Sedan
The W111-based W112 had always been a compromise for Mercedes-Benz, which for the first time did not have a separate platform for its most expensive and prestigious model. Instead, it was forced to share a chassis that cascaded all the way down to a 220S.
To attempt to compensate, the W112 received the company's largest engine, the mechanically fuel-injected 3.0 litre M189, was given luxurious appointments and features, and a great deal of chrome. As the W112 sedan platform was much smaller than either the (W189) 300 Adenauer limousine that preceded it, or the imposing (W100) 600 Grosser Mercedes set to appear in 1963, a long-wheelbase version was created, debuting in March 1963 to try to fill the enormous vacuum below the 600. Although the stretched 300SE was equivalent to an "SEL" in size and spaciousness, that designation (reflecting an L added an for "Lang", "long" in German), did not arrive until the subsequent W108 and W109 models.[1]
While the W112 was always a very exclusive automobile, its low production numbers reflect a combination of a very high price and limited demand, as it lacked the size, overwhelming luxury, and cachet of the top of the range 300d and 600 flagships which bracketed its production, in addition to being too similar to the mass-produced W110s (which were common as taxicabs) and W111s.[4] In 1962, for every W112 sedan 24 W111s rolled off the production line, while by 1964 this ratio approached 40 to 1. In the end, the W112 sedan turned out to be very short-lived. In 1962, the last year of the W189 300d, a total of 2,769 W112s of all models were built. With the company's top niche filled in 1963 by the 600, sales plummeted to less than half, just 1,382 units. Pending the arrival of the W108/109 series in 1965, sedan W112 production was dropped (but the Bracq-bodied coupe and cabriolet models continued on). A total of 5,202 300SE sedans in standard and long wheelbase were built over its five-year run, 3,656 short and 1,546 long.[5]
Coupe and Cabriolet
Upscale coupe and cabriolet versions of the W111 had debuted in 1961 as the 220SE. Their strikingly more modern, elegant Paul Bracq designed bodywork lacked the badly dating upwardly-raked pointed fintails of the sedans, and aged much better.[6]
In 1962 the more luxurious yet 3.0 litre M189 engine powered 300SE coupe and cabriolet appeared. These exclusive, top-of-the-range specialty cars had no equal or superior of their type in the company and enjoyed an elevated status through their model runs. Reflecting this, five 220SE cabriolets, for example, sold to every equivalent 300SE.
Production of both W111 and W112 range two-doors continued after the 1965 coming of the new generation W108/W109 sedans.
In November 1967 the 300SE coupe and cabriolet's aging mechanically fuel-injected M189 was replaced by a new 2.8 litre electronically fuel-injected straight-6 used in the W111 280SE. At least one 300SE cabriolet with an M189 engine was produced for the Frankfurt Auto show with updated equipment and styling for the 1968 standards, but the line was discontinued before the new year for all two-door W112 autos. A total of 2,419 coupes and cabriolets were built.
