1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

The Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 are luxury carsproduced by Mercedes-Benz from 1965 through to 1972 to succeed the W111 and W112 "fintail" (German: "Heckflosse") sedans. The cars were successful in West Germany and in export markets including North America and Southeast Asia. During the seven-year run, a total of 383,072 units were manufactured. Some publications mention 383,361 units. As the W108 and W109 were only available as 4-door models, similarly squarish Bracq-designed 2-door W111 and W112 coupés and cabriolets filled those niches, and are often mistaken for W108/W109 two-doors. In 1968 Mercedes-Benz retired the M189 engine in favor of the new 2.8L M130. As a result, the long wheelbase W108 280 SEL and W109 300SEL (which shared a 2,850 mm (112.2 in) wheelbase) also ended up sharing the 2.8L engine through the end of production in 1972. Similarly, the M116 V8 powered W108 280 SE/SEL 3.5 and W109 300 SEL 3.5, and the M117 V8 powered W108 280 SE/SEL 4.5 and W109 300 SEL 4.5, shared wheelbases and engines through the end of production in 1972.

Mercedes-Benz refused to name these models 350SEL and 450SEL to avoid upsetting the release of the W116 S-Class. Following the strong reception of the limited production 6,333 cc (386.5 cu in) M100 V8-powered 300 SEL6.3 in 1967, Mercedes-Benz offered the all-new 3.5 L M116 V8 engine with new Bosch D-Jetronicelectronic fuel injection in 1969. The V8 engine would move W108/W109 further upmarket in many export markets and allow them to be more competitive in the United States where many passenger vehicles, especially the American luxury marques, were fitted with V8 engines.

The new 200PS (147 kW; 197 bhp) at 5,800/min V8 engine was first fitted to W 109 in August 1969 as 300SEL 3.5 then to W108 in July 1970 as 280SE/SEL 3.5.