50 Years of Mercedes-Benz /8 Coupé

“Everything used to be better,” is a popular saying from seniors to today’s young generation. But, is this really the truth? At least in Central Europe we live without war for as long as rarely before in history. The product range in supermarkets is bigger than ever before. However, the gap between poor and rich is widening further than ever. In addition, German carmakers are now designing their new cars according to Chinese tastes rather than those of the domestic market. Is the statement at least partly true at the end? Don’t worry, we won’t lose ourselves in political debates now. We just take a look at the current Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé and compare that picture to its 1968 predecessor, the W114 Coupé. Due to the market launch in the year of political revolutions, these vehicles of the upper middle class got the note ‘/8’ for the year of production in internal documents of the Daimler Group. This name prevailed quickly to normal people, which is why all variants of this model series are still known as ‘stroke eight’. Thus, both internal development codes, W114 (six-cylinder versions) and W115 (four- and five-cylinder versions), are summarized, although they differed under the bodywork, to allow the mounting of different engines.

After the sedans of the /8 debuted in the last quarter of 1967, in November 1968 finally the elegant two-door Coupé version followed, although first cars arrived at the waiting customers only in February 1969. Later, sedans with long wheelbase and bare chassis for special coachworks like ambulance cars and hearses followed. First copies of the /8 Coupé were available as 250 C with carburettors or as 250 CE with electronic injection system. While carburettor version with its 130 hp came from the sedan, where it occupied the top position, the Coupé exclusively got the injection version with 150 hp. From 1972, the 160 hp strong 280 C version with carburetors supplemented the model-line, while the 250 CE was replaced with the 280 CE, which delivered 185 hp from its injection system. In total, more than 67,000 copies of the /8 Coupé were made by the end of production in August 1976, with the 250 CE taking the top position with 21,787 units. The later top model 280 CE reached 11,518 copies.

With the 250 CE, Mercedes-Benz raised the bar significantly. The powerful engine allowed a topspeed of 198 kph, really close to the then still magical 200-kph-mark, which was only permeated by real sports cars. Here we are again with the saying from the beginning, remember? Ask a teenager today, which means the 200-kph-mark has to him or her. From 400 kph upwards it might be another impression now. After all, the Swabian company finally achieved speed values with a 2 at the beginning (in kph) with the later 280 CE.

Compared to the sedans, the designers at Mercedes-Benz lowered the roofline of the Coupé by 4.5 centimeters and put the front and rear windows in a flatter angle, to generate more optical dynamic. Add to that a sense of freedom as soon as the frameless front and fully retractable rear side windows without B-pillars are wind down, so the wind can pass through the cockpit. Inside the car offers typical luxury through precious wood veneers and high-quality seat covers. With the big facelift in 1973, amenities such as wing mirrors with adjustings from the interior and a four-spoke safety steering wheel, headrests as well as automatic seat belts were added. From the outside, the Coupé now carried dirt-repellent trim on the A-pillars, dirt-repellent rear lights and a wider grille.

The development of the /8 Coupé began with a corresponding order to development chief Prof. Dr. Fritz Nallinger on December 11, 1964. As early as on September 3, 1965, design director Paul Bracq and his team presented two different designs to members of the board. These two designs were formed as the left and right side of the same prototype car, so the team could spare building another prototype. However, both designs were not yet on production state in terms of the side window lines. While the left side showed a much longer rear window, the kink on the right side strongly reminds much of the design language of a competitor from Munich. In the end, the revised form of the production car is definitely the most elegant solution.

Although it wasn’t yet available in the /8, Mercedes-Benz used this series to further develop the anti-lock braking system (ABS) together with Bosch. On the basis of two Coupés, they showed the ‘Teldix’ baptized system to journalists in operation, to explain the benefits in the best possible way. ABS was used from 1978 at Mercedes-Benz in series production. At that time, the production of the /8 Coupé had already been completed for two years. So not everything used to be better in the past, but some things.

Images: Mercedes-Benz