[Star man]

Originally Posted by canonball

That W108 is not a coupe or cabrio, i suspect it is a 4 door sedan which has been converted, a common practice and worth nothing if that is the case, it would have just been a nice sedan which is now distroyed to make ? Those doors are small and not long as the coupe of cabiro's have (as you are aware coupes/cabiros have longer doors)!

It's not a W108 either ,unless someone went to a lot of trouble to reshape the rear wings like a W111.It isn't a W111 Sedan with the coupe/cabrio rear guards ( not a difficult job ) and the screen is too high for a W108 or 109.
I know all about cutting the tops off . Because convertibles were desirable here there was a guy who made many of local cars into cabrios .The blue one here(W111 sedan cut into a cabrio) was a job before and the white one is the same car after which I have just finished. It was very rough and i had to make new skins for the sides plus new front mudguards ,bonnet and boot lid. I also installed a 5.0 liter V8 for the owner. The doors have been extended as you can see.
The third pic is a couple of Cabrios that have been imported from the USA.,You can see the swage lines are the same as the primered car in India. Swage lines that W108's do not have.

[Star man]

Here is a stripped W108 I am doing at the moment to illustrate the different swage lines and that the doors etc are a lot shorter.

[canonball]

If you look carefully at the indian car, that front section of the door ends near the A pillar and does not go beyond which is the case on the red car (ur 1st pic - incidentally one such original exists in India watched it get restored in mumbai) which rules out the w111 as you agree. But the dash seems more w108/9 and not anything else (not even w115 which comes to mind next ). I still believe that is a w108/9 as the windscreen is typical of the pagoda's green house and the hood and fender side profile is unmistakable W108/09. Infact the swag lines of your last pic match the indian cars as well.

Hard to believe/unlikely it is some sort of proto/unique model or some bespoke car which slipped into India. I would also classify the indian convertible jobs in the down market oddball/shoddy category unlike what you have shown common in US/UK/Aus where genuine conversions with american or german V8's are custom made by enthusiasts who have some esthetics at least in by 2009/now. Back home we still have some way to go before perspective sets in to have hardcore specialist and onwers who have knowledge and have studied what they want to do with their cars baring a few dedicated folks small in number. The rest as we like to term it are cheap conversions used fpr weddings

[canonball]

See the curvature/wraparound effect on the front windscreen it is typical of the w108. Since we see w108's more with their caps on it is the naked effect on this car which gives one the ellusion that the windscreen looks taller.

[anish9000]

I bought a car from this gentleman, I wanted to get this merc too, but did not approach the owner for the same as was told the car was converted from a 4 door to a 2 door convertible.

[Star man]

Originally Posted by anish9000

I bought a car from this gentleman, I wanted to get this merc too, but did not approach the owner for the same as was told the car was converted from a 4 door to a 2 door convertible.

Any chance you could get the chassis number? then we would all know for sure just what it was originally. It will still have lots of good parts though such as front suspension bits and a diff.
If the body plate is missing from the front radiator support the numbers are stamped in the support itself or on the right hand chassis rail below where the washer bottle would live normally.
Re the pagoda,no chance of that resembling a pagoda windsheild because the W113 ( pagoda SL ) is only 2/3 rds the size.
The white convertible I rebuilt in the above pictures has all Mercedes Running gear,albeit from a W126 500SEL.
I am importing a Coupe from America which I intend to repower with a 6.9 liter engine with W126 running gear. A long term project I admit..

[canonball]

I did not mean pagoda tranplant or anything close to it but merely what is commonly known as a pagoda type greenhouse seen in the SL and also internally referred to as a pagoda type green house shared by the w108/9 in 4 door format I am sure you know this nomenclature or term used for reference purpose cheers.

[anish9000]

Can't get the chassis no.

[harit]

Originally Posted by Star man

This is a coupe with the roof cut off .A very uncommon car in either condition and should be saved!
Also the 1950 Chev convertible in the same picture is a very Valuable car in it's home Market of the USA. Surely someone with a yen to own a classic would wqant them more than the owners? . I would buy both if it were possible to ship them out of India.

Hello Star man,

Positively this convertible Merc is a chop top 108. Positively not a 109. I have seen pictures of this car from another angle also in this forum, and in one picture you could distinctively see the weld of the rear door to the body. Also, the front door is too short. Perhaps Karl can dig out this pic.
While there were many many 108 in all shapes in India, 109 and the coupes/convertibles in these series are very few.

[V-16]

This car has been discussed in detail in some other thread. This time when i went to Delhi, i saw it personally and you are right Star Man, someone has gone through a lot of trouble to make this into a coupe. The soft top well and the insides of the car (not seen in the pic) clearly show the rear doors welded shut to make it appear as one piece.

We would love to see the complete progress of the restoration of the W108 you have undertaken. Can we please request a separate thread on that with WIP pics et all mate??!!

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by harit

Hello! How many collections in India have been turned into a Museum till date? Not many. Pranlal has opened a Museum, Gondal did open his garages for visitors, Titus in Delhi, another museum is being planned off Delhi, another in Bangalore, Hegde's collection is there, any others? There are numerous collections nicely housed, but not turned into a museum. The Nizams collection kept at the palace museum is not necesarily a car museum. And preferably they should be restored to be considered as a museum for car lovers.

The Maharaja of Udaipur has put his collection for public viewing in a museum in Udaipur. Definitely worth a look if visiting Udaipur.

[wasif]

Originally Posted by manishk123

The Maharaja of Udaipur has put his collection for public viewing in a museum in Udaipur. Definitely worth a look if visiting Udaipur.

Have you been there personally? what cars are to be seen, if you have any pictures please do post them here.

[harit]

Originally Posted by wasif

Have you been there personally? what cars are to be seen, if you have any pictures please do post them here.

Somewhere in this forum the Udaipur cars have been shown. Rolls, Merc, Caddy Jeep etc. I believe that they are part of the palatial collection on display.

[ferrariKSA]

Dear mr.Ranjeet i like the collection,but also sad to see these machines lying in that state.well i can help if he or any one who is restoring these beauties for the sake of them i can provide assaitance for the spares from here in saudia arabia,we have cars American,german,korean,italian etc...

well work for Ferrari and maserati in capital of KSA.

regards
farooq