Mercedes-Benz W112

Not to be confused with Mercedes-Benz C112.

Mercedes-Benz W112
Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Lang (W112)
Overview
Manufacturer	Mercedes-Benz
Also called	300SE / 300SE long
Production	1961–1965 (4-door) 1962–1967 (2-door)
Assembly	West Germany: Stuttgart Untertürkheim
Designer	Friedrich Geiger Paul Bracq (coupé & cabriolet)
Body and chassis
Class	Full-size luxury car
Body style	4-door sedan 2-door coupe 2-door convertible
Layout	FR layout
Related	Mercedes-Benz W111 Mercedes-Benz W113
Powertrain
Engine	2996 cc M189 I6
Chronology
Predecessor	Mercedes-Benz W189 (4-door) Mercedes-Benz W188 (2-door)
Successor	Mercedes-Benz W109 (4-door) Mercedes-Benz W111 (280SE 3.5, 2-door)

See Mercedes-Benz S-Class for a complete overview of all S-Class models.

The Mercedes-Benz W112 is a luxury automobile produced by Mercedes-Benz from 1961 to 1967. Marketed as the 300SE, it was available as a coupé, convertible, sedan, and stretched sedan (Lang), all generally similar in appearance to the corresponding Mercedes-Benz W111.

These high-end cars were fitted with the 3.0 litre fuel-injected M189 big-block six-cylinder engine, at the time of the model's introduction the company's largest. They were finished with a higher level of wood and leather trim than the W111, and had standard luxury features such as power steering, automatic transmission, and pneumatic self-levelling suspension, an enhancement of the Mercedes-Benz 300d Adenauer's dashboard activated mechanical torsion bar based system.

The sedan was based on the Mercedes-Benz W111 Fintail sedan chassis and coachwork. The 300SE coupe/convertible was introduced in February 1962, and - somewhat confusingly - shared its more restrained and elegant Paul Bracq designed bodywork with the Mercedes-Benz W111 220SE coupe/convertible. The sedan-based stretched wheelbase 300SE "Lang" appeared in March 1963, redesignated the 300SEL in 1964.

Background

After nearly a decade of great success throughout the 1950s, the aging Mercedes-Benz W189 flagship, the 300d Adenauer limousine, needed a replacement. Until the Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser could be developed a stopgap would have to do. The W112 300SE was the result.

The previous generation of Mercedes models had featured three types of chassis: those mass-produced on a unibody Ponton chassis, which included the entry-level 4-cylinder 180/190 series, mid-range 220 series of sedan, coupe, and convertible, and 190SL sports coupe and roadster; a luxury range of coachwork-built 300 series sedan, coupe, convertible, and roadster, hand-crafted on a pre-war X-frame chassis; and the exotic 300SL coupe/roadster, built on a unique tubular frame.

In the late 1950s, Daimler-Benz AG began plans to unify its entire model range on one platform to take advantage of economies of scale. Assembly of all 2-door body-on-frame (W187) 300S ended in 1955, and (W188) 300Sc in 1958. That year the fuel-injected W128 220SE "Ponton" was introduced. The new generation of 220/220S/200SE W111 "Fintail" sedans was introduced in 1959. These were joined in 1961 by the 220SE W111 coupe and convertible, as well as the four-cylinder W110 190 and 190D.

With the debut of the clean sheet, top-of-the-range W100 600 still several years off, Mercedes turned to its largest platform, the W111, added the fuel-injected 3-litre six-cylinder M189 engine from the 300d, and supplemented it with luxury features and detailing, to create the W112.

Features

Externally the W112 displayed substantially more chrome, and luxury features such as power steering, air suspension, and automatic transmission were standard (though a manual transmission would return as an option). The car cost almost twice the price of the top W111 model, the 220SE.

Performance

The 300SE's performance was the top of the Mercedes sedan line, with the M189 six-cylinder engine producing 160 hp (170 after 1964) and giving a top speed of 180 km/h (190 after 1964, both figures 175 and 185 for automatic transmission respectively).

Position in model range

Sedan

The W112 was much smaller than either the grand 300 "Adenauer" (W189) that preceded it, or the imposing Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser Mercedes (W100) that first appeared in late 1963.

To help fill this gap, a long-wheelbase 300SE sedan made its debut in March 1963 - which, however, arrived without an L added for "Lang" ("long" in German), a designation which did not appear in model name or trunk emblem until the subsequent W108 and W109 models.

While the W112 was always a very exclusive automobile, its low production numbers reflect a combination of a very high price and limited demand, as it lacked both the size and overwhelming luxury and cachet of the top of the range 300d and 600 limousines which bracketed it. In 1962, for every W112 sedan 24 W111s rolled off the production line, while by 1964, this ratio was almost 1:40. In the end, the W112 sedan turned out to be very short-lived. With the company's top niche filled by the 600, demand for the W112 plummeted. In 1962 a total of 2,769 were built, which fell to 1,382 in 1963. With the coming of the W108/109 series, the sedan W112 was dropped in 1965, with a total of 6,748 300SEs in standard and long wheelbase built over its five-year run.

Coupe and Cabriolet

Though the W108 and W109 were only available as 4-door models, the much more exclusive - and expensive - 2-door W111 and W112 coupés and cabriolets like this 1969 280SE are frequently mistaken for them

In addition to the 300SE sedan, the early 1960s top-of-the-range Mercedes-Benz W112 line was expanded in 1962 with an even more exclusive cabriolet and coupe. With no equal or superior of their type made by the company, the pair of 2-doors enjoyed a somewhat elevated status through their model runs.

Upscale versions of the W111 220SE coupe and convertible that had debuted in 1961, their more modern and elegant Paul Bracq designed bodywork lacked the badly dating upwardly-raked and pointed fintails of the sedan, and aged better.

Sales disparity between the W111 and W112 specialty models was substantial. For example, five 220SE cabriolets sold to every equivalent 300SE. Two-door W111/W112 production continued after 1965 with the coming of the new generation W108/W109 sedans.

However, in November 1967, the aging M186-based M189 engine was replaced by a new 2.8 litre straight-6 used in the W111 280SE. At least one 300SE Convertible, with M189 engine, was produced for the Frankfurt Auto show with updated equipment and styling for the 1968 standards but the line was discontinued before the new year for all 2 door W112 autos.

Racing

The 300SE sedan was entered in international and European Touring Car Challenge and won several rallies.

Models

• 1961–1965 300 SE Sedan (5,202 built)
• 1962–1967 300 SE Coupé (2,419 built)
• 1962–1967 300 SE Cabriolet (708 built)
• 1963–1965 300 SE long long-wheelbase Sedan (1,546 built, often wrongly referred to as the 300 SEL, a designation not used until 1966)

• 
  Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Sedan (W112)
• 
  Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Coupe (W112)
• 
  Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Cabriolet (W112)

Model timeline

Chassis	Type	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967
W112	sedan	300SE
				300SE long
	coupé		300SE
	cabriolet (convertible)		300SE

References

Bibliography

General

• Hartmann, Matthias (2017). Das große Mercedes-Cabrio-Buch [The Big Mercedes Cabrio Book] (in German) (reprint of the original 1992 ed.). Königswinter, Germany: Heel Verlag. ISBN 9783958435810.
• Hofner, Heribert (2011). Mercedes-Benz Typenkunde [Mercedes-Benz Type Study] (in German). Vol. Band 3. Modelle der Oberklasse von 1951 bis 1972, Luxusklasse, S-, SL- und SLC-Klasse [Volume 3. Upper class models from 1951 to 1972, Luxury class, S-, SL- and SLC-Class]. Bielefeld, Germany: Delius Klasing. ISBN 9783768832786.
• Koehling, Bernd S. (2021). Mercedes-Benz: Everything you want to know about the W111 and W112 Two-Door - From the 220SE Coupe to the 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet. Independently published. ISBN 9798736959129.
• ———————— (2021). Mercedes-Benz: Everything you want to know about the W112 Two- and Four-Door - From the 300SE Sedan to the 300SE Cabriolet. Independently published. ISBN 9798737397654.
• ———————— (2021). Mercedes-Benz, The 1960s. Vol. 1: From the 190c to the 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet. Independently published. ISBN 9798739060631.
• Kurze, Peter (2006). Mercedes 190-300 SE: Schönheit, Gediegenheit und sportliche Kraft [Mercedes 190-300 SE: Beauty, Solidity and Athletic Power]. Bewegte Zeiten series (in German). Bielefeld, Germany: Delius Klasing. ISBN 3768818101.
• Lederer, Joachim (1997). Mercedes-Benz Ponton & Heckflosse: Die Autos und ihre Geschichte 1953-1967 [Mercedes-Benz Ponton & Fintails: The Cars and their History 1953-1967] (in German). Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3613018322.
• Long, Brian (2014). Mercedes-Benz 'Fintail' Models: The W110, W111 and W112 Series. Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press. ISBN 9781847976048.
• Meredith, Laurence (2003). Mercedes-Benz Saloons: The Classic Models of the 1960s and 1970s. Crowood AutoClassic Series. Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press. ISBN 1861265182.
• Oswald, Werner [in German] (2001). Deutsche Autos [German Cars] (in German). Vol. Band [Volume] 4: 1945–1990 Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche und andere [and others]. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3613021315.
• Ries, Hermann (2016). Mercedes-Benz Heckflosse: Die Baureihen W 110 / W 111 / W 112 (1959 bis 1971) [Mercedes-Benz Fintails: the W 110 / W 111 / W 112 series (1959 to 1971)] (in German). Jülich, Germany: MBIG Clubservice. ISBN 9783981509021.
• Röcke, Matthias (2013). Das große Mercedes-Heckflossen-Buch [The Big Mercedes Fintail Book] (in German) (reprint of the original 1990 ed.). Königswinter, Germany: Heel Verlag. ISBN 9783868528213.
• Staud, René (photographs); Lewandowski, Jürgen (text) (2016). Mercedes-Benz: The Grand Cabrios & Coupes. Kempen, Germany: teNeues. ISBN 9783832732936.
• Storz, Alexander F. (2010). Mercedes-Benz Heckflosse 1959–1968 [Mercedes-Benz Fintails 1959–1968]. Schrader-Typen-Chronik series (in German). Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 9783613032002.
• Vieweg, Christof (2013). Mercedes Heckflosse W 110/111/112: Typengeschichte und Technik [Mercedes Fintail W 110/111/112: Type History and Technology] (in German). München: GeraMond. ISBN 9783862457199.
• "Mercedes-Benz U.S Models". Hiwaay.net. Archived from the original on November 25, 2005. Retrieved December 1, 2005.

Workshop manuals

• Freeman, Kerry A.; Rivele, Richard J.; Hallinger, Jeffrey W., eds. (1983). Mercedes-Benz: 1959-70 All 190, 200, 220, 230, 250, 280 and 300 models, gasoline and diesel engines. Chilton's Repair & Tune-Up Guide Series. Radnor, PA, USA: Chilton Book Co. ISBN 0801960657.
• Slade, Tim (2004). Original Mercedes-Benz Coupes, Cabriolets and V-8 Sedans, 1960-1972: The Restorer's Guide. Osceola, WI, USA: Motorbooks International. ISBN 0760319529.
• Mercedes-Benz Technical Companion. Cambridge, MA, USA: Bentley Publishers. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8376-1033-7.

External links

• http://www.heckflosse.nl/