MEET THE OWNER: PADRAIC O’RIORDAN AND HIS MERCEDES BENZ 300SE

It is difficult to appreciate just how exotic any new Mercedes Benz Fintail would have appeared to the average Briton in the early to mid ‘sixties. t that time, even the cheapest 190 seemed to belong to a Cold War cinema drama, preferably one with a score by John Barry. As for a 300SE, that was transport for diplomats, industrial magnates and film stars; in 1964, the price was £4,086 compared with £2,261 for the Jaguar Mk. X 4.2. You would have to be on very good terms with your bank manager before calling to arrange a test drive.

All of which makes Padraic O’Riordan’s Mercedes Benz an exceptional machine. It is one of the earliest surviving examples and was made in 1961; “It was supplied new in September 1962 by the Tilling Motor Company as a private car to the Lord Mayor of Bournemouth!”.

The Fintail’s narrative commenced in 1956 when Daimler Benz’s Chief Engineer Fritz Nallinger established the criteria for the Ponton’s successor:

1. Looks that were timeless but hinting at Italian design tropes and with a recognisable Mercedes Benz grille. T
2. The new model must employ the ‘safety cage’ principle.
3. And it must be designed from the inside out.

The W111 220, 220S and 220SE ‘Fintail’ made their bow in 1959, followed two years later by the four cylinders W110 190 and the rather more opulent W112 300SE. The latter featured the fuel injection version of the M189 3-litre six-cylinder engine, power-assisted steering, automatic transmission and disc brakes fore and aft plus rear air suspension. By 1963, Stuttgart offered a long-wheelbase version for those who craved yet more opulence.

The W112 was replaced by the W108 300 ‘S-Class’ in 1965, and in that same year, PSK 623 was part-exchanged for a new Jaguar E-Type. The Fintail changed hands again in 1988; Padraic believes it moved to The Netherlands. Twenty years later, it moved to Ireland, where it was acquired by one of his neighbours ‘for his father’ from a well known Dutch classic car dealer. Mr. O’Riordan had known the family all his life: “But I did not know they had the Benz until 2011 when out with a customer on a test drive (I supply used cars) in a Range Rover, I saw the car parked up at the rear of their home. I bought it immediately”.

Since then, the SE has gained a completely new exhaust, while Padraic has also replaced the air suspension modulators at each corner. Naturally, the SE causes a minor sensation whenever he takes it for a drive. This is not only due to its condition - it is almost completely original – but the limited production run. Daimler Benz made just 6,748 examples of the 300 in short and long-wheelbase forms.

And, perhaps most importantly of all, few vehicles can equal its sheer presence. As Bill Boddy wrote in 1964, the 300SE is a “remarkable car, which perhaps I may be permitted to describe one of the world’s best?”

With thanks to: Padraic O’Riordan