middle seat passengers.

There should be one super de luxe, or Grand, or Premier version that has air suspension, bi Xenon lights, leather seats with memory and either COMAND or the a hard wired slot for the much better Garmin satnavs.

S class is not in top two VED bands (which will be raised even more when we start repaying the debts after next year's elections). Long overdue that Mercedes improved the economy of its large diesels to match BMW figures. At the moment MB offers the R class as 300cdi Blue Efficiency and 350cdi Blue Efficiency but sadly tells no one that these are the old 280 and 320 engines not the newer ones found in the E class. BTW even the versions in the E class offer little real gain over the older 6 cylinder units -nothing like the economy gains that have been achieved with the four cylinder units. More progress on the 6's is long overdue IMO.

 

[stwat]

I used to see an S-Class hatchback (!) around Sheffield. Not seen it for a few years though. The hatch looked similar to the panel fronm a Rover 800.

Snap!! I was going to post about this one too. Very odd looking thing and definitely used the rear from a rover 800 hatchback grafted on. I haven't seen it for around 8 or 9 years now.

It was before the days of camera phones and digital cameras and i remember thinking, 'damn, i wish i had a camera to take a pic of this thing'.

 

[James Rothwell]

This thread is really interesting! I'd love that green w220 estate!