A brief review: I found the car more or less abandoned in the desert southwest of the United States. The car had been sitting in a lot for a minimum of 5-8 years baking in the sun with the windows down. Not sure if having the windows down was a help or a hinderance, but the interior took a pretty good beating from the average 296 days a year of sun and the four months each year of summer time temperatures in the 110°F/ 43°C to 120°F/48°C.
Original MBTex interior from 1975 |
Bad paint and bad masking job. |
While there is no seat bottom or back coconut fiber cushions left to speak of, the MB-Tex is one remarkable product; still soft and showing only light deterioration.
Before we go too much further, it should be noted that the car came from the factory in 1975, navy blue on navy blue. Have to admit, I personally find that combination quite dismal, and a bit of contrast from the interior to exterior would make for a more sophisticated appearance. It should be noted the factory exterior blue was very sloppily painted over in white as currently seen, but it will be returned to its original 904 midnight blue.
With the option now available to consider an interior color change from the original navy, I inquired with several manufacturers on interior kit prices. The shop I decided on was German Auto Tops in California. The prices were unmatched and the owner was very knowledgable, and has been in the business for many years. I inquired as to where he sourced his MB-Tex and carpeting and feel extremely satisfied German Auto Tops will provide me with exactly what I am looking for.
MBTex Colors from 1972-1980 |
Now for the carpet which is thankfully a much simpler choice, and it will be Brown loop.
Left to Right: Final color scheme. Carpet, seating and dash, body
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One other factor has also played into my decision to go with a darker interior and that is wanting to keep the dashboard darker. For many years Mercedes and most manufacturers color keyed the dash to the interior and as a personal preference, a light dash color is not nearly as attractive as a darker color. In 1980 Mercedes converted to using a black dash top across the board, which I feel looks much more sophisticated. Again, since the black dash was not yet available in 1975, I decided to take care of the "problem" naturally.
UP NEXT: A trip to the body shop that will be doing the work where I will be getting a detailed accounting of what will take place, and the estimate.