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1969 Mercedes-Benz 250 C Cabriolet [W114]

1969 Mercedes-Benz 250 C [W114] in Le retour des Charlots, Movie, 1992

Class: Cars, Convertible — Model origin:

1969 Mercedes-Benz 250 C Cabriolet [W114]

Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
sixcyl ◊ 2010-09-01 20:12	Did Karl Deutch or Karmann made conversion on 250C basis ? or is it a local body? Nice work by the way
dsl ◊ 2010-09-01 20:30	Crayford did similar convertibles in UK in very small numbers, but no idea if they were ever exported or used LHD cars.
cl82 ◊ 2010-09-01 23:55	I might be wrong as well, but I think both Deutsch/Cologne and Karmann can be excluded. Deutsch went out of business in ca. 1970( while W114 coupés debuted in 1969), and Karmann did not coorporate with MB until much later- at least as far as I know. However, there is a small company in Ingo's area (Hagen/North Rhine-Westphalia) called "Bähr" which turns classic Mercedes coupés into convertibles. Not my cup of tea actually ( I would not even think of turning a classic Mercedes coupé into a convertible), but they are said to do a good job. They even add a massive extra-frame in order to strengthen the structure of the car. Here's their homepage and their "portfolio": http://www.baehr-cabrio.de/cabrios.htm Almost everything seems to fit, even the shape of the "top" made of cloth. There's only one -major- flaw: They didn't start making convertibles before 1991, so I doubt that the car shown here ( although it doesn't get destroyed)was modified by Bähr as their conversions have always been quite costly: http://www.baehr-cabrio.de/preise.htm
DynaMike ◊ 2010-09-01 23:58	Interesting link, Cl82. But the folded down roof on the Bähr Cabrio is much higher than the one on this Portuguese car...
cl82 ◊ 2010-09-02 00:51	Yes, the Bähr-roofs seem to be more massive. I guess they use thicker material. As I said before, I don't think it's modified by Bähr because even back in the 90s their conversions cost more than 10.000 DM as I've just read in an old volume of "Oldtimer-Markt" from 1997. But before I looked that up in my "archive" I searched the web for other coachbuilders. I stumbled upon something interesting in a W114/115 forum where some members talked about a small company in West-Berlin named "Braun" which allegedly converted a couple of these cars when they were new. Unfortunately, Braun apparently ceased to exist more than 22 years ago, and since I'm not a member of that forum, I wasn't able to get access in order to see better pictures of the car in question. Otherwise, I would have been able to check whether the roof looks roughly the same or not. http://www.mercedesclubs.de/bb/wbb/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=1147 All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if this particular car was converted by a bunch of highly skilled Portugese mechanics. Edit: Oh dear, "Braun" was a false alarm as I was finally able to get some -quite good- pictures. The "Braun" conversion doesn't look bad, but it's not as elegant as the one in the movie; besides, it has additional windows, and the cloth of the roof is attached to the body with the help of lots of chromed metal "knobs". Here's the link: Link to "www.google.de" -- Last edit: 2010-09-02 05:04:52
sixcyl ◊ 2010-09-02 17:52	dsl wrote Crayford did similar convertibles in UK in very small numbers, but no idea if they were ever exported or used LHD cars. But I guess not many Crayford had been built as LHD?
DynaMike ◊ 2010-09-02 22:11	On the other hand, relations between Portugal and Great Britain have always been very warm...
sixcyl ◊ 2010-09-02 22:14	DynaMike wrote have always been very warm... You mean 19,5° around ?
DynaMike ◊ 2010-09-02 22:21	A bit more in Portugal, a bit less in UK
sixcyl ◊ 2010-09-02 23:36	Well , I wasn't talking about air or water temperature, rather about some famous wines
DynaMike ◊ 2010-09-02 23:39	Ah! Not a bit too warm, then ?
dsl ◊ 2010-09-02 23:58	sixcyl wrote But I guess not many Crayford had been built as LHD? It looks as if Crayford only produced 12 W114 convertibles, based on the later 230C and 280CE during 1978-81. So a blind alley for this example, even if LHD Crayfords existed (for which I have no information either way.)
Ingo ◊ 2010-09-04 01:11	sixcyl wrote Well , I wasn't talking about air or water temperature, rather about some famous wines Portuguese or British ones?
dsl ◊ 2010-09-04 11:19	Famous British wines??? Beers, yes. Marmite, yes but wines .....!
Ingo ◊ 2010-09-04 17:37	@dsl: it's joke about British wines. Even with British/Scottish beers you have to be very careful! Once I've been with my father in an original Scottish pub in Dumfries -he wanted to go there at our Scotland-round-trip- and we catched something absolute disgusting beer! It had similarities in the taste with the ugly "Desperado"-stuff (which is from France). I cannot remember its name. Later on we've read in our travel-guide, that it's a very unique speciality from this area and that it's still brewed, because some local hardcore-fans want to keep it. O.k. It was a rare, local speciality, whih you cannot find outside - but it doesn't taste good anyways.

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