Who drove your Benz first?

[ptashek]

Prompted by a comment by Casey about the personalities who drove our cars at some point, I got curious who among us knows more about who drove their Benz first. Have we got any noteworthy celebrities in the first-owners club? Did anyone here actually own their W116 from new?

I'll start. No news worthy celebrities.
I have ownership records dating back to 1994, but I think the same person owned the car from 1979 to 2008.
Some kind of an investment banker around Manchester in the UK, later retired to a small town in Northern Ireland.

[marku]

Here you can get every bit of info relating to ownership including copies of the transfers from the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) for £5. Every one who has ever owned it, who they sold it to and how long they kept it and where it was kept. My 450 started life at 100 Park Lane, London W1 a very prestigious address as a company car for the head of the property company whose offices were there. They specialised in building big developments such as shopping centres etc and they still exist. They recently sold 100 Park Lane, which is an 18thC Regency town house to someone from the Gulf who intends to turn it back into a family home. From there over the years it steadily moved down market until I found it on Ebay at a North London housing estate after it had been down to the South Coast and round Southern England through 8 owners. It is here for good and a continuing project and I can see no reason that I will ever part with it. After many cars over the years this is the one I will keep.

[w116john]

ok i know this may sound weird but i do know the name and address of the first owner i have it from the stamped service book for the first ten years 76-86. He was a german business man from hamburg, and strangely i have been outside his house     stalking on google earth !!!

i know that rowan Atkinson's black 6.9 sold a good few years ago probably 10 or more on eBay UK for 3000 sterling so that's still around it was out of my price range at the time but would have been a great investment, Sean Connery's 116 is in a shed in Scotland by all accounts

john

[floyd111]

As much as I love the Options Galore thread, this one may actually top that.
What a wonderful idea!
I will find out about the first owner of my cars as well, and share my findings.
Hope many will follow.

[ptashek]

Here you can get every bit of info relating to ownership including copies of the transfers from the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) for £5. Every one who has ever owned it, who they sold it to and how long they kept it and where it was kept. My 450 started life at 100 Park Lane, London W1 a very prestigious address as a company car for the head of the property company whose offices were there. They specialised in building big developments such as shopping centres etc and they still exist. They recently sold 100 Park Lane, which is an 18thC Regency town house to someone from the Gulf who intends to turn it back into a family home. From there over the years it steadily moved down market until I found it on Ebay at a North London housing estate after it had been down to the South Coast and round Southern England through 8 owners. It is here for good and a continuing project and I can see no reason that I will ever part with it. After many cars over the years this is the one I will keep.

I wrote to the DVLA in 2012, supplying:

- proof of ownership (Irish reg cert),
- last V5C before the car was sold to Ireland,
- last NI MOT cert, and first UK MOT cert (of those I have)

All they came back with was some lame excuse about data protection laws.
I shall try again I think

[beagle2022]

Mine was bought by an Australian Navy Commander at his retirement in 1979.  It was delivered to him by a dealer in Brisbane, Queensland.  It still carries his Australian Navy Association sticker on the rear window.  I bought it from his grandson who brought it back to life after 15 years in storage on blocks in country NSW.  I also have the toy koala the first owner attached to the rear view mirror for luck on the day he bought it.  I hope it is still effective from its new home in the glove box.

[ptashek]

...and you know what folks?

The previous owner of my Benz is an (inactive) Org member! Page number million-and-five in Google search results for a variant of his name, brought up this: http://forum.w116.org/mechanicals/450-auto-box-oil-level-check/

That 950GBP gearbox rebuild in 2004 on a "mint, show winning 50k miles 1979 450SE"? That's Goldilocks, and I have the invoice for it
So, I might need to revisit the idea of "some kind of investment banker" based on that thread! Yeah, looks like the previous owner used to race in the 250cc and 500cc class in the world famous TT Races back in the early 1970s, and has several Top 10 results. Blimey. A minor celebrity!

Here's the man himself, back in 1979:
http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/lough/tom18.htm

How I haven't found this thread since 2012 is beyond me.
This site never ceases to amaze...

[s class]

1980 280SE : (SA build)
first owner was director of an import/export company
second owner was the wife of a Johannesburg businessman
I'm the third owner, bought it in 1997.

1974 350SE : (SA Build)
first owner???
second owner was a colleague of mine at the national power utility.  He did 8000km in 8 years.
I'm the third owner, bought it in about 2012.  I've done 55000km in 3 years

1976 6.9 euro : (first delivered to Finland)
first owner??
.
.
how many owners??
.
.
owner before me bought it on a farm auction in South Africa in the late 1980's.
I bought it from him in 2007/8 or there abouts

1978 6.9 euro : (delivered Dusseldorf Germany)
First owner was a businessman with interests in Germany and South Africa.  He used it as a daily in Germany until he replaced it with a 560SEL, and shipped the 6.9 to South Africa.
In 2007/8 he (still the first owner) had a stroke and lost his faculties.  I bought the car out of the estate.

[rumb]

My 1977 6.9  was purchased by a Barvarian who had all servicing done at dealer until 1982, mileage @136181km Car was sold to a person from Las Vegas that drove the car in Germany for about 2 years.  Car was imported to Las Vegas with no DOT or EPA changes made to the car.

Car was sold to a Dr. Long in 1984 who replaced starter, hydraulic pump, a/c compressor, and rebuilt transmission. Had car until 1992 or so. mileage only grew to reported 138449 km. invoices show mileage increase on each invoice, though small. apparently he drove it a small amount and fixed a lot of things.

Car then somehow made it's way to Colorado @2007 owned by dealer, sold to a guy that took it from a running car to non-running  by messing with things, sat in warehouse until 2015, sold to a guy in Albuquerque, that I got it from. 

Odometer has only crept up a few hundred km in last 20+ years.  I have doubts about odometer still working, but as car does not run or drive yet I do not know.  Hopefully in  few months will be able to answer that question. I sure hope it does as that would be good low mileage.

[floyd111]

Ah, how lovely! (with Downton Abbey accent)

[ptashek]

Ah, how lovely! (with Downton Abbey accent)

What about your soon-to-be show stoppers Stan?

[marku]

Regarding the DVLA and their unwillingness to give the info. You print off a form from their website and send it in with the fee. You also have to sign a declaration that the info is for personal/historic use. After all the information is technically yours and would at one time be passed on to the new owner in the registration book. I would have another go. Can't remember the form number but I got it by ringing them up and asking.

[ptashek]

Regarding the DVLA and their unwillingness to give the info. You print off a form from their website and send it in with the fee. You also have to sign a declaration that the info is for personal/historic use. After all the information is technically yours and would at one time be passed on to the new owner in the registration book. I would have another go. Can't remember the form number but I got it by ringing them up and asking.

It's the V888. I'll send it again I guess.

[floyd111]

I am depending on my otherwise overworked Ohlins-distributing wife to have a look at the paperwork and go Sherlock Holmes on that @#*&. I speak Chinese..but can not read it.  But we'll give it a try soon!

[ronw123w124]

As far as I know, my '78 280S arrived in the Philippines around 1982 based on the license plates. The first registered owner in the Philippines was a French expat which was then sold to a woman around late 1992, then it was sold to a radio station owner around 2003 who kept the car as part of his car collection who then sold it to a part time car trader who owned it for a couple of days until I spotted it in the Mercedes repair shop that I frequent while waiting for my W126 bring serviced.