Lovely old 190

[kraftwerk]

Spotted in a dodgy car park in E17 this afternoon. Nice that it's being used.

 

[vijilants]

If you have ever taken a glimpse into the boot area of these models, massive is an understatement

 

[rf065]

The owner must have been away buying wiper blades?

Russ

 

[KNU7S]

The owner must have been away buying wiper blades?

Russ

Perhaps thats why its a dodgy car park?

 

[Frank O' Phile]

I love the colour and other cars in that flat grey, but they don't do them anymore, do they?

 

[mikeouk]

The owner must have been away buying wiper blades?

Russ

I recon the r129 owner with his boot open in the 3rd pic has just swiped them

 

[219]

That is a very nice car .

Both my Ponton and my Fintail were Stone Grey from the factory , but neither the previous owner of the Ponton nor I cared for the colour , hence the Ponton was changed to Medium Red before I got it and the Fintail to 040 Black shortly after I acquired it .

Strange thing about the one pictured here : it is definitely a 190 ( the wedge shaped rear lights and the absence of separate sidelight/indicator units below the headlamps besides the badging confirm it ) , and right hand drive so presumably first registered in the UK , but the 'F' registration dates it circa 1967 and the 190 was replaced by the 200 in 1965 !!!

It could have been imported from another RHD country or it could have been unsold for 2 years ( unlikely as there was always a waiting list for Mercedes-Benz cars back then ) .

 

[Swiss Toni]

That is a very nice car .

Both my Ponton and my Fintail were Stone Grey from the factory , but neither the previous owner of the Ponton nor I cared for the colour , hence the Ponton was changed to Medium Red before I got it and the Fintail to 040 Black shortly after I acquired it .

Strange thing about the one pictured here : it is definitely a 190 ( the wedge shaped rear lights and the absence of separate sidelight/indicator units below the headlamps besides the badging confirm it ) , and right hand drive so presumably first registered in the UK , but the 'F' registration dates it circa 1967 and the 190 was replaced by the 200 in 1965 !!!

It could have been imported from another RHD country or it could have been unsold for 2 years ( unlikely as there was always a waiting list for Mercedes-Benz cars back then ) .

Was a heated rear window standard spec for the UK at that time?

This car does not appear to have one, which suggests either the glass has been replaced or else it came from a warmer climate (SA?)




GE was a Glasgow area identifier (I think?!) and at that time the local Registration Offices were not so hot at ensuring the age identifer was correct for the date of first use of an imported (used) car - this was something that continued until the late 70s/early 80s.

Having said that, Scottish area identifiers were commonly the ones used for later registration of cars imported anywhere into the UK (FF SU SK being pretty common), so it is quite possible that this car has never been north of Watford....

So a 1960 car imported in 1968 could easily have been issued a 1968 registration - I believe that a fair number of Forces Personnel bought UK Spec cars whilst serving in Germany and many got registered "new" when they entered this country despite having been used abroad for a number of years.

 

[219]

Heated rear windows were never factory fitted to Fintails ( at least I have never seen one ) : my W115 220/8 never had one either but I think they became standard after the facelift around 1973 when opening quarterlights were done away with and the heating & ventilation system was improved .

The car may well have been imported at 2 to 4 years old : the steering wheel with the later style horn ring dates it as being at least a 1963 car and no later than '65 since production ended then .

The rules re registering imports were different back then . My 1957 Ponton carries a 1964 'B' plate as that was when it was imported . I'm not sure when the rule changed but more recently imports had to be given an age related registration .

 

[Will]

Now up for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MERCEDES-190-...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:7|39:1|240:1318

Will

 

[grober]

Lovely old bus. I remember going to international match in one and being fascinated by the vertical speedo----- very exotic for the time.

 

[Seamster15]

Nice find

 

[Frank O' Phile]

Same dodgy car park, and now with wipers fitted.