Sophisticated Lady
The original owner of this immaculate 1969 280SEL, Phyllis Cannon Wattis – known as San Francisco’s Grand Lady of the Fine Arts – used it to travel in style through the city she loved
Article Richard Simonds with Kim Staskus
Photography Daniel Lee
Call her the “Grand Lady” or “Patron Saint” of the San Francisco Fine Arts community – either attribute is a fitting title for the original owner of this flawless 1969 280SEL. A great-granddaughter of Brigham Young, and widow of Paul Wattis, whose construction company built the Hoover Dam, Phyllis Cannon Wattis was revered as a grand patron of San Francisco’s fine and performing arts. Involved with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art since the 1950s, she was instrumental in the museum’s construction of the splendid new building which now anchors the burgeoning South- of-Market arts district. Her philanthropy also fueled the expansion of the museum’s impressive permanent collection.
The Wattis name and fortune were instrumental in raising funds for the stunning new de Young Museum, rebuilt in Golden Gate Park in 2005. Her gifts to the San Francisco Opera enabled it to commission original operatic works. The elegant Wattis Room at Davies Symphony Hall is a testimony to the symphony’s gratitude for her support in the construction of its new concert facility. Phyllis Cannon Wattis was a consummate and beloved cultural leader in San Francisco and – more than 13 years after her death in June 2002 at age 97 – the arts community in the City by the Bay still sorely feels the loss of this sophisticated lady.
When it was new
Appropriate to her position in cultural society, Mrs. Wattis traveled the streets of San Francisco in the 280SEL she and husband Paul purchased off the showroom floor February 17, 1969, at European Motors, the San Francisco Mercedes-Benz dealer. It was a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan, finished in a rich dark olive green complemented by a beautiful cognac leather interior. Although the trunk lid wears 280SE badging, the car is in fact a long-wheelbase 280SEL equipped with coil-spring suspension; Mercedes-Benz was sometimes inconsistent in badging during this period.
Mr. and Mrs. Wattis were very clear about what they wanted and did not want in their new Mercedes-Benz; they selected leather upholstery and one of the new AM-FM radios among the few options available in 1969, but they did not choose to order the newly available air-conditioning because San Francisco never reached temperatures hot enough to warrant it.
The car served long and very well in transporting its owner to her frequent museum, opera and symphony appointments in dignified high style.
The big sleep
There’s a story behind the pristine original condition of this car: Despite its advanced age, it has been driven fewer than 35,000 miles. Some time shortly after its last service at 30,312 miles by European Motors on August 31, 1983, the car was put into storage, and afterward was driven only occasionally by Mrs. Wattis’s son, Paul.
Kim David Staskus, Paul Wattis’s lawyer and friend for the past 31 years, knew about the car, and about 10 years ago asked Wattis whether he might purchase the car and restore it to its original condition. At that time, and every time he asked afterward, Wattis made it clear that he wasn’t ready to part with the car.
However, one day in 2014 when Staskus asked again, he was more than pleasantly surprised by the response: Wattis agreed it was time to sell the old green car to someone who would lovingly restore, enjoy and drive it – and who might stop by the Wattis home once in a while for a little reunion with members of the family that originally owned the car.
Restoration
Finally in possession of the beautiful automobile he had sought to acquire all those years, the next step for the car’s new owner was to bring it back to its former glory. In fact, the 280SEL’s restoration proved to be far less involved than Staskus had anticipated. Jurek Sabik, senior technician at MB Garage in San Mateo, and Marinko “Mike” Balde, owner of MB German Car Service in Santa Clara, performed skillful mechanical refurbishment on the car, cleaning and resealing the gas tank, changing all fluids, replacing the fuel pump, brake-booster system and brake master cylinder, adjusting the valves and doing a complete tune-up.
With all the mechanical work completed, the car was next transported to Cooks Upholstery & Classic Restoration in Redwood City, south of San Francisco. After a thorough inspection of the old 280SEL, Cooks’ Craig Lynch reported that the car’s leather upholstery was in such good condition, it only needed a deep cleaning and treatment to make it like new again; the carpets were also just like new – a cleaning would suffice; and the woodwork was so perfect, it only needed a rejuvenating polish to bring back the original luster it had when Mrs. Wattis first saw it sitting on the showroom floor.
To correct the effects of storage – and some questionable “help” from various hungry and furry critters – Cooks replaced all four window liners and serviced all power-window motors. With a few very skillful patches of the headliner and a thorough cleaning, the interior looked as if it were meant to be on display at a dealership.
A talented female technician at Cooks, Amie Groce, meticulously wet-sanded and polished the original paint, bringing the car’s exterior back to life and restoring it to its original luster. Groce also made the flawless chrome sparkle.
“I was amazed at how Cooks really preserved the originality of the car and very competently restored everything to its original finish,” Staskus said. “It came back in stunning fashion.”
Life with the 280SEL
This beautiful car is a perfect example of the flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan of 1969. Finished off with Uniroyal tires, “… the car is in as close to original showroom condition as is humanly possible,” Staskus said. “Sometimes I feel like it should belong to the San Francisco Symphony or the de Young Museum – on permanent display. … However, I think the Wattis family appreciates that I have put the time and effort into bringing the car back to such a wonderful condition, and also that someone owns it who really enjoys it.
“I drive it once or twice a week,” Staskus continued. “I live close to my office in Willow Glen just south of central San Jose. Sometimes I go home at lunch and get it and drive it to a local restaurant I like, and then drive it back to the office. It runs so smooth, [it’s] like [captaining] the Queen Mary. The 6-cylinder 2.8-liter engine is just beautiful. It’s the perfect engine to propel such a large sedan gracefully and still keep up with the brisk pace of today’s traffic, which is nice.”
Staskus said the car’s leather seats help his whole body relax as he drives around town, which makes the car a pleasure to drive on a near-daily basis. And he appreciates other perks.
“I keep looking at the odometer while I am driving because it’s hard to believe I am in a 1969 Mercedes-Benz with fewer than 35,000 miles on it,” he said. “So many years left to enjoy the very same car that was enjoyed by the ‘Sophisticated Lady’ of San Francisco. Her memory definitely lives on.”
Specifications
1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL (W108 U.S. model)
TYPE: Four-door sedan CHASSIS: Steel unibody
ENGINE: 2.8 I-6-cylinder 2,778cc TRANSMISSION: 4-speed automatic
HORSEPOWER: 180 @ 5,750 rpm TORQUE: 193.2 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm
LENGTH: 196.9 in CURB WEIGHT: 3,305 lb FUEL EFFICIENCY: 14-18 mpg
ACCELERATION: Zero-62 mph 10.5 sec TOP SPEED: 115 mph
Daimler-Benz model badging could be inconsistent during the period in which this vehicle was built.
Although the trunk lid unmistakably wears a 280SE designation,
the car is in fact a long-wheelbase 280SEL equipped with coil-spring suspension.
Illustrations
Above: On a typical foggy morning in San Francisco, the beautiful 1969 280SEL is parked in front of the graceful Palace of the Legion of Honor – loved by Phyllis Cannon Wattis who was a great benefactress of the museum.
The green 280SEL beneath the stone gaze of one of the lions standing guard at the Palace of the Legion of Honor. BOTTOM RIGHT: At Fort Point on the south side of the majestic Golden Gate Bridge.
The 280SEL with one of San Francisco’s renowned cable cars on the Powell and Market line; at the bottom of the hill is the famous Fisherman’s Wharf – Alcatraz Island is in the distance.
Parked on Nob Hill in front of the Scarlet-Huntington Hotel where Phyllis Cannon Wattis might meet friends for tea.
In the brick courtyard of the Brocklebank Apartments, the 280SEL displays the assured sophistication of classic styling details, an impressive radiator grille and restrained use of chrome.
Revisiting old haunts: The elegant long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz waits in front of one of the antiques galleries frequented by Mrs. Wattis.
The well-engineered 2.8-liter fuel-injected engine nicely fills the pristine engine bay, looking as if it has just rolled off the final Mercedes-Benz assembly line in Sindelfingen.
The warm and welcoming interior of the 280SEL, complete with the sparkling original instrument cluster and lustrous wood-veneer trim.
The odometer proudly tells the tale: This very special automobile has covered just 34,594 original miles since 1969.
The rich golden-brown cognac leather seats and matching plush carpeting add to the 280SEL’s palpable sense of understated elegance.
Clean and capacious trunk, ready for a wealth of luggage or shopping.