Build Quality

We have started to disassemble the interior of the car. I know this is a clichéd statement, but in doing this, I have realised again that the quality and attention to detail with which these cars have been put together is astounding. I have dis/assembled many cars in my life, and I have not once ever seen anything like the indestructible quality and thoughtfulness with which the components of these cars are put together.

This is an era which we will never re-live (not even a modern Bentley or a Rolls-Royce even approaches this quality) and when you consider the plasticised rubbish we have to put up with today ("better (i.e. more so-called features), faster, cheaper") it is such a gift to be able to see how it was done in the 1950s and 1960s.

My 1989 560SEC coupe, considered to be one of the best-built and most desirable "modern" Benz's before the downfall (the Daimler-Chrysler era of the 1990s and beyond) does not come close to this. It may be somewhat more refined and feature-rich (like the Starship Enterprise...), but it is not built like a W111.

I could ramble about the solid wood (not veneer or simulated wood) surrounds of all the windows (carefully inlaid and curved), the incredibly thick and plush leather, the carpeting that is thicker than that in my house, etc, but let me illustrate my point with one simple example: The corner air-vents.



Apart from being constructed from solid, polished cast metal (it really is quite heavy) they are fixed to the dashboard not using glue, plastic clips, screws or even bolts (even the latter two are unheard-of in most modern cars) but instead each has its own mechanism consisting a bracket and a spring to gently but firmly pull the vent to the dashboard from the rear, thereby not damaging the dashboard wood, making removal of the vent pipe easy, and for other reasons beyond me (since this is not a moving part).

This attention to detail is evident everywhere - and if they went to these lengths with something as silly as a dashboard vent, the mechanical excellence of these cars are self-evident. It was worth buying this donor car just for the pleasure of taking it apart!

(Handy tip: Buy a box of large-size Zip-Loc bags, and clearly label a bag for each significant set of parts. You don't want to throw the million-and-one interior parts into one big communal box, unless you want to do some serious treasure-hunting at re-assembly time)