Loren:
Yep, I was covering La Carrera this year, and saw and talked to those
guys. One of them was the only car in the field that ran stock seats--
and this was in a '59 (I believe) 220s. Column shift, stock wheels,
the whole stock bit. He said not so fast--about 100, 110 tops, but
tougher than a pine knot. His was an unmodified, unrestored ex-
argentinian taxi.
Wouldn't trade the 300SD's five-link for the old swing axle on rough
twisty roads though.
Seriously, the 126 flying down frost-heaved Maine backroads was one
of the finest examples of great suspension engineering I've ever
experienced. The car stuck to the road even around washboard corners,
and I felt quite secure and very comfortable. My 75-year-old father
was along for the ride. His first car was a '52 TD, and he's owned a
sunbeam alpine, Volvos and Saab's. He said none of them could have
kept up with us one what we were driving on and survived. And we got
27.2 mpg for the trip.
Is that steering wheel off yet? :-)
Dan
Loren wrote:
Amen That is a good description of what Mercedes do best.
The new STAR has an article about 3 elderly MBs running in the Carrera
Panamerica, 2 pontons and a 111. Two of the trio won their class, the
third, with an ameteur driver did respectably. All were essentially
stock. 110s and 111 on rough terrain are amazing. I never drove a
ponton, so i can't say about them.
At 07:43 PM 3/22/2007, you wrote:
Much of the time, I was running 80-85 in effortless
comfort, and given my other vehicular experiences, appreciating every
mile of it. Even on the two-lanes I was doing 70, passing supposedly
better-handling cars whose drivers were jarring their fillings loose
on the frost heaves at the 50 mph speed limit.
Loren Faeth
