Pin Striping

[kru0042]

All,

I went to look at an overpriced W116 in town and the cat took a look at my 450 SEL and pronounced that it has been in an accident and repainted. He claimed that US spec cars (mine is a 1978 450 SEL) did not have pin striping. I think is is full of
1) himself and

2) S*$t

I also have a 1985 300D (W123) which has pin striping as well. (gold on royal blue)

This would suggest that both my cars have been in collisions and been repainted. The verdict is open to the experts... Gentlemen please....

[1980450sel]

Hey Kru,

So according to this logic all cars with pin stripping have been in accidents and it would have nothing to do with personal tastes or preferences. Seems like sound logic to me!

[TJ 450]

Pin striping is not from the factory, but may have been a dealer addition or added by the owner.

Tim

[macatron]

Yes, a lot of Mercedes of this era could be pin striped at the dealer or would be shortly thereafter because it was very fashionable at the time.  It's common enough it might seem like a factory option but it's not. 

Interesting little side note that the very low-mile 6.9 in the Irvine, California M-B Classic Center is pin-striped but it's not a factory job.  Actually, high-end pin-striping artists who hand painted lines would often include a little logo as a sort of signature to identify their work.  I think you can see a photo of the artist's logo on that 6.9 if you visit the Classic Center website.

[zedster]

Mine has Pin Striping and I do not know if you can see it from this picture:



I do not know who put it on but it has been there since at least 1999 when my father purchased the car.

[brettj]

I like pin striping and when I get my 450SE repainted, I'm probably going to add it even though my car never had it. Pin striping was the rage in the 70's and 80's. I remember when my parents bought a new Ford Mustang in 77. They traded a couple of wire hub caps for the Torino 500 they were trading in for pin stripes on the new Mustang. In the 80's I added pin striping to both the 68 Plymouth Belvedere and 77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo I owned during that time.