The Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 is a full-sized luxury

performance car A performance car is a car that exhibits above-average capabilities in one or more of the following areas: acceleration (torque and throttle response), top speed (horsepower), cornering and braking. It is debated how much performance is requi ...

built by

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

from 1968 to 1972. It featured the company's powerful 6.3-litre M100 V8 from the flagship 600 (W100) limousine installed in the normally six-cylinder powered (but still premium) Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL (W109). The result was a nearly 2-ton sports sedan with

muscle car A muscle car is an American-made two-door sports coupe with a powerful engine, marketed for its performance. In 1949, General Motors introduced its 88 with the company's OHV Rocket V8 engine, which was previously available only in its lux ...

performance. At the time of its release it was one of the world's fastest four-door cars. A total of 6,526 300 SEL 6.3s were produced, and though quite costly to maintain are very collectible today.

Concept

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 Mercedes-Benz M100 V8 from the massive 600 saloon and limousine, and fit it into the engine bay of the top-end 6-cylinder 300 SEL W109 model. The result was an impressive level of performance for the era and for the style of automobile. The company turned the prototype into a production model, introduced at the

Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show was an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show was hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon was organised b ...

in March 1968. This not only enhanced Mercedes-Benz's reputation for performance vehicles, languishing since the demise of the iconic Gullwing and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadsters of the 1950s, but made better use of the M100 engine production facilities. By the end of line's production the 6,500 built for the 300 SEL 6.3 far outnumbered the 2,700 turned out for the 600. The 6.3 was known for its ability to cruise at over with five occupants in complete comfort. Later, the company also fitted new, smaller V8 engines into the W109 series. The 300 SEL 4.5 was only available in the United States, while the 280 SE 3.5 Coupé could also be ordered in Europe. In 1975, the Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 6.9 was introduced as a 300 SEL 6.3 successor with a larger displacement engine for more power and various modifications to the equipment.

Features

The 300 SEL 6.3 was an extremely luxurious vehicle for its era. Standard features included air suspension, ventilated 4-wheel power

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, power windows, central locking and

power steering Power steering is a system for reducing a driver's effort to turn a steering wheel of a motor vehicle, by using a power source to assist steering. Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver can ...

. Air conditioning, power sunroof, audio tape deck, and rear window curtains, writing tables, and reading lamps were available as options.

Engine

Mercedes-Benz M100 engine The Mercedes-Benz M100 engine was a single overhead cam V8 produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1963 and 1981. The successor to the M189 version of the company's venerated straight-6 M186, it was introduced in the flagship Mercedes-Benz 600. In ...

* V8 with Bosch

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All c ...

, * at 4000 rpm, 300 HP SAE gross at 4100 rpm * at 2800 rpm, SAE at 3000 rpm * Max. engine speed: 5250 rpm

Performance

* 0-: 6.6 seconds * 0- : 14.6 seconds * Standing quarter-mile (~400 m) : 14.2 seconds * Top speed : (factory figure)

Test results

Auto, Motor und Sport ''Auto Motor und Sport'', (stylized in all lowercase) and abbreviated AMS or AMuS, is a German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk's subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publisher that i ...

published the following test results for the 300 SEL 6.3 in March 1968:

6/1968 16 March 1968 https://web.archive.org/web/20090526134958/http://www.einszweidrei.de/mercedes/mb300sel631091969-1.htm * 0–: 4.3 s * 0–: 6.5 s * 0–: 9.3 s * 0–: 13.0 s * 0–: 17.3 s * 0–: 22.8 s * 0–: 31.0 s * 0–: 27.1 s * Top Speed:

Motor racing

Originally not intended for motor sports, a few cars were built for racing, usually with the engine enlarged to 6.8 litres or more. The car had an impressive, but short-lived racing career, due to the lack of suitable tyres, or rule changes preventing the use of them. AMG, now the high-performance division of Mercedes-Benz but back then a small local tuning workshop founded by two former Mercedes engineers, modified a makeshift car to compete in racing events, nicknamed "Red Sow" (), which finished second in the 24 Hours of Spa in 1971. At the end of its racing career the 6,834 cc engine yielded . The car was sold to French company

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...

, which used it for tests of jet fighter landing gear.http://www.mbig.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Clubleben/Ponton-Kurier/1999/PK1999_1_Vorsicht_bissiger_Benz.pdf Oldtimer-Markt 7/98 Five examples were built: three racers and two test cars.

References

External links

The International M-100 Group
(officially recognized by Daimler-Benz)
Mercedes W108/W109 enthusiast site

''Petrolicious:'' This is the Grandfather of Every German Sports Sedan
– retrospective of the 300 SEL 6.3

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 300 SEL 6.3 Mercedes-Benz racing cars Sports sedans Cars introduced in 1968 Cars discontinued in 1972