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4-Door Luxury Muscle Car - Mercedes 300SEL 6.3 (13/01/01)
by Traian Popescu

Cheap gas and the "bigger is better" theory led to the evolution of the muscle cars during the 60s, a natural progression from the extravagance of the 50s. Big engines, gobs of power and awesome straight-line performance were the muscle-car trademarks. While comfort and other performance categories such as handling were considered, they had to settle for a back-seat role in terms of importance. Luxury, or anything remotely resembling it, was never even a factor. Just what then, is a "4-door luxury muscle car," a Mercedes too?

The answer is the 1968-72 Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3, perhaps the ultimate sleeper or Q-car, of all time. Produced between December 1967 and September 1972, this car served a few purposes for Mercedes. First, it re-established the company as the ultimate builder of autobahn cruisers, provided an undisputed image boost and most importantly, showed the world that sports-car performance comes in more flavours than just two doors.

Using a 6332cc fuel-injected V8 engine, the 6.3 produces 300 horsepower (that's gross, mind you) @4100 rpm and 434 lb-ft of torque @ 3000rpm. Not huge numbers, prob ably quite a bit conservative actually, taking into account the era, technology and weight of the car. Unimportant, really, considering that the 3800lb sedan goes like stink, reaching 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, the 1/4 mile mark in about 14.5 and going on to a top speed of 137 mph (220 km/h). While those numbers are impressive, there are a few things to keep in mind. Not only can the 6.3 thoroughly waste any Porsche 911 of the time and a large portion of '60s Detroit muscle at the dragstrip, but it rides effortlessly with minimal noise at high speeds upwards of 130 mph and provides a level of comfort and seating capacity that other similarly performing cars can only dream of. And the exterior design is so inconspicuous, only the keenest eyes at the racetrack would be able to predict beforehand the beating they were about to receive. Removing the badges eliminated that possibility as well.

Electric gadgets and power amenities, leather upholstery, wood aplenty, thick carpeting, excellent seats, air conditioning and a 4-speed automatic tranny transmitting power to a limited-slip differential are among the features to be found on the Merc. While the seats are not power adjustable, the air con is noisy and the gearbox is not as smooth as expected, the 300SEL 6.3 still received the title of "Greatest Sedan in the World" from the editors of Road and Track, and for good reason too.

The 6.3 wasn't just about straight-line performance and spaciousness. Handling and braking were also part of the package, and again the 6.3 could easily shame the majority of American muscle cars in these categories. The brakes are power-assisted and include ventilated discs on all four corners, allowing the car to perform repeated fade-free, smooth, straight and of course short stops. The suspension is a self-levelling unit, which can give an extra 2 inches of ground clearance on demand and includes unequal a-arms with anti-roll bar up front and swing axles with trailing arms out back. While low speed performance on rough roads is below the standard set by American luxury cars of the time, at high speeds the German is untouchable, in either comfort or stability. Add recirculating ball power steering for another competent package. In the words of Car and Driver, "...as a compromise between comfort, handling, performance, braking, steering and space utilisation, [the 300SEL 6.3] is the present epitome."

Taking all of this into account, however, only 6526 examples of the 300SEL 6.3 were ever sold, with 1839 going to the US. Why so few? The reason is that the 6.3 was mainly an image builder for Mercedes, not a profit maker, although it consequently became the latter as well. Retailing for an extravagant $14,400 USD, the German super-sedan was anything but affordable and easily over-priced. This was as much as three times the price of a 427 Corvette from the same era, a car with which it shared similar straight-line performance. Considering the bullet-proof build quality, thorough inspection (one man in eleven responsible for building the 6. 3 was in charge of this task) and of course the Mercedes image, perhaps the price tag might not have actually seemed that appalling. Then again...

For those that could afford it--and even those that could only dream--Motor Trend summed the 300 nicely: "The 6.3-liter Mercedes is the safest, fastest and most comfortable 4-door sedan made today, considering the fantastic speeds you can achieve in full safety and relaxation". An indisputable recipe for an instant classic and one of the most respectable of the World's Fastest Sedans.

© Traian Popescu , World's Fastest Sedans (http://www.fantasycars.com/sedans/), 2001.

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