As wartime austerity receded and fiscal restraints were relaxed, encouraging customers to buy cars with larger engines, Mercedes-Benz responded by offering models with bigger, more potent power units. Thus the ultra-luxurious 280 SE Coupé/Cabriolet and 300 SEL saloon were the models chosen by Mercedes-Benz to launch its magnificent new 3.5-litre V8 engine in 1969.

An over-square design featuring a cast-iron block and aluminum-alloy cylinder heads, each equipped with a single overhead camshaft, this all-new, state-of-the-art power unit produced 200bhp courtesy of Bosch electronic fuel injection and transistorized ignition. Thus equipped, the Coupé/Cabriolet was good for 125mph with 60mph reachable in 9.5 seconds, a substantial improvement on the six-cylinder version’s figures.

Although the equivalent SEL saloon used the ‘New Generation’ bodyshell, the Coupé and Cabriolet kept the elegant coachwork that had debuted back in 1959 on the 220SE and, as befitted top-of-the-range luxury models, came equipped with automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows and stereo radio as standard. Significantly, the 280 SE 3.5 was to be the final model to feature this long-established and much admired body style, and today these last-of-the-line classics are highly sought after by discerning Mercedes-Benz collectors.