OK. Now THAT'S a Mercedes!!! [PIC]

By the early 1960's, I was aware of the status, luxury and racing history of Mercedes, but the few that were around were rather small, pedestrian sedans. When I was in college, the first time, I got a ride from a friend that had a small sedan. When I got in, I was impressed with the seats and the the wood trim, but I was really disappointed that it was an underpowered rattle trap. By the early '70s, I had moved to a Manhattan bedroom community across the Hudson River in New Jersey to be close to dental school and, in this upper middle class setting, it seemed awash in these drop dead gorgeous 6.3 liter 300 SELs. This, to me at the time, was the penultimate full size sedan. Long, low, aggressive, yet luxurious, it was powered by a pretty strong fuel injected 6.3 liter V8 that produced 300 HP. To my young mind, engine displacement was everything. At that time, I owned a '68 Ford 390 Galaxy fastback and a '73 400 GTO which was less than helpful during the gas crisis. Anyway, I was happy to get this AUTOart 6.3 300 SEL in a rather formal looking black. Most of the SELs I saw back then were actually a sort of bronze/gold looking which I guess was the popular choice in the mid-'70s, but this black gives the car thee look of a limousine.