1938 - type 770- 4.5 tonnes of slightly sinister black metal
March 19th 2008 09:54
Every time I open the Garage door that big grille with the big 'three pointed star' on top and the huge car behind it greet me with menace!
It is a machine which, in it's day, made an impression which opened huge wallets and braved the stratospheric realms of motoring which Mercedes had not ventured since the fourties. I am talking of the 'Grand 600'! or affectionately known as 'Grosser'!
Of course the latter days 'Grosser' but the car from the late thirties and fourties was also tagged as such and this is one example (of which I have been sworn to secrecy of its location) is truly awsome.
This amazing vehicle, type 770 (which the owner has no intention of taking anywhere than his own roadway/track on his huge property) is still in the black it knew from the factory and has not been restored in any way but for wheelbearings and the odd piece of wood which had lost some of its integrity due to age.
The tyres and some other rubber and leather items items have been replaced but otherwise she is a site for sore eyes in her original condition. Even the cabrio style roof material seems original and when folded back it becomes an even more impressive machine.
This awsome vehicle weighs in at around four tonnes and has huge drum brakes to haul in its hugely armoured body.
I poked around for more than three hours while the dedicated owner proceeded to refresh all oils in the car starting with the differential and moving forward to the gearbox, engine and the supercharger!
We together also flushed and replaced the coolant with a modern equivalant of the old style glycol. With some grease nipples attended to, we were finally ready to fire her up and with trepidation we turned her over with ignition off first to pump up pressure. This huge starter motor has been disassembled,cleaned and serviced just as all the relative components have been.
Even winding her over she sounded like an aircraft!
OK! Contact! And with the ignition on she burst into life! We kept the revs at around 800 to 1100 she got quieter as the heat slowly crept through the metal, then the coolant spread all over the garage floor!
It seems the only rubber that had not been changed were the coolant hoses!
So, we changed those and more (with some coolant escaping inside the cabin there was some cleaning up to do!) we had plenty of choices of all sorts of bends and sizes of hose from this fanatics vast inventory of new things you may need!
Interestingly, while under the dash attending to a hose I noticed the pride with which this machine was built was evident in the inscriptions of the coachbuilders and engineers of the factory!
Finally we were once again ready for contact after the system was purged of air and coolant mopped up.
We watched as the temperature settled in the acceptable range and stayed there after we turned on and off the heater knobs.
Finally, we sat up front of this machine and he engaged the clutch and with a slight clunk went into first. We moved out of the garage through his four car wide doors and out into his own roadway.
What a machine! As we moved through the gears and not revving anything over 1.800 rpm at this point the whine from the supercharger was just music!
Now with the straight now in front of us again and a good half hours driving to warm the drivetrain he took her down a gear and let the revs reach (if I recall correctly) almost 3,000 rpm but I wasn't really paying that much attention the roadway and the music from the engine and supercharger were too intoxicating!
I knew it would take several braking moments over the hours driving before the new brakeshoe material had worn in enough to work at their best, he said, as he pulled her over to give me the drivers seat...!
We checked around for leaks or problems with the motor quitely burbling away, (which now was idling at around 500-600rpm) and quieter even than before. We switched her off to check levels and when all was well the switch was turned and the starter initiated (nothing like your modern vehicle!) needless to say this was a memorable drive and once you get used to the weight and the engines superb torque there is nothing I have driven comes near it in drama and pure majesty. You could really get an idea of the weight as you swept her through a long bend and then a slow first gear corner with no power steering!
We drove her all day and she never missed a beat. With all components getting some use she just got better as the day progressed. I made him promise we should take her for at least an hour each time we visit the collection. What, we may even end up taking her past the 12 thousand kilometres she has on the clock!
This gentleman seemed to enjoy our time together and has invited me to assist him in the next unit to have a major service with a days driving afterward, stay tuned for the next vehicle to be dusted off!
RKW
It is a machine which, in it's day, made an impression which opened huge wallets and braved the stratospheric realms of motoring which Mercedes had not ventured since the fourties. I am talking of the 'Grand 600'! or affectionately known as 'Grosser'!
Of course the latter days 'Grosser' but the car from the late thirties and fourties was also tagged as such and this is one example (of which I have been sworn to secrecy of its location) is truly awsome.
The tyres and some other rubber and leather items items have been replaced but otherwise she is a site for sore eyes in her original condition. Even the cabrio style roof material seems original and when folded back it becomes an even more impressive machine.
This awsome vehicle weighs in at around four tonnes and has huge drum brakes to haul in its hugely armoured body.
I poked around for more than three hours while the dedicated owner proceeded to refresh all oils in the car starting with the differential and moving forward to the gearbox, engine and the supercharger!
We together also flushed and replaced the coolant with a modern equivalant of the old style glycol. With some grease nipples attended to, we were finally ready to fire her up and with trepidation we turned her over with ignition off first to pump up pressure. This huge starter motor has been disassembled,cleaned and serviced just as all the relative components have been.
OK! Contact! And with the ignition on she burst into life! We kept the revs at around 800 to 1100 she got quieter as the heat slowly crept through the metal, then the coolant spread all over the garage floor!
It seems the only rubber that had not been changed were the coolant hoses!
So, we changed those and more (with some coolant escaping inside the cabin there was some cleaning up to do!) we had plenty of choices of all sorts of bends and sizes of hose from this fanatics vast inventory of new things you may need!
Interestingly, while under the dash attending to a hose I noticed the pride with which this machine was built was evident in the inscriptions of the coachbuilders and engineers of the factory!
This is an identical car. But not actual.
Finally we were once again ready for contact after the system was purged of air and coolant mopped up.
We watched as the temperature settled in the acceptable range and stayed there after we turned on and off the heater knobs.
Finally, we sat up front of this machine and he engaged the clutch and with a slight clunk went into first. We moved out of the garage through his four car wide doors and out into his own roadway.
What a machine! As we moved through the gears and not revving anything over 1.800 rpm at this point the whine from the supercharger was just music!
Now with the straight now in front of us again and a good half hours driving to warm the drivetrain he took her down a gear and let the revs reach (if I recall correctly) almost 3,000 rpm but I wasn't really paying that much attention the roadway and the music from the engine and supercharger were too intoxicating!
I knew it would take several braking moments over the hours driving before the new brakeshoe material had worn in enough to work at their best, he said, as he pulled her over to give me the drivers seat...!
We checked around for leaks or problems with the motor quitely burbling away, (which now was idling at around 500-600rpm) and quieter even than before. We switched her off to check levels and when all was well the switch was turned and the starter initiated (nothing like your modern vehicle!) needless to say this was a memorable drive and once you get used to the weight and the engines superb torque there is nothing I have driven comes near it in drama and pure majesty. You could really get an idea of the weight as you swept her through a long bend and then a slow first gear corner with no power steering!
We drove her all day and she never missed a beat. With all components getting some use she just got better as the day progressed. I made him promise we should take her for at least an hour each time we visit the collection. What, we may even end up taking her past the 12 thousand kilometres she has on the clock!
This gentleman seemed to enjoy our time together and has invited me to assist him in the next unit to have a major service with a days driving afterward, stay tuned for the next vehicle to be dusted off!
RKW
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