Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 by Pininfarina
Car of the Day #296: 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 by Pininfarina – Dutch Process
Your eyes may turn to stone if you look too closely, but that's not a good enough reason to dismiss this very weird bespoke car at first glance.
In the interests of keeping this one quick, this is truly a “Homer”.
Do you remember the Homer from The Simpsons episode “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Danny DeVito guest stars as Homer’s relative, Herb Powell, a car company executive who instructs his staff to build whatever Homer Simpsons wants — “The man with the vision!” as Herb says.
(Herb’s struggles and Powell Motors are recurring characters on The Simpsons.)
Do you work for a car company? Give it a re-watch, and thank me later.
Prototype / mock-up of the nearly finished Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 by Pininfarina • via Pininfarina
In the late 1960s, after doing months of pre-Internet legwork, an unnamed Dutch guy jumped through several hoops to get his hands on a Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 chassis…which he convinced Pininfarina to craft coupé bodywork for.
This is Pininfarina, so after bowing to several requests outlined in a 2023 Bonhams auction description (it sold for $350,000), the Italian masters executed the Dutch enthusiast’s vision to the highest standard — it was reportedly an exceedingly expensive coupé to build.
Sold on a few years later with 10,000 km on the odometer, it’s claimed a spouse didn’t approve of the car’s looks — this seems unlikely. They probably saw how much it cost, then questioned its looks…
“But dearest, this is built upon one of the fastest grand touring cars in the world! Faster than a Porsche 911 and more comfortable than a Chevrolet Corvette!”
“So why do you drive it like a *****??”
Famously, writing for Car and Driver, Brock Yates (avowed 6.3 superfan and originator of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash) said of the sedan: “It is impossible to describe this kind of performance to the uninitiated. Telling a traffic officer or a safety crusader like Ralph Nader that 100 mph can be safe is like reading the Constitution to a Maoist; it is a strange and hostile concept.”
Always a blowhard, it’s not so much that 100 mph isn’t safe — it’s that not everyone has access to the latest and greatest cars that are properly maintained, delivered to one’s door for review.
A 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan with years of salt damage traveling at 100 mph is terrifying.
Story continues after sources…
SOURCES: The car’s listing at Bonhams (2023). A story on this car at CollectingCars.com. This feature on the intersection of bespoke luxury cars and the carrozzeria who built them:
“This time, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 base car was used to create a design that – with all due respect to Pininfarina at the height of its creative and artisanal abilities – must simply be described as quite amateurish.” – Christopher Butt, DrivenToWrite.com
