Fintail Fanatic – Belinda Clontz-Sarooei and her 1962 W111 220S
Article Rubin Howard • Images Antonio Alvendia
Some of my greatest memories were made while looking through a windshield at a three-pointed star on the hood ahead. I have found life-long friends through a shared passion for Mercedes-Benz.
Finding the right ride
Over the last 20 years, Belinda has built a bridal-fashion empire. The twin disciplines of fashion design and management have shaped her into a very detail-oriented individual. She was the president of her high school car club and has always driven a vintage car. When she isn’t working in her design studio, Belinda is in her home garage, wrenching on cars. Unfortunately, her previous classic car was destroyed in a near-fatal traffic accident, so when she decided to purchase another automobile, Belinda wanted a classic that would suit her lifestyle while being safe to drive on the busy streets of Los Angeles.
She was not looking for a Fintail. However, after first clamping eyes on this stunning four-door sedan and reading the vehicle’s detailed history – meticulously recorded in two carefully organized 12-inch binders dating back to the original owner’s first appointment to purchase the car in Mercedes-Benz’s hometown of Stuttgart – Belinda was sold.
When she learned about Bertha Benz and famous women drivers Ewy Rosqvist and Ursula Wirth, who in 1962 drove a W111 Fintail to victory in the Touring Car Grand Prix of Argentina (see The Star, January-February 2020), Belinda developed an even deeper admiration for Mercedes-Benz. Not only has she amassed a large array of rare parts for her beloved Finny, but Belinda also has an extensive collection of vintage Mercedes-Benz fashion accessories and memorabilia relating to female drivers. As a trained designer, she also creates her own Mercedes accessories: Belinda always has something different to wear at car events. What she cannot wear or display has found a place on or near her Mercedes-Benz-themed Christmas tree or in her car cave.
Every detail perfect
When you first see this 220S, you cannot help but experience sensory overload. The Fintail’s period black-on-red color scheme is stunning; very fitting for the chic designer at the wheel. The car is so well sorted that it is easy to forget that it was once a humble family sedan. Belinda decided that she wanted to learn everything about her W111; she even bought tools and took all the trim pieces off the car for replating herself – and then had the trim replated a second time so that it met her standards. Meticulous attention to detail patiently applied is the hallmark of Belinda and her remarkable 220S.
She tracked down a set of period-correct Marchal 660 Fantastic fog lamps with rare K16 chrome escutcheon plates designed to cover the holes left by the removal of the factory turn indicators. This exact model of fog lamp would have been on rally Fintails in the 1960s.
However, because the escutcheon plates were 1/8-inch smaller than the mounting holes for the bullet lights, what should have been a simple installation instead became a marathon of sanding and painting the entire front of the 220S. The W111 was rewired so that the turn signals could be repositioned – once new parts were sourced – into the headlights’ side triangle lenses.
Over time, Belinda has acquired a trove of vintage grille badges related to women. The three most notable badges in her collection are proudly displayed on the front of Finny’s radiator: a vintage Damen Automobil Club (German Women’s Automobile Club) badge; an extremely rare 1955 Women’s Rally badge from Germany; and a Mercedes-Benz 250,000 Kilometer Award, accepted in honor of the vehicle’s original owner. In a nod to Belinda’s sly humor, below the badges sits a decorative license plate emblazoned “Woah Man.” Finny sits on 14-inch white walls, upgraded from the original 13-inch rims for improved handling and performance. And Belinda sourced Mercedes-Benz valve caps to cover the stems of the whitewall tires, which are religiously wiped down after every outing.
Interior perfection
This attention to detail continues inside. Step into the cabin of the 220S, and you are immersed in a sea of classic-red MB-Tex paired with lustrously restored Zebrano veneer trim. The front seats are fitted with rare headrests found on the W100 600 limousines. Once Belinda saw the headrests in an old photo, she began the hunt to find them for Finny. After a two-year pursuit, she finally uncovered three headrests in poor condition and was able to strip them down and build a pair worthy of her vehicle.
A period-correct Frigiking air-conditioning unit is mounted beneath the dash, installed so Belinda could continue to drive to weekend car events even when summer temperatures reach 100 degrees; the pursuit for original parts led her to purchase an entire second donor Fintail for the a/c retrofit. She has gone to great lengths to ensure that each detail is performed to perfection: for instance, powder coating the air-conditioning unit three times to ensure the exact sheen and texture of the 1962 original. Many observers have called her “crazy” – a term that she embraces. “The devil is in the details, or they can turn you into one,” she said. Belinda has also said that having an eye for detail can be a curse. However, in the case of the 220S and her passion for Mercedes, I think it’s a blessing.
Straight from the heart
Belinda and her Fintail seem joined together on a deep level. She is an active member in five car clubs – one of which she is a founding member – three local MBCA sections, and Mercedes-Benz’s She’s Mercedes division that highlights and empowers women. She also uses Finny to raise funds for local children’s charities and schools.
The year 2019 marked 60 years of the Fintail, a milestone dear to Belinda’s heart. In honor of this anniversary, and inspired by the fashionable and elegant Angela Cantore, who in 2018 displayed her Mercedes-Benz 540K at Pebble Beach, Belinda enrolled Finny in the 2019 Legends of the Autobahn® judged concours. A number of her car friends mentioned that she would gain instant respect if she drove Finny the five hours from Los Angeles up to Monterey, and dared her to undertake the journey. Never one to back down from a challenge, she quickly made up her mind to drive her beloved Fintail round trip to Legends.
Fintail odyssey
As part of my research for this article, I was fortunate to shadow Belinda during the time she got Finny ready for the concours, and then to accompany her on that momentous road trip north to Monterey. She picked me up at Los Angeles International Airport, and I found myself in the passenger seat of her daily driver – a rumbling 2013 SL63 AMG. As we pulled out into traffic, Belinda revealed that we were headed first to a remote corner of the Mojave Desert to retrieve a crucial component from a W111 parts car – in fact, the same car that she originally bought for the air-conditioner conversion and then resold. Game on.
When I asked for the address so that I could guide us there like a good co-pilot, she said, “There is no address.” We would be driving two hours into the desert guided by landmarks such as “large mounds of dirt” and a “tall cement wall in the vicinity.” How would we know if we missed it? Easy. We’d have gone too far if we passed the only traffic light for seven miles. After driving into the middle of nowhere, we finally found the remote and eerily quiet automotive graveyard. Had we gotten lost, it is doubtful that we would have ever been found.
After locating the donor car, Belinda armed herself with a large toolbox from the trunk. She then carefully detached the precious trim piece from the derelict Fintail, never missing a beat as a sudden desert cloudburst appeared out of nowhere and soaked us both to the skin. She got her part.
As the date to the concours was quickly approaching, Belinda began checking off the endless to-do boxes on her lengthy and extremely detailed preparation list. While the car looked perfect to my untrained eye, each day I watched her go through every little line item that she wanted to complete – down to polishing the smallest bolts in the engine bay with tiny brushes. She replaced components that most enthusiasts would overlook, working in excess of 12 hours each day in preparation for the big event. As a finishing touch, the Fintail was given a final loving polish by world-renowned master paint specialist, Bill Corbett, whom Belinda credited for invaluable guidance while pulling the car apart during the Marchal light-conversion project.
After all the countless hours spent getting Finny ready, the time to convoy to Monterey came at last. We found ourselves meeting up with fellow Southern California Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts eager to travel to Monterey Car Week as a group. Our classic cavalcade headed north, with an imposing black 240D hearse heading the column, followed by Belinda’s black 220S sedan and several other Mercedes-Benz automobiles.
A true legend of the autobahn
In a storybook ending, Belinda’s 220S Fintail was awarded First in Class at the 2019 Legends of the Autobahn. All of her car friends were proud of her success, knowing all the hard work that went into preparing for the concours and her passion for all things Mercedes-Benz. On our drive back to Los Angeles from Monterey, one of the competitors from her Legends class passed us on the freeway – riding on a trailer. The palpable sense of pride that filled the 220S’s cabin was impossible to capture in words.
This was the moment when the realization struck us that all the effort had paid off and her once-humble Fintail was being used as it was originally intended: She feels deeply that we honor the craftsmanship of the men and women who first built these wonderful cars when we get out and drive them.
As this article went to print, Belinda had just acquired a warehouse full of NOS Mercedes-Benz car parts and a collection of 20 vintage Mercedes-Benz automobiles, including a 190 Fintail. She is a fabulous Fintail fanatic indeed.
1962 Mercedes-Benz 220S (W111)
TYPE: Four-door, four-passenger sedan
PRODUCED: 1959–1965 • GLOBAL PRODUCTION: 161,119
ENGINE: M180.941 2,195 cc inline-6 with two Solex 34 carburetors
HORSEPOWER: 124 • TORQUE: 139 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION: 4-speed column-mounted manual
LENGTH: 191.9 in • CURB WEIGHT: 2,959 lb
FUEL EFFICIENCY: 15–17 mpg
PERFORMANCE: Zero–62 mph 15 sec
TOP SPEED: 103 mph
ILLUSTRATIONS
Belinda Clontz-Sarooei with her Mercedes-Benz Fintail.
She has collected many rare parts for her 220S, as well as a trove of vintage Mercedes-Benz fashion accessories and memorabilia. The pick of Belinda Clontz-Sarooei’s vintage female motorist’s badges are proudly affixed to the radiator grille. Inside and out, every detail of this Fintail has been carefully considered.
From the seamlessly integrated Marchal 660 fog lamps with rare K16 escutcheon plates and the purring engine she wrenches on herself, to perfectly restored hubcaps on pristine white wall tires with three-pointed star valve stems, Belinda Clontz-Sarooei’s Fintail is truly sorted.
Belinda rebuilt three neglected W100 600 headrests into a perfect pair.