Her Name is Anthracite
An extraordinary example of how loving care can preserve a 1971 280SE

Article and Photography by Bob Steele, Northeastern Pennsylvania Section

As a 24th birthday present to myself, in May of 1974 I purchased a 280SE, a stately automobile with timeless grace. I have owned it ever since, and I now enjoy keeping it in the finest possible condition as befits its style and quality.

I bought it from its original owner, Albert H. Dagget, who had retired as president of Gould-National Batteries Inc. in 1967, via a newspaper listing in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 280SE, with its rare and pleasing color combination (173 Anthracite Grey with 136 grey interior) had been built in January 1971 to the special order of Dagget through the Win Stephens Classic Cars Inc. Mercedes Dealership in Richfield, Minnesota.

Dagget had purchased the car for his wife, who was mostly chauffeur-driven in it around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. In 1973, the Daggets drove the car to Florida for their winter retreat and decided that the trunk was too small to tote their entire luggage collection. Upon their return to the Twin Cities, they sold the 280SE and bought a Cadillac instead, with more trunk space for their winter excursions.

You may wonder why I was convinced at such a young age that this car was noteworthy. I grew up in a town of fewer than 5,000 people approximately 25 miles from St. Paul. I have been interested in cars since before I can remember. I had helped out in my father's Western Auto Store through my childhood and when I was 14,  I got a job at the local Ford garage. They paid me 50 cents an hour to sweep the garage floor, wash windows, dust off the cars in the showroom and do other odds and ends around the place. By 18 I was also working part-time at the local Standard Oil gas station.

I was unaware of the Mercedes product line until about 1967, when one came in to the Ford dealer's garage for a tune-up. I had never seen a car like this, with the large chrome grille, the stacked front headlights, the sumptuous curves of the front fenders and hood, the subtle fins on the back, and the massive chrome bumpers.

It was a black sedan with a red interior. It must have been a 250S, as the engine had two carburetors. As George, the mechanic, did the tune-up, I spent a lot of time cleaning in and around his area, asking him all kinds of questions.

He said the car had an overhead camshaft sitting under that big aluminum valve cover. I had never heard of that before; all of the engines I had seen had lifters and pushrods, with the camshaft buried inside the engine. As George completed the job, connected it to the Sun engine analyzer, and revved the engine. I was amazed at how tight and smooth it sounded.

Then George asked me if I had time to deliver the car to its owner, who lived four miles away. He didn't have to ask twice.

I hadn't really noticed the interior until I sat in it. "Wow, is this real wood on the dash?" I asked George. "Yup," he replied.

I backed the Benz from his stall and carefully drove it out of the shop. I remember seeing that star on the front hood as I motored a few blocks down Main Street, turning on the street where the owner lived. The road wound gently uphill, flanked by steep embankments on both sides.

I had trouble watching the road, because my eyes were busily trying to absorb everything that was going on. The speedometer actually changed color the faster I went. I was going about 35 mph, five miles over the speed limit, when I said to myself, "Let's press this gas pedal to the floor and see what she can do."

I was astounded when the transmission downshifted; the revs went up as the sound of the engine bounced off the hills on both sides of me. Wow. I had never experienced such a sound as that engine pulling the Benz up the hill.

Thoughts raced through my mind: "What kind of car is this? Can I afford one? When can I get one?" Even at the age of 17, living in a small town, my first experience with a Mercedes-Benz convinced me I must someday own one.

By 1972, the 1961 Ford Starliner I had purchased in 1967 for $600 was growing tired and showed signs of rust developing. Recalling my experience with that Mercedes five years earlier, I began my quest for my own Mercedes-Benz.

I finally located a Mercedes I could afford, a 1967 230S. It had an inline-six, dual-carb engine with four on the column, and a full-width front bench seat. I managed to buy the car with a $2,000 loan from the local banker and my Starliner in trade. I was sad to see her go, as she had served me well and the countless hours I had spent working on her had been a great learning experience.

Then in 1974 I saw the ad in the St. Paul newspaper for a 1971 Mercedes 280SE with only 19,000 miles on her. When I saw the car, I immediately fell in love with the color and the body lines. Finding a small problem, I was able to bargain the price down a bit and the car was mine. I sold my 230S to a friend for what I had paid two years earlier.

After buying her, I added subtle gold pinstripes to accentuate the fender lines. My "new" 280SE was my daily driver for a few years, though each fall I would buy a $500 car and keep the Mercedes on jack stands in the garage through the Minnesota winter. One year I was able to keep the "winter beater" as my daily driver, and I decided to put the Benz aside to enjoy in my retirement.

Since then, I've spent many hours cleaning, polishing, and maintaining her. I installed a new electric fuel pump along with new tires and alloy wheels in 1984, new Bilstein shocks in 1985, and new heater levers and lightbulbs in 1992.

In 1995, I removed the fuel tank and rear axle for renovation but didn't have time to finish the job. For the following 13 years, she sat on jack stands under a cover in my garage. Then, in 2008, I retired and decided to get back to my dream.

I started by refurbishing and repainting the fuel tank and rear axle. I also replaced the battery, hydro-pneumatic compensator (that keeps the rear of the car level with the front under heavy loads), fuel lines, motor and transmission mounts, rear rubber axle mounts, brake calipers, rotors, and flexible brake lines, and installed a stainless-steel exhaust system.

The following year, I replaced the cooling hoses and thermostat, as well as the fan, alternator, power-steering, and air-conditioning belts.

At the same time, I had the mechanical fuel-injection pump rebuilt and calibrated, doing most of the wrenching on it myself with instructions from Hans at H&R Fuel Injection on Long Island in New York.

This year, I've replaced the front subframe mounts, the front sway-bar bushings, and the Bosch fuel injectors. In addition, I installed ceramic-coated exhaust manifolds and new Michelin tires.

Though I now call her "Anthracite," the car didn't have a name until recently. Last year when my friend Sue heard the car was nameless, though it clearly gets a lot of my love, she suggested naming her for her color.

I try to do most of my own work, but usually work with a friend on the bigger jobs and have been privileged to have good friends to help. Jim Kieffer and Peter Angstadt at Red Kieffer's Auto Repairs in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, rebuilt the rear axle. Jim helped me install the axle. He still tells people that everything in my garage was so clean that he didn't even have to wash his hands when we went to lunch. Dave Reinert and Todd Stauffer from the parts department at the local Tom Masano Mercedes dealership nearby are good, friendly, knowledgeable parts men, essential members of the team for anyone maintaining a vintage vehicle.

Today in my garage, even an oil change is a joy. I crawl under Anthracite on the floor and stretch the work out to a four-hour job just for the pleasure of working on her. And, of course, she gets a carnauba wax and her interior cleaned and conditioned regularly.

Anthracite now has just over 42,000 miles on her odometer. She gets regular exercise when the weather is just right, with low humidity and a temperature between 70F and 80F. A 30-40 mile spirited drive on the back roads of southeastern Pennsylvania is what she seems to like these days. We both have smiles on our faces when the trip is completed. She loves to rev as designed as much as I love to hear her revving up through the gears. I leave the driver's window down and the radio off so I can listen to her sing.

I even enjoy cleaning the road dust off the car when I return. I'm fortunate to have such a play toy that completely consumes me at the moment. I have owned her for more than half of my life, and I truly enjoy her every day.

For more details on Anthracite, see the mbca.org Forum for the W108-W109s.