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Handmade Mercedes?

11K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  wroding 
#1 ·
I've often heard that 1971 was the last year of the "handmade Mercedes".

What is the truth to that and why 1971?
 
#4 ·
Just toured the main assembly factory in Sindelfingen. The engine and final assy are about 1/2 robot and half by hand. The robots get all the heavy dirty work. Robots are not very good at putting wire harnesses in. The bodies are completely robot assy, which is great for quality. At the AMG plant they do hand assemble the engines there, one mechanic does the entire engine.

Hand built is probably more a romantic idea, does not necessarily equate to a better built car.


There are unsubstantiated claims that 116's, 126's and 500E were "hand built".
 
#6 ·
Because they lie. :)

I believe the pagoda (SL) line ended in 1971. Maybe 1971 is the last hand built roadster.

I have read that the w108/109 were the last hand built cars. I am not sure if any were built in 1973, but there certainly are 1973 w108/109 cars, which claim to be the last Han bolt Mercedes (with the exception of AMG cars).

Better answers may be above.
 
#7 ·
I would understand that to refer to the W113 and W111/112 coupes and cabs. These cars were all built separately (body and trim, not drivetrain) and fully assembled and fitted by hand. By that I mean they weren't simply bolted together by someone but all the body panels and chrome trim pieces were individually numbered to one unique car and hand fitted perfectly together. On a sedan of the era there may be different gaps and fitment standards but on coupes, cabs and roadsters much more care was taken. One example would be the chrome trim, it would be supplied in raw metal, brass etc., and fitted, then filed and cut down, bent, shaped, to fit the body perfectly accounting for minor variations between each car, and only then were they sent to be chromed and fitted, so they truly do have a higher grade of finish, to be expected when you realize the price markup over their assembly line siblings.
1971 was the last year for these models. See here: W111 Models
 
#9 ·
DirectLA, the current cars made are also hand fitted and all fenders, doors, hood, trunk, etc are matched to the chassis. The body is built and then partially disassembled for paint, all parts are matched/sequenced and end up together again in final assembly.
 
#10 ·
While "handmade Mercedes" might be difficult to determine, there are those who fervently believe that the 280 SE 4.5 represented a pinnacle in fit, finish and strength. From there the line trended downward to the cars of the '90s from which M-B is still trying to recover.
Computer complexity and electronic issues will be the downfall of present production.
 
#11 ·
The "handmade" moniker seems to get tossed around everywhere, as it is often noted on the W126's also. Seems everyone wants to claim it. We like to romantically think that handmade is somehow better.

I agree that the 280SE 4.5 is a fine automobile, but I sure love my W126. Hard to do apples to apples since they are entirely different foundations and technology. I do think that was the last well made, by whatever method, then the downfall happened.

I am soon to receive my 6.9 and will then be able to compare 3 saloon chassis side by side. Should be interesting.
 
#13 ·
This makes for interesting reading.
Mercedes-Benz Ponton Overview and Production Data © www.mbzponton.org

The term hand built can be used in so many ways but its hard to draw a line. I build and restore furniture for a living. You could say its hand built sure, I can't afford a robot:) But I still use many different types of tools ranging from old school chisels and mallets too modern routers, saws, drills etc. As long as quality in each step is the goal. I don't think it really matters. I like older cars for many reasons. Mercedes, I believe are no nonsense straight forward beauty's:) Assembly line or not.
Cheers John.
 
#14 ·
I was thinking about my 6.9, there were only 7380 made over ~6 years, which is only 23 per week. It was built on it's own assembly line. No doubt cranes were used for heavy parts. I would consider this car "hand built", as they would not have spent huge amount for special assembly equipment. They no doubt had dedicated tools (air wrenches set to correct torque values for each bolt put in at a station) at each work station along the assy line.

I'm not sure that the use of an assembly line is the qualifier for hand built. Model A's were built on an assembly line, but I bet every bolt and part was put on by hand and tightened with hand wrenches. Some seem to equate hand built with well built. I think that is opposite. Modern tooling makes cars built to a certain spec that doesnt vary much, especially compared to something put together with hand wrenches.

As I said in an earlier post, today's cars are about half hand built and half robotics. The quality level is very high.
 
#15 ·
Hand built is probably more a romantic idea, does not necessarily equate to a better built car.
That's correct. And as DirectLA says upthread, 1971 was the final year for the W111 which was semi-hand-built.

But the same claim was made (with far less justification) for the final year of the W124 cabriolet in 1996/97.
Note that it was not Mercedes making these claims..
 
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