Mercedes 600 Grosser: Masterpiece or Too Technical?
With hydraulics everywhere, the 600 Grosser is a mechanical marvel. When it works.
We all know the Mercedes 600 Grosser is one of Mercedes’ most technologically advanced cars of its time. But it was also extraordinarily complex, too. Iain Tyrrell from Tyrrell’s Classic Workshop describes the 600 as “more complex than probably a mid-range aircraft.”
And he’s not wrong. The amount of things controlled by hydraulics is quite amazing. A 3,000 psi high pressure hydraulic system controls everything. But when it goes wrong, it eposes what it really controls. Doors can’t be opened, and the windows will roll down. Even the trunk will open as that is controlled by the hydraulic system.
It’s called Comfort Hydraulics, and if you think of the amount of hoses fittings and lines that are integrated into the system, its amazing that they have held up after all these years. Naturally, not all of them have, like this car here.
But the hydraulics aren’t the only strange thing on the W100. The M100 V8 had its own interesting items, too. For instance the water pump and fan were controlled by essentially a miniature torque converter, ran on engine oil. The more temperature in the oil, the more it would turn the fan. The M100 V8, was also found in the Red Pig, albeit there were a few variants of this engine through the years.
And for the 600, it had quite a run. In fact from 1964-1981. That’s a surprising length of time for an high level Mercedes, especially considering the S-class had three generations in that time. W108, W116 and W124.
The real reason for this car’s complexity was for Mercedes to flex their muscle. We know this car spanned three generation’s of S-class, because this was always a few steps above the S-class. Owned by celebs and government officials alike, the 600 Grosser is a status car. And that’s the reason why it was the top end luxury car from Mercedes till the reintroduction of the Maybach series.
But here’s the problem. We’ll admit that this car is a lot to take on. How much? Tyrell explains that it is easily eclipse $100,000 in restorations costs with ease. So if you see one, admire the fact that it runs. Because when it doesn’t, it’s on a whole other level, even compared to the high tech in the S-class.
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