The Magnificent Seven

Showing a small stable of emerging classics from the 1970s and 1980s at the 2019 Legends of the Autobahn

Article Gary Anderson

Images Rubin Howard,

JG Francis

Gary Anderson

Scott Brinkley

Old mechanical objects and traditional design have always appealed to JG Francis. When he bought his first Mercedes-Benz – a 25-year-old 300SD built in 1979 – for only $700, he discovered that with just a little bit of work, it could still provide both functional transportation and classic elegance: It was an epiphany. JG liked working on cars, so why not establish his own business buying and restoring older Mercedes-Benzes?

In the eclectic, car-centered world of Los Angeles, where it seems as if everyone wants his or her automotive transportation  to make a statement about them, JG was confident there would be enough customers to turn that vision into a practical reality. In 2003, he founded Mercedes Motoring in Costa Mesa, California, eventually moving it to Glendale, as a restoration business focused on vehicles of the late 1950s through the 1980s, which he considers to be the best era in Mercedes-Benz history. He says he’s been happy with his decision ever since.

JG has been a regular at Mercedes-Benz Club of America events for many years, so when he came to his first Legends of the Autobahn® during Monterey Car Week a few years ago, he decided it would be fun to bring a few of his favorite cars up to the event. Some of them were too valuable to drive, so using a six-car van and following it in his own car seemed like a good idea. The biggest challenge was to decide which cars to bring to Legends. With the cooperation of customers who now own many of the vehicles of which he’s most proud, JG and his crew assembled a nice stable that illustrates why they love the cars they work on.

JG Francis

JG's wife Kelly

1972 W114 250C

Over the years, JG has learned that his customers like unusual but original color combinations. In addition, he says he has a particular affection for coupes and wagons. For practical reasons, his crew is also attracted to cars that have low mileage since they’re most likely not to have been messed with during the dark years when these were just old cars, and parts weren’t as readily available as today.

A typical example is this rare two-tone coupe, with its light-beige body and dark-tobacco-brown hardtop in original paint and matching tobacco brown interior in bulletproof MB-Tex. It showed only 56,000 documented miles since new, with only one owner, and had always been garage parked. This car came with factory-optional air conditioning, power windows and sunroof. A perfect choice.

During restoration, they changed the 14-inch wheels to the 15-inchers found on W114 limousines, and lowered the ride height, which definitely improves its looks. The 250C very quickly found now a new home in Santa Barbara, California.

1973 W114 280

It’s very unusual to see Mercedes-Benz automobiles in green in the United States, so when one shows up, they grab it. This rare W114 280 sedan was painted green from the factory, with a mahogany MB-Tex factory interior – a very pleasing combination. The original paint finish buffed up quite nicely. When they acquired the car, the odometer showed fewer than 30,000 miles, unusual for a gasoline-engine example. The car has an automatic floor shift, but manual windows, and sold soon after they finished the restoration.

1959 W111 220Sb

JG says he couldn’t possibly come to a show without at least one fintail sedan, but this car has a very interesting its history. An early production W111, car No. 925 out of a total of more than 300,000 W111s produced according to factory records, it was delivered to Empress Zauditu Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. With a manual 4-speed transmission and column shift, the car was typical of the minimal specs of cars shipped to Africa.

Documents indicated that in 1963, after spending four years in Africa, the 220Sb was shipped to California. The old vehicle still carries its original classic black and yellow California license plates. The factory Light Metallic Green paint has faded to a charming patinated finish, but the current owner appreciates the stories that surround this unique and solid car and prefers to use it as a daily driver rather than having it restored.

1979 W123 250T

This T-for-Touring station wagon is JG’s personal vehicle and is a little more car than it first appears. The factory color combination is rare Caledonia Green with avocado plaid cloth. When he discovered this charming W123 250T a few years ago on a goat farm in Arkansas – left for dead 18 years earlier – the original paint and interior were thoroughly weathered. It had a smashed-out driver's-side widow, and a broken front windshield that looked as if it had been hit by a baseball.

The sole owner had used the 250T to tow his fishing boat and go hunting. When JG disassembled it, he found that the 250T was home to a lot of insects and animals (both dead and alive), not to mention the inch of mud, blood, and fish guts slathered everywhere inside.

Over the course of more than a year of cleaning, restoration and preservation, While keeping the paint and interior original, they replaced the seized, carbureted, 250 engine with a DOHC, fuel-injected, Euro-spec 280 power unit with just a bit more than factory-original power and torque. A manual 4-speed replaced the automatic transmission. The car sits lowered on raw 14-inch steelies with Phoenix 185 white walls (correct for a W113 280SL Pagoda of the same era). As a final touch, the 250T has a cheap 1980s amplifier stashed away with a line-in/line-out cord that produces period-correct crappy, static-driven rock ‘n' roll.

The car is still rusted and smells like the Arkansas earth. JG even left the front windshield on the car because he likes to imagine some sandlot-lookin' fat kid smashing a homer over the fence and hitting the neighbor's old busted-up wagon. It may not look like much, but he loves it enough to put a club lock on the steering wheel every night.

1983 W123 240D

This 240D diesel sedan, with its special-order Orient Red (code 501) exterior paint and Henna Red (code 157) MB-Tex interior is another example of an rare color combination. When JG bought it, it showed 63,000 extensively documented miles, had all the original books, literature, keys, brochures and window sticker. Unlike JG’s Arkansas Traveler, it had been meticulously maintained.

As indicated on the sticker, it’s equipped with automatic transmission, power windows, air conditioning, cruise control, central locking and Becker stereo radio – pretty much every available option in the day. The paint is 100-percent original, and the bodywork is pristine. JG and his wife Kelly liked the car so much that it found a permanent home at their home and is now Kelly’s daily driver, a good match for her red hair.

1982 W123 240TD

W123-model Mercedes-Benz station wagons are a solid value, and this one-owner 1982 240TD in Agave Green with a black cloth and MB-Tex interior is one of the best JG has ever seen. The editors of The Star are planning to share all the details and interesting features of this original low-mileage one-owner example with readers, an early 2020 issue.

1979 W123 280TE

With only 3,633 miles since new and an incredible back story that may be the basis for another article, the 1979 280TE green beauty may be the lowest-mileage W123 wagon in the world. The Nickel Green (Code 870) with green cloth interior is also an unusual combination. The first year for the very powerful 280TE model, this car also came with all the options: Automatic transmission, air conditioning, Zebrano wood dash, central locking, Becker Mexico radio with automatic antenna, and third-row rear-facing seat.

Originally shipped to Italy, the car was never registered and still has its factory plates. The owner parked it in a garage on his estate in Avellino, Italy, where it was entombed by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake. Recently rescued, it is a quintessential time-capsule example of the model. 

Front to back: 1972 W114 250C, 1973 W114 280, 1959 W111 220Sb. 1979 W123 250T, 1983 240D, 1982 W123 240TD, 1979 W123 280TE