Mercedes-Benz W 114/115

The W114 chassis used straight-6 engines and were sold under the “230”, “250”, and “280” model names. The W115 used straight-4 and straight-5 engines and were sold as the “200”, “220”, “230”, and “240”. The Stroke-8 models replaced the W110 Fintail models beginning in 1968 and were replaced by the W123 series after 1976.

The “stroke-8” name comes from the designation for the 1968 model year cars – they were informally called “W114/8” and “W115/8” the first year. This name stuck in common usage even after the “W114/9” was introduced in 1969. Today, “stroke-8” refers to the entire generation of cars.

Innovations in the stroke-8 models include a center console (a first in a Mercedes sedan), and a revised rear axle. All coupe models used the 6-cylinder engine (and thus were W114s) and were designated with a “C” in the model name.

The Mercedes-Benz W114 was the upmarket executive mid-sized saloon model for Mercedes from 1968 through to 1975 (early 76). This class offered marvels of diesel technology such as the first 5-cylinder diesel oil-burner engine in the world. This series hailed an era before Mercedes-benz became obsessed with outdoing BMW, Audi and others on performance and power, although the 280 would have outdone most other cars of the time. This car had a distinctive appeal owing to its beautiful, classic (modern for the time) design and the superb level of integrety & refinement (what the E-class in renown for) offered by this model. It was given a major facelift in 1973 – which included some exterior refinements such as a lower bonnet-line which meant a more imposing grill & lower placed headlamps, and no more old-fashioned quarter front windows and also two big rear view mirrors. In the interior inertia reel belts were introduced – another marvel in passenger safety innovation, a new-generation padded steering wheel was added with a modern 4-hole design and quite a few other minor changes took place. The /8 also offered exceedingly good handling and remarkable comfort (again what the E-class is also renown for) not surprising as the front subframes & wishbones along with the rear suspension system were good enough to import into the R107 SL-Class Roadster of 1971.

A coupé variant of this model was introduced in 1969 with a ‘C’ designated after the model number. Where the saloon would just have ‘280E’ written on the boot lid, the coupe would have ‘280CE’. Although the coupé was the same length as the saloon (from the A-pillar forward it was identical) the passenger compartment was 19 inches shorter, the roof was two inches lower and the boot was considerably longer. It also had a more elegant rear window reminiscent of the “pagoda SLs”, chrome strips down each side of the roof and a pillarless design where all the windows could be wound completely away for “summer motoring”.

Like its saloon variant this car also boasted advanced technological innovation. 1969 saw the introduction of the Bosch D-jetronic fully electronic fuel injection system into the 250CE. This was the first ever production Mercedes-Benz to use this system, although it was abandoned 2 years later in favour of a mechanical system.

Type W114 refers to the 6 cylinder variants meanwhile type W115 refers to the 4 cylinder and diesel variants.

Models offered in the type W114

• 250
• 230.6
• 280
• 280E

There was also a 2 doors variant offered in the type W114 chassis and models offered were.

• 250 C
• 250 CE
• 280 C
• 280 CE

Models offered in the type W115

• 200
• 220
• 230.4
• 200D
• 220D
• 240D
• 240D 3.0

The Stroke 8 was named as People Mercedes for the huge numbers of vehicles produced by Mercedes-Benz. Out of 1.919 million units produced, 1.852 millions were saloons followed by 67,000 units of 2 doors were built and delivered. Thus this explains why the 2 door variant of the Stroke 8 are very limited to be seen on the road.
The Stroke 8 was put into retirement in 1976 when the Type W123 was introduced, leaving behind a huge legacy in automotive industry for being a very robust machine and could outlived the driver itself.