Tag Archives: W108

When I Grow Up – GALPOT Automobilia

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A couple of months ago I had a bit of a clear out whilst reorganising my library and the time has come to dispose of a number of items which may be of interest through my lightpress account on e-bay. Amazingly so far I have sold four items on three continents and this week earned an e-bay green star. Thanks to everyone who has passed links on into the deeper recesses of the car loving world.

01 ALFA Romeo Montreal

This week from among the tearout advertisements taken from the French magazine Connaissance des arts is this one for an ALFA Romeo Montreal. The V8 powered Montreal was launched in 1970, with 3,197 manufactured up until 1977. Micheal Cane fans might recognise this as the type of car that Michael Caine drove in the film The Marseille Contract starring Anthony Quinn and James Mason.

Ford Zodiac, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

Harley F Coop, who had a hand in the design of the Continental Mk II and Ford Falcon , was called into work on Project Panda in 1961. Project Panda was to develop the forth generation Ford Zodiac with a new V6 motor which was to replace the straight six powered third generation Zodiac.

To raise the Zodiacs public profile and appeal Ford resorted to engaging the likes of Eric Jackson to drive the car in a long distance record attempt at Monza, where he and four other drivers spent a seven days and nights averaging 100 mph including stops for fuel and maintenance. The strap line translates as “The New Ford Zodiac, to appreciate it you have to look at the detail”.

Jaguar XJ6, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

This 1973 advertisement features a late Series 1 Jaguar XJ6 4 door saloon. The Jaguar XJ6 was introduced in 1968 powered by derivatives of the XK 6 cylinder motors that had been used to power Jaguar Le Mans winning cars in 1951′ ’53, ’55, ’56 and ’57. Series 1 XJ6’s were built between 1968 and 1973. The strap line translates as “This image is dedicated á all children who said: “When I grow up, I (will) have a Jaguar.””

Mercedes Benz 280, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The advertisement above features a Mercedes Benz (W108) 280 S with smaller photo of 280 (W108) SE Saloon, Cabriolet and (W113) SL models. The W108 was manufactured in 280 S and SE forms from 1967 to 1972, W113 was manufactured in 280 SL form from 1967 to 1971. Strap line translates approximately as “Mercedes Benz 280 car of your dreams towering performance (in) safely unparalleled comfort”

Thanks for joining me on this “When I Grow Up” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for the answers to last weeks quiz. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Do You Like Our Calender ? – GALPOT Automobilia

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A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a clear out whilst reorganising my library and the time has come to dispose of a number of items which may be of interest through my lightpress account on e-bay.

FIAT 125 'Special', Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

First up from this weeks advertisements taken from Connaissance des arts is this 1969 FIAT 125 “Special” ad. The FIAT 125 was launched in 1967, the following year a 100hp 5 speed Special was added to the range. Note some of the styling features were to be found on the smaller FIAT 124 based Zhiguli 2106. Note the influential grey shades of Claude Monet’s Waterloo Bridge in the fog paintings in the photography.

Mercedes Benz W108, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The Mercedes Benz advertisement above features a Mercedes Benz W108 with twinned yellow headlights as were mandatory in France until 1993. The strap line approximately translates as “Your first Mercedes dice this year … WHY not!”.

Renault 16, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

Car adverts which appeal to the allure of the open road are always a hit, when I was travelling the controlled access highways or Autoroutes in France the ads actually lived up to the hype. Above a Renault 16 glides across a yet to be identified landscape in an undated ad from 1968 or later. The strap line approximately translates as “The smooth strength (of) the Renault 16 is more durable”

Rover 2000, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The copy of in the April 1965 Rover 2000 ad above makes mention of Rovers class winning performance in the 1965 Monte Carlo rally but makes no mention of Roger Clark the driver much less Jim Porter the co driver. The 104hp single carb Rover 2000 was not joined by the 124hp twin carb Rover 2000TC until 1966. The best I could manage with the translation of the strap line is the slightly surreal “Do you like our calender?” If you know better please do not hesitate to put me out of my surreal misery using the comments box below.

Simca 1501 "Special", Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

Finally another ad featuring low light boosted by artificial light, this Simca 1501 Special ad by the Havas Conceil agency dates from January 1969. The strap line approximately translates as “Simca 1501 Special, the for built for the Le Mans 24 hours (race) daily”

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Fintail Without Fintails – Mercedes Benz 250 SE

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By all accounts it would appear that the Mercedes Benz models built on the W108 platform such as the 250 SE seen here from 1965 – 1972 laid the foundation stones in the Mercedes Benz palate for what is now known as the range topping ‘S Class’.

Mercedes Benz 250 SE

Back in 1965 the W108 was launched with three 6 cylinder engine options the carburated 2496 cc / 152 cui 250S, fuel injected 2496 cc / 152 cui 250 SE or 2996 cc / 182.8 cui 300 SE and 300 SEL built on the long wheel base W109 chassis platform.

Mercedes Benz 250 SE

Behind the 14″ wheels were disc brakes all round to match the 15 second 0 – 62 mph acceleration and 114 mph top speed of the 150 hp automatic seen here.

Mercedes Benz 250 SE

Often referred to as the fintail without fintails the W108 cars added to Mercedes Benz reputation for building reliable and durable motor cars that helped turn the company into a World Automotive leader again.

Mercedes Benz 250 SE

Paul Bracq styling of the W108 was evolutionary from the slightly smaller tailfined W111 of 1957 to 1971, which would evolve into the E Class, while laying clear markers as to the styling of the immensely successful ‘new generation’ W114 and W115 models that were built from 1968 to 1976.

Mercedes Benz 250 SE

Unusually for European cars of the period the automatic gear box featured 4 speeds and a fluid coupling in place of the usual torque converter, it was also developed and built by Mercedes Benz at a time when most European manufacturers used US designed and built automatic transmissions.

Mercedes Benz 250 SE

This 1967 250 SE is one of 130,000 250 models assembled on the W108 platform between 1965 and 1967.

Thanks for joining me on this Fintail Without Fintails edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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