By the time the 60s came around, it was becoming increasingly obvious to Daimler-Benz that it could not expect to achieve high sales of its most expensive models unless they looked significantly different from the Spartan taxis that it sold in large numbers all over the world. Extra pieces of chrome and larger engines alone were not enough to persuade the wealthy to part with their cash for a Mercedes saloon. So it was that the company decided to develop a completely new bodyshell for its most expensive models, and to these it gave the designations that incorporated an S. The S employed elsewhere in the Mercedes range to mean Sports was supposed to indicate Super but the company also used it on upmarket versions of other ranges which did confuse things a little! The first of the new S-models was introduced in 1965, and between then and 1972, the cars were produced in a bewildering array of different versions. For the first six years, the main models all had six-cylinder engines; there was also a high-performance V8 in the line-up from 1968; and smaller V8s replaced most of the six-cylinder models for the last year of production. As for bodyshells, there were three different types: the basic W108, the long-wheelbase W108, and the air-suspended long-wheelbase W109. These options added up to make ten different W108 models: 250S, 250SE, 280S, 280SE, 280SEL, 300SE, 280SE 3.5, 280SEL 3.5, 280SE 4.5, 280SEL 4.5. The W109 variants numbered five: 300SEL (two versions), 300SEL 3.5, 300SEL 4.5, and 300SEL 6.3. The last-named was the high-performance variant that used the air-suspension long-wheelbase bodyshell with the 250 bhp 6.3-litre V8 engine from the massive 600 limousine. The 600, which is also covered in this book, was Daimler-Benzs Rolls-Royce challenger. Introduced in 1964, it took the company into a new market, albeit with limited success at first. Yet the car was mainly significant as a technological tour de force, for it incorporated engineering sufficiently advanced to make it acceptable as VIO transport for more than 20 years after it ceased production. When we, it attracted wealthy individualists, such as Beatle John Lennon it was restoration by Mercedes-Benz in Germany. All these cars today have an enthusiast following, and it is pleasing to find material about them pulled together so conveniently in this new Brooklands volume. It will certainly tidy up my reference library, which until now has consisted of dog-eared copies of the original tests torn from magazines! Included are road & comparison tests & detailed buyers guides. Models covered: 250S & SE, 280S, SE, SEL, 2.8, 3.5, 4.5, 300SE & SEL, 2.8, 3.5, 6.3, 600 & Pullman.
