Pressure: ’72 Mercedes-Benz 600

We attended the 51st Mercedes-Benz Jamboree this weekend at M-B Headquarters in Montvale New Jersey. We, like California Chrome, were disappointed that we came in 4th in Popular voting. After all, those other cars just got washed and waxed. We spent Thursday night driving through the mud in a State Park. It just doesn’t seem fair. There weren’t any 600s at the show and although there were some great cars, we were disappointed by the field. The 600 is a tour de force and an engineering marvel. One might say in the era it was conceived it was probably the most complex car of the time. Everything operates with high pressure fluid shooting through the car like arteries. The windows for example, operate silently but are pressure sensitive. Hit the switch fully and the window will shut with a thud. If your golden Retriever was taking in a breath of fresh air at the time, he probably wouldn’t remember what hit him. Every piece of trim was cut to fit that particular car. The door has 8 pieces of chrome plate surrounding the inside of the door, each one fitting into the next. Then secured, when all are meticulously aligned, with 4 large fasteners. It’s just fascinating. Today’s find has been in the same family since ’79. It looks particularly massive in dark grey with blackwall tires that have the tallest sidewalls we’ve seen in years. It has covered 66,000 to date. The seller doesn’t speak much about service records therefore that should be the first question asked. The records should be from a M-B specialist experienced in 600 work. The asking price is $108,000. Click here for the listing.