1965 Mercedes-Benz 600 'Grosser' SWB

“I have owned chassis number 164 since 2007,” says the vendor. “It is a genuine RHD, standard wheelbase car, originally supplied new by Mercedes-Benz to the UK. According to the data card and its certificate of authenticity, the car left the factory on July 28, 1965. The first owner was Gordon Mills, a popular music songwriter and, at that time, manager of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Gilbert O’Sullivan. I know this from firsthand accounts given to me by three former M-B (UK) employees, two of whom were members of the company’s specialist workshop team for 600s, and the third, a member of the sales staff who recalled delivering the car to Mr Mills’ home in St George’s Hill, Weybridge”.

Upon Mr Mills premature passing in 1986, the vehicle found its way into a private collection of British and German cars in the beautiful town of Kassel, near the German city of Hannover. They used it sparingly, covering around 5000 miles, before deciding in 2006 to return it to new ownership in a RHD country.

“Through connections with UK Mercedes-Benz Club, the car was advertised first to members, which is how I came to hear of it. After making due enquiries I purchased it in spring 2007 and drove it from Kassel to Weybridge just in time for the Brooklands Centenary Festival. I then contacted Mr Mills’ family to verify some details of its first ownership”.

The car’s original numberplate ‘NAR164C’ (believed to relate to the chassis number) could not be returned to the vehicle on its return to the UK, so the cherished ‘MB 600’ was acquired at a DVLA auction. 

The vendor says that his approach to owning the car for the last 17 years has been to consistently maintain it to a standard in which he could pick up the keys and drive it anywhere, at any time, without notice. As such, it has covered some 12,500 miles, with half of those on several rallies to Germany, including participation in M-B’s 125th anniversary celebrations in Berlin in 2011 and a 50th anniversary Grand 600 festival in Frankfurt in 2013. 

“Aside from the Channel crossings the 600 covered the entire distances of those trips under its own power, with Club friends or myself at the wheel. It has been shown extensively at M-B Club and other events in the UK, including the NEC Classic Car Show; the London Classic Car Show; the Hampton Court Concours; the Silverstone Classic; the Club’s National Concours; etc”. 

Key to the car’s bulletproof reliability has been the initial programme of “futureproofing” that he commissioned. This included the refurbishment or replacement of all components likely to suffer from wear and ageing such as the water-pump, fuel tank, airbags and other rubber suspension components and bushes. “The air compressor and pressure vales; plug leads; fuses and relays; brake discs and pads; drive belts; etc, were also replaced. All works are fully documented, with photographs plus parts and labour bills, in the history file. OEM spares were always used. The sole modifications were replacement of twin points in the distributor with an electronic ‘Pertronix’ upgrade, and installation of an additional pulley to reduce the risk of losing the drive belt for the power steering pump. As a result of the works described above, the car is in excellent condition in every respect”.

The 600 has been the centrepiece of the vendor's small collection of classics however, a post-lockdown rethink saw him decide to liquidate that collection with the intention of simplifying his life and perhaps replacing his eight cars with a single exceptional masterpiece. 

“This car is the seventh to be sold. I have genuinely, for a long time, been in two minds about letting it go. I have decided in the final analysis that I have done everything to maintain and improve it, and that I have enjoyed very many years of driving and ownership, so it is the right decision”.

Modern car designers have a habit of confusing sheer size with road presence, but the 600 ‘Grosser’ combines elegant Sixties styling with its sizable proportions to produce a truly imposing classic car and one that even today, still demands your absolute attention. 

The paintwork presents immaculately thanks to its high-quality bare metal respray. “Its one historic fault is that it had been resprayed in Cypress Green, instead of its original Moss Green. In 2017, when the onset of micro-blistering under the bright lights of exhibition halls became visible, I set about having the entire body stripped back to bare metal”.

The vendor chose specialist Cardock Classics of Dublin, on account of their extensive experience with 600s, to carry out the work. “The car was completely dismantled and during reassembly the opportunity taken to recondition certain hydraulic components (chiefly the automatic boot mechanism, driver’s door lock, and the cold air ventilation flap). On completion of the bodywork a new set of tyres was fitted, before the 600 returned to the road”.

Amazingly, with the car stripped for repainting the sunroof was found to carry a label dating it to 1980, which explained its electrical, rather than hydraulic, operation. 

The history file includes many hundreds of photos documenting the work, as well as a set of videos of the car dismantled and in the early stage of paint preparation. “It was particularly reassuring to hear Cardock express their opinion that the bodywork on this car was amongst the best that they had seen; very little metalwork was needed, no repairs were required to the glass, and no re-chroming other than the door mirrors”. 

The marvellous results of this considerable undertaking can still be seen today in our Photographic Gallery and Video Review, both below. 

It is quite a vehicle. 

The 600’s cabin, and it’s a very decent sized interior, also saw some selective improvements completed by Cardock in 2017/18; this included renewing the carpets and refurbishing selected wood trim items (chiefly the instrument binnacle, dashboard top, and door caps). 

“I made the decision to repair, not to renew the leather upholstery. Some fault could be found with the leather on the front seats, especially on the driver’s side (which has naturally borne most wear). However, there is a balance to be struck here between originality (which once lost, cannot be restored) and cosmetic perfection”.

The vendor had a mind to replace the original fixed front seat belts with inertia reels and to install headrests to the front seats. Sadly, those will no longer be his decisions to make, but rather, those for a new owner. 

The car unavoidably spent a large part of the Covid lockdown unused. These are large complex vehicles that don’t like to be sat for long period of time, so inevitably as the world returned to normal some re-commissioning was required. This was mainly to the fuel system - for example, cold start valves - and braking system, with the latter receiving new caliper pistons and seals. Specialists close to the car’s Bicester Heritage storage site carried out the work and again, all the invoices are on file. 

“The most surprising feature of this car is how well it drives,” states the vendor. “It is an absolute delight: nimble, agile, brisk, completely belying its size, weight and mass. On the move the steering is fingertip light but still conveys all the ‘feel’ that one needs to be able to drive with complete confidence. The same is true of the braking”.

For the last six months the 600 has been run on a synthetic 98-octane biofuel called ‘Sustain 80’, which is available at a filling station on the Bicester Heritage site. “I have found this to improve the driving experience, not only with better starting and throttle response, but also with a very much cleaner exhaust”.

The car passed its most recent MOT without advisories, and runs until March 2025

Wow!

It takes a lot for us to crack open the onomatopoeia drawer, but 206 photographs of documentation will certainly do that. 

This car’s History File is, quite fittingly, epic in size. 

All the restoration photographs, all the invoices and all the important documents are in there.

It would take us forever and a day to list them all, and to list the total financial outlay (it is very considerable indeed!) would be unseemly. Suffice to say, that this car has been restored and maintained without financial constraint. 

Take your time, and electronically leaf through the History File to see all completed works, as well as monies spent.

A set of original parts and workshop manuals are also available for use by the next owner.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos to support our claim that this award-winning car is in supreme condition, has a full Mercedes-Benz main dealer service record and has been cared for to the highest possible standards. 

The model aficionado vendor also points out a final observation for potential bidders, “being an early model (before the mild facelift in 1967), this car has some charming features not available on later cars: these include rounded headlamp lenses; eight-hole hubcaps, rather than 12-hole; and some additional pieces of interior wood trim, notable the instrument binnacle fashioned from a single block”. 

Let’s start our summation by revisiting consignment specialist David Hayhow’s thoughts on this majestic classic: “Award-winning car, absolutely spectacular. Files of original paper history and Mercedes main dealer service record. Immaculately cared for and professionally stored”.

We could stop there and let the above information work its considerable magic, or we could add to that the fact that the 600 Grosser had a bare-metal re-paint to its original Moss Green Metallic in 2017/18 so presents in close to concours condition, drives impeccably and comes with the match-made-in-heaven registration plate: ‘600 MB’. 

We think this spectacular Teuton will realise somewhere between £80,000 and £100,000. For that the next owner will take delivery of what is without doubt a wonderfully presented example of the breed and surely one of the most-used and finest driving examples in existence.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at the Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment. To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.