1967 Mercedes-Benz 300SE

1967 W112 300SE Cabriolet 300SE/SEL Sedan/Coupe/Cabrio (1961-1967) Details: 1967 300SE Cabriolet This extremely rare auto is made doubly so by virtue of the fact that it was built for IAA Frankfurt show of September of 1967 as the example of the new styling and safety features which would be made standard for the 1968 model year. Listed on the Produktion-Auftrag 1 as a zu997 code Standwagen it was on display in Hall 5 Stand 805 of the International Automobile Ausstellung (IAA) Frankfurt. (If anyone has photos of this display please contact me about them.) Extensive chroming of parts, polish of aluminum intake, and black painted valve cover are testament to the extensive show prep the factory did to this auto for the show. New safety upgrades to all the upper class autos for 1968 are in use on this rare example of the last of the line with steering column, dash and softening of interior features to protect the driver and passengers in case of accident. The upgrades in safety are numerous and clearly meant to be used on the new year model 1968 which they did not officially produce in the 300 line for this model. Rarity is a factor in Auto Collecting and values. The 708 300SE Cabriolets produced over six years are about twice as rare as the 300SL Gullwing Coupe of which 1400 were produced over approximately 3 years. The 708 300SE Cabriolets produced over six years are about two and a half times more rare than the 300SL Roadster of which there were 1858 produced during the 7 years of production. Taking these numbers into account and the production figures for 1967 of 253 coupes and cabriolets together on the 300 line for 1967. Then calculate the number of Cabriolets at what was about 23% to 25% of that number and it is likely there were only about 53 Cabriolets made in 1967 on the 300 line. As we see this is an extremely rare automobile just as a 1967 added to this the rarity of being built for the Frankfurt show and produced with the 1968 safety and styling.