First Love – Thomas McGregor’s 1959 220SE | MBCA

Vicki Wilson

This is the story of a gentleman who harbored two great loves spanning nearly six decades of his life: his lovely wife Ellen of 53 years and a 1959 Mercedes-Benz 220SE of 56 years … and still counting.

First Love – Thomas McGregor’s 1959 220SE

Article Vicki H. Wilson

Images Vicki Wilson & Thomas McGregor

Retired Army Aviation Lt. Colonel McGregor’s military history began in 1950 when he enlisted in U.S. Army Reserve in New York City. Becoming active in 1952, he trained as a medical corpsman and then transferred to the infantry’s Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. His first tour of duty in Korea soon followed. Back in the states, McGregor completed flight school and helicopter training and was then sent to Germany.

Munich was where he said he spotted “the first love of my life,” the most beautiful automobile he had ever seen – a Mercedes-Benz 190SL. Then and there, he decided he had to have one. However, the practical young bachelor also realized that marriage and family were likely in his future, so instead of the 190SL, he saved money during the next three years to buy a 220SE five-passenger cabriolet. During that time, he was touring Germany in a 1953 Volkswagen he bought for $60 – and later sold for $60. That VW, with his skis attached to the rack, took him on many adventures throughout Germany during the three in-service years he was saving to buy that Mercedes.

Manufacturing was still in post-World War II catch-up mode and production of the 1959 black with red leather interior beauty took six months after he placed his order. He paid 23,200 Deutschmarks (about $5,600) for his new love.

About that time, McGregor was one of eight pilots flying four helicopters who were sent to Paris for 12 days on a special mission to support President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s visit with French President Charles de Gaulle. The Army aviators flew dignitaries to and from the Élysée Palace where meetings were held, around the Eiffel Tower and down the Seine River to Chateau de Rambouillet, de Gaulle’s residence 30 miles southwest of Paris where Eisenhower was staying. Lt. Colonel McGregor still treasures fond memories from that experience.

A family emergency required McGregor to fly home to New York about the time his Mercedes was ready for pick up in Munich. Consequently, a friend was the first to drive his long-anticipated 220SE, taking it to the Port of Bremerhaven in Germany for transport to New York’s military port in Brooklyn. Assigned to Fort Benning after his return to the states, McGregor savored every mile of his drive in his new Mercedes-Benz from New York to Georgia.

McGregor’s insightful decision to purchase the 220SE rather than the 190SL was soon validated. The New York native’s bachelor status ended shortly after he met Ellen, a beautiful Southern belle, in Columbus, Georgia. Over time, the 220SE gained three young passengers for its back seat.

Ellen, who loved driving the Mercedes, became its trusted custodian while Lt. Colonel McGregor, piloting an H-37 Huey with the 6th Helicopter Transportation Company, was on his second tour in Korea. Next, the family moved to Fort Eustis, Virginia, where McGregor enrolled in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps’ career course; the family then returned with him to Fort Benning when he joined the 10th Aviation Brigade, 11th Air Assault Division. His unit was renamed the 1st Cavalry Division (Airborne) before deployment to Vietnam in 1965. McGregor flew CH-47 Chinook helicopters throughout his 13 months in Vietnam.

Upon returning to Fort Benning, he was assigned to the 10th Aviation Group, commanding a battalion-size company of 550 men. His final assignment was five years on the general staff before retiring in 1973. The 220SE and the family moved to Albany, Georgia, as he began civilian life managing a real estate trust before heading to Chicago to work in commercial real estate for the Santa Fe Railroad. After enduring eight Chicago winters (including the first that dumped 90 inches of snow), the family headed back to Georgia for warmer climes, leaving the Mercedes in storage.

Before that first Windy City winter, Lt. Colonel McGregor put his beloved Mercedes in storage where it eventually remained for 20 years. He had replaced the convertible top some time earlier, but improper size and fit allowed it to leak; during its long stretch in storage, rust and leaking battery acid were unmerciful in their attacks. Back in Atlanta, the family’s transportation became a 1986 Lincoln Town Car for work and a 1988 Toyota Cressida for Ellen’s daily routines. Lt. Colonel McGregor still uses those cars to this day.

With his three children long grown up and on their own – and a long-held desire to restore his first love to its original state – Lt. Colonel McGregor began a search for the right restoration source. In time, he spotted a perfectly restored 1962 Mercedes-Benz convertible in an Atlanta parking garage; he left his business card in the driver’s seat seeking a reference. The recommendation was Bud’s Benz in Douglasville, Georgia. Checking out Bud’s Benz, McGregor spotted a Rolls Royce being restored. That car and the strong verbal recommendation from the Mercedes owner clinched his decision.

For many years, Ellen had maintained a savings account and insisted that her husband earmark those funds to restore their much-loved 220SE. They were the only ones who ever drove the Mercedes: The driver’s seat was strictly verboten to their children. The in-sad-condition Mercedes was shipped from Chicago in 2010, and what became a four-year project got underway. Every meticulous step of the disassembly was photographed to ensure the hundreds of repaired, refurbished or remanufactured puzzle pieces would fit back together.

Paint was stripped to bare metal and sanded smooth; approximately 100 chrome pieces were sent to a specialist in Alabama for show-quality replating; and the engine block was sent to a company in California for a rebuild. Back at Bud’s Benz, the fuel-injection pump and transmission were completely rebuilt; all gauges and dash pieces painstakingly reconditioned; and leather upholstery entirely redone outside the car – some pieces required remanufacturing. And some dash wood and one convertible top frame had to be remanufactured. Everything was done to show-quality standards.

While Lt. Colonel McGregor won’t say what the total project cost, he did say the chrome replating alone cost $26,000. That figure, according to Bud’s Benz owner David Latham, would be even higher today. What he would tell us is that the beautifully restored 220SE is insured with Hagerty Insurance for more than $200,000. Latham emphasized that the most challenging aspect of the restoration process was fitting all refurbished and remanufactured pieces together – especially trying to avoid breaking clips. Since completion more than two years ago, Latham continues a close relationship with Lt. Colonel McGregor; neither he or one of his technicians hesitates to make the one-hour drive each way to help 85-year old McGregor with raising or lowering the heavy wood-framed convertible top when he wants to take a spin in his first love.

During the long restoration, Ellen’s health was quickly failing; Lt. Colonel McGregor was anxious to take his bride of 53 years for a last ride in the car they both so loved. With sun out and top down, McGregor drove while his wife smiled and waved to everyone she saw along their familiar route through Peachtree City. That last drive with his lovely Ellen in the car they had both loved for so many years made the restoration all worthwhile.

Lt. Col. Thomas McGregor (U.S. Army, Ret) and the car he first loved, his 220SE Cabriolet

Lt. Colonel Thomas McGregor joined the Mercedes-Benz Club of America in the early 1960s, just like other servicemen who returned home with Mercedes-Benzes from their European tours of duty. These new owners realized there were no mechanics trained to work on their German-made cars (like the Studebaker dealership in Augusta, Georgia, with a contract to sell Mercedes-Benz, but no expertise to repair them). This typical situation nationwide became the impetus for organizing the MBCA as a shared resource for Mercedes-Benz owners. Col. McGregor let his MBCA membership expire for many years due to overseas deployments and family moves. But once his 1959 beauty was restored, he rejoined for participation eligibility in the club’s car shows. He is currently a member in the Peachtree Section.