Update by Tim Suddard to the
Mercedes-Benz 230 S project car
Mar 29, 2013
The Mercedes-Benz Classic Center lent us this super-cool period sales presentation book to determine the color for our fintail.
This is not some priceless classic, so we are not worried about hurting the value with a color change.
A white roof will help keep occupants cooler in the Florida heat.
Our car was originally White Gray, with a dark red interior. Somewhere in its life, our car received a cheap maroon paint job. We love the dark red interior, but have already decided we don’t like the White Gray exterior. The off-white look does little or nothing to highlight the extreme amount of ‘50s-style chrome that the 230 S has.
Honestly, we kind of like the maroon exterior. In 1966, Mercedes had four different shades of red that included a shade similar to the color our car is painted.
We have also been thinking about the classic bad-guy black. These cars look so cool in black. But, of course, you need to have a perfectly straight car to paint black, or every wave will show.
While we are confident that we can make this car perfect—it’s already pretty straight—we are not sure we want to deal with the heat and maintenance that a black car presents.
And then, of course, there’s midnight blue. That would look very upscale on this car. The red interior is dark enough that we don’t feel the combination would look garish.
Most of the factory rally cars were painted Hellblau, which means “light blue” in German. In actuality, this color is more of a medium blue-grey. We decided this color is dark enough to pick up our chrome well, but is also light enough to stay cool and not instantly show dirt. It has that ‘50s feel that suites this car well.
Some of the rally cars also had a white roof. We decided to make this move as well, as these cars look real ‘50s cool with two-tone paint. They were also offered that way from the factory. A white roof will help keep occupants cooler in the Florida heat.
Normally, we never color-change a car. This one, however, has already been changed, so everything needs to be redone anyway. This is not some priceless classic, so we are not worried about hurting the value.
The guys at Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine had a super-cool period sales presentation book where you could flip pages and see what color combination you wanted to order your new Mercedes in.
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