Topic: 280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[floyd111]

Oh, joy of joys. I finally found one and bought one. the original Gradulux w116 Venetian blinds.

Am I the only one to think that these blinds instantly turn a perfectly nice car into a pimp mobile? 

I think they were corny back in the day, but really bring home the style of the era when looked upon today.
But more so, the scorching summer sun here in Taiwan would make mince meat of my rear shelf and seriously raise the cabin temp as well.  They will serve an important service, these blinds.

[floyd111]

Meanwhile, a close-up of the 70's MB shopping bag that was used to bag sold accessories. They show a number of commonly sold MB accessories of the time, and how lovely is it to actually have these exact items on display!

[floyd111]

Not quite finished yet, but here's a pic of both the GSM-2 systems (B-Netz) that were sold to very, very rich W116 clients. Also visible are the Hirschmann antenna amplifiers and the Kathryn telephone and radio antennas.
In the end there should be Becker, kathryn, Telefunken and Philips logos on the wall behind the display.
I calculated that one could buy an apartment in Taipei for the price of one of these phones, back in the 70's.
In 1976, a basic W116 cost the same as 5 houses in Taipei(!), so that kind of fits. Mind you, we had/have more than 100% taxes on those already overpriced cars.
The rarest parts here are the special lighter and horizontal ashtray that one would need after installing the 25KG telephone set.

The rest of all the Becker products, the AM fine-tuner, car radio, glove comp cassette unit,  and the amplifiers for hifi, as well as the fader knob will all get a seperate joint display.
I did a long search for original ceramic or zinc billboards for these, but these Becker signs from the 70's are either unaffordable or simply not to be found.
i will have to be content with repro's made locally.

[90077merc]

Ptashek,

What were those antennas used for on the car?

[ptashek]

Ptashek,

What were those antennas used for on the car?

It's just a goofy aftermarket radio antenna, with a W116 on the box. Nothing special about it

[floyd111]

Not really.. they are Kathryn telephone system antennas, the original MB.

[ptashek]

Not really.. they are Kathryn telephone system antennas, the original MB.

I think the question was about the antenna I've posted a page earlier.
But if not, then yes, the ones you've posted are pretty special

[ptashek]

You probably have this one already Stan?

[floyd111]

  No, not yet, but it's in English, so off limits in the little museum, haha!
The Classic center in Fellbach were nice enough to send me free books from their archive, covering this part, and then some.
But as always, thanks for the tip!

In regards to the silly FUBO aftermarket antenna, that deal fell through, so I am on the lookout again. Right now there aren't any affordable ones, by the looks of it.


This week was all about details and decorations, all those little things that tie together the room, hopefully creating that real German 70's feel.
Every item has to be iconic, and that's not always easy and affordable!

Big problems choosing a hifi system.
1979 is where all the big German companies started collapsing under Japanese pressure.
Design went out of the window in the mid-seventies since they were trying to copy the Japanese techno-look, desperate to hold onto their multi-billion market share. They failed.

Boomboxes were the new fad, and Stereo was the standard of the future.
I have been unable to find a good looking German Boom Box. They were ugly and expensive, and still are today. No Icones to be found till now.
All the good looking stuff was built between 68 and 72, and they were mono, with only 4watt power. No good in a large garage., but very, very good looking.
The real lookers, like Nordmende Spectra Futura, worth the poor sound quality, have skyrocketed in pricing.
I guess that the era-correct hifi system in a German garage in 1978 was a Japanese system. Pretty sad!
Here's a pic of what I'd like, but can't afford:

[floyd111]

and this is the best Germany had to offer in 1978, be it 'made in Portugal"

[floyd111]

While investigating all of that, i did find a couple of affordable iconic items:
First, the Neckermann Radio X 150, to hang on a wire above the mechanic's pit.

[floyd111]

The Coffee Corner:

Melitta pretty much ruled their coffee-tea machine market for 2 decades, nearly all their stuff instant plastic classics.
I am close to having purchased all the must-have Melitta tea/coffee accessories. It's what millions of Europeans had at home in AND at work. And Melitta  are still around today.
BTW, them green/red filter holders are now 20 times more valuable then when bought new, and seems to be getting worse. If you have one, hold on to them!

In the cafetiere-area the Moulinex Futura coffee machine won the contest. A proper classic.

Extra items for the coffee bar are these coffee, tea, cookies, sugar and milk containers.
In real life, nobody would have all of those in 1 brand, so I also did not.

last on the list, the Maybaum water cooker. Made to last 100 years, people bought them and kept them for life.
It is a fine example of how planned obsolescence is evil beyond words, for Maybaum is still kicking around in 2021

[floyd111]

The bathroom:

Not easy to find the balance between a 70's business toilet and a 70's hippie toilet, famously louder than an army of megaphone-wielding Floridians in Aloha shirts.
Slowly trying to pick some era correct accessories, resisting the temptation to go all out orange!
 
The most iconic  must-have is probably the space age Siemens hand dryer. Got one of those.
A red oval mirror and a bog roll stick has to be as well. 
Haven't found the correct wall-mount bog roll holder yet, and we're still sifting between oceans of vinyl flooring and proper 70's wallpaper, the latter being quite difficult to find.

[floyd111]

I think I might have broken some dubious record, after having now spent the better part of 4 days looking for a proper 70's bog roll holder on ebay and other sites.

I'm taking a little break now, allowing some time to show some of the Kundendienst area articles.
The main desk, a trilogy in bulging blue and white, is not yet back from the spray guy, so that one will have to wait.
But the desk accessories, and the stuffing for the ordner-cupboard behind the desk has all been sourced.

Arlac was the one to corner the German market with well-designed sturdy plastic desk-gadgets.
Lots more Arlac pics later.
Also in the bag, the first button phone that was availaible to the German public, '76 upwards.
It was a fad that people hated, resulting in a costly,  short production era.
Those that made the switch went back to the old dial phones.
That could very well have been the end of the button phone, but for some mysterious reason, public apprication for the button phone saw a revival in 81, and the rest is history.
Lovely side-kick was this egg-timer-type minute-counter (in the picture)that came out around the same time, for phone calls were still quite costly.