Classic Car Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 seen in Hong Kong

The 300 SEL was the German muscle car and sport sedan of 1968. It could still offer very good performance today.

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The Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 was a large luxury car built by Mercedes Benz from 1968 to 1972. It featured the company's powerful 6.3 litre M100 V8 from the luxurious 600 limousine installed in the normally 6-cylinder powered Mercedes Benz 300 SEL. The result was a nearly 2-tonne saloon with performance similar to most dedicated sports cars and American muscle cars of the era

The car started out as a private venture in 1966 by company engineer Erich Waxenberger. His principle was simple: take the powerful 6.3 litre V8 Mercedes-Benz M100 engine from the luxurious 600 limousine, and fit it into the regular Mercedes-Benz W109 S-Class model which only had 6-cylinder engines at that time. The result was a nearly 2-tonne saloon with performance similar to most dedicated sports cars of the era. It is said that Rudolf Uhlenhaut, when invited to test drive the prototype, opened the hood at the first red light to find out how the big engine and its supporting equipment had been squeezed in there.

Surprisingly, the rather conservative company went ahead and launched the car into the marketplace at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1968, in order to make better use of the M100 engine production facilities. The 6,500 build of the 6.3 outnumbered the 2,700 build of the 600 by far.

What set this car apart from its contemporaries in the late 1960s though, was that it could cruise at over 200 km/h (124 mph) with 5 occupants in complete comfort within the body styled by Paul Bracq. Later, the company also fitted new, smaller V8 engines into the W109 series. The 300SEL 4.5 was only available in the USA, while the 280 SE 3.5 Coupé could also be ordered in Europe.

In 1975, the Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 was introduced as a 300SEL 6.3 successor with larger displacement, modifications to the equipment, and more power.

Technical details: 

6.3 litre V8 with Bosch fuel injection, 250 PS (184 kW; 247 hp), 300 HP SAE

Performance

0-62 mph (100 km/h): 6.3 seconds

0-100 mph (160 km/h) : 14.6 seconds

Standing 1/4 mile (~400 m) : 14.2 seconds

Top Speed : 229 km/h (142.3 mph)†