Rhapsody in Blue – DB904 Midnight Blue, to be exact

Bob Buckter's 1971 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

Bob Buckter’s 1971 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet is the culmination of a decades-long pursuit of excellence

Article  Richard Simonds • Bob Buckter

Images  Richard Simonds

Bob Buckter is a renowned architectural color consultant and the visionary behind the famous Painted Ladies of San Francisco, the colorful row of iconic Victorian and Edwardian homes on Alamo Square. “I do everything,” he said. “Commercial, industrial, institutional. My specialty is historic homes.” With such an unusual calling, it was perhaps inevitable that he would become known as “Dr. Color.” Buckter is also a long-term Mercedes-Benz enthusiast with a keen eye for the timeless beauty and peerless quality of the vehicles from Stuttgart.

“I originally got interested in the Mercedes-Benz marque in 1971 when a good friend and Mercedes enthusiast in Frankfurt helped me buy my first one: A big 1969 300SEL Sedan with a 5-speed manual transmission that was very rare for that model,” Buckter recalled. “I soon shipped it back to San Francisco. In those days, most of my friends were driving much lesser cars. I loved the way the 300SEL whistled down the Autobahn in Germany and drew admiration and thumbs-up around the streets, highways and freeways of the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Allure of the open air

As nice as the sedans are, nothing beats having an open-air cabriolet. Buckter purchased his first in 1980, a 1960 220SE Cabriolet. It had been abandoned in a garage for five years with a seized engine. This model was very modern for its period with a unitized body, a low-pivot rear axle, fuel injection, and an all-wood dash with integrated passenger-assist handle.

It didn’t take too long thereafter for the concours d’elegance bug to bite Buckter; he began showing his 220SE at the Sports Car Club of America Concours in the Bay Area, as well as Mercedes-Benz Club of America and SFBA Section concours events.

Every minute flaw the judges detected became the focus of painstaking correction before the next concours. The concours bug is a subtle affliction; before you know it, you have corrected your way to a top-tier show car. So it was with Buckter’s 220SE.

Now fully enraptured by the marque, in 1984, Buckter acquired a 1955 300S Cabriolet – an iconic model that blended the classic prewar lines of the 300 series into a lower, sleeker, faster and more modern cabriolet, as well as roadster and coupe. The elegant cabriolet with its graceful landau bars that recall horse-drawn carriages from centuries past remains highly desirable today. A higher-compression engine, three carburetors, and additional mechanical refinement made the two-door models faster than the sedans. However, the cabriolet Buckter found was a rusting basket case when he got it. Not to be deterred, he carried out a full frame-up restoration and soon won significant concours awards.

Time for a change

But a new bug was beginning to bite. “In 2003, Richard Simonds, whom I knew through the Mercedes-Benz club, handed me the Judges’ Favorite trophy at the SCCA Concours d’Elegance in Palo Alto,” Buckter said.

“Nevertheless, having restored the cabriolet to perfection and shown it for almost two decades, I had grown tired of being afraid to drive it on the street because of the need to keep it pristine. Not long after, I drove to Roy Spencer’s Mercedes Heritage shop in Burlingame and mentioned that I might want to sell it. One week later he sold it.  That day I told him that since becoming interested in Mercedes-Benz, I had always admired the 1971 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet. One week later, Roy brought Lisa Fry’s (of Fry’s Electronics, a local electronics store chain) 280SE 3.5 from her home in Los Gatos to his shop. It was in marvelous condition and had been very well maintained, so I bought it on the spot, vowing that I would never restore it.”

Old habits die hard

However, as Buckter admitted, he capitulated in his no-restoration resolve in 2016. “I discovered that this metallic blue 1971 280SE 3.5 was made for the American market and emerged from the factory in Germany in DB904 Midnight Blue paint,” he said. “As ‘Dr. Color,’ that did it for me. Working with the excellent local restoration shop that had done my previous cars, I had it repainted in that beautiful original color, sent out the chrome for replating and corrected all the issues that one normally finds in an older car. With the help of Charles Allison at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, I obtained new rubber seals, gaskets and bushings, as well as a new windshield, navy-blue cabriolet top, headliner, tires, and other parts.

“I had the rear end and transmission completely rebuilt by Bernd Fiebig, the same guy who sold me my very rusty 300S Cabriolet as a basket case in 1984. The 3.5-liter V-8 engine had recently been overhauled, so I just had it serviced. The alloy wheels are original, but Fry had had them chromed, which was not correct for the model. However, I liked that non-concours touch, so I didn’t change them. 

“On the interior, the original factory parchment leather had been covered with sheepskins, which I removed, to find that the original leather was good, so I just had it reconditioned. Then I changed the shredded carpets to Wilton wool in the original navy color.”

Award-winning daily driver

“On August 16, 2019, I showed the 3.5 at Legends of the Autobahn® and was awarded first in class. Then I drove up to Ferndale for their concours on September 8, 2019, where I won second in class; a recently restored Fiat with a Ferrari Dino engine won first in class. On the way home, a rock kicked back off the highway leaving a star crack on the pristine windshield, leading me to decide to replace it again. I only want the star on the front and back, not on my windshield. These are the risks of enjoying it.

“However, that will not stop me from driving my classics to events. These cars were designed for the road and, in fact, do not do well if they are left to sit in a garage, unused. I drive them and then take care of any damage. I do not treat my classic cars as ‘trailer queens.’ I’m reminded of the old adage about ships: ‘Ships are safe in harbors, but ships were not built to stay in harbors.’ Neither were our classic cars. But just look at this one. It’s rolling art!”

Buckter is a true enthusiast, and a dedicated steward of every car he has owned.  He is determined to preserve every vehicle to the highest standards, so that the next owner will possess a classic Mercedes-Benz that is as close as possible to factory-new condition. His efforts add immeasurably to a deeper understanding of our shared automotive heritage. Thank you, Dr. Color.

SPECIFICATIONS

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet (W111)

TYPE: Two-door, four-passenger cabriolet

ENGINE: 3,499cc, overhead cams V-8, Bosch electronic fuel injection

TRANSMISSION: 4-speed automatic

HORSEPOWER: 230 at 6,050 rpm (SAE gross)

TORQUE: 231.5 lb-ft at 4,200 rpm (SAE gross)

LENGTH: 192 in • CURB WEIGHT: 3,638 lb

FUEL EFFICIENCY: 18 mpg

MAXIMUM SPEED: 127 mph

Illustrations

With views to the Golden Gate, San Francisco’s majestic Legion of Honor museum forms a perfect backdrop for the dark-blue rolling sculpture of Bob Buckter’s 1971 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet.

New chrome, paint, glass, rubber, headliner, convertible top and carpets: Each element had a supporting role to play in Bob Buckter’s rejuvenation of this lovely 280SE Cabriolet.

With its rebuilt rear end and transmission and overhauled 3.5-liter V-8 engine, Bob Buckter has no qualms about driving to distant concours events in his pristine 1971 280SE Cabriolet.