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19 hours ago, Rona!d said:

What matches to my "photographic" memory would be a Mercedes W142 (320).

Correct Ronald, a right-hand drive Mercedes-Benz 320 (W142).  Note Australian Ford Falcon in the distance.

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My initial thinking of one of the austrian cars was the RHD. Austria had different areas where RHD or LHD was common. With the "Anschluss" to Germany in 1938 LHD got mandated.

I like the 320/380 series, not such warships like the 500/540/700 series. I think today it would be the "E-class". Nethertheless a pretty expensive and impressive car in its time.

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The steering on the 320 and 380 cars is much nicer than the 500/540/700 battleships. The two folks I know running 700 cars have both had power steering assistance added. One hydraulic and one electric. The ex Gunter Sachs 540K I drove, had such heavy steering that after about 15 minutes on very twisty roads, I was exhausted. 

Wilson

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vor 8 Stunden schrieb wlaidlaw:

The steering on the 320 and 380 cars is much nicer than the 500/540/700 battleships. The two folks I know running 700 cars have both had power steering assistance added. One hydraulic and one electric. The ex Gunter Sachs 540K I drove, had such heavy steering that after about 15 minutes on very twisty roads, I was exhausted. 

Wilson

Agree. Also my experience with a 320A Cabriolet. Expected much worse.

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8 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

The steering on the 320 and 380 cars is much nicer than the 500/540/700 battleships. Wilson

I have driven only two examples and concur as to the steering, however would fit a super-charger as progress is leisurely.

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Regarding the Prunkwagen 500/540 battleships, a friend had a 1933 380K (W22) and its steering was pleasant.   I assume the later cars had too much weight over the front wheels.

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To me it feels like the 540 has far too much caster angle, which I am guessing was to make it stable on the then new autobahns but it makes the steering incredibly heavy as you wind on lock. The weight of the bigger engine and the supercharger will obviously not help either. Our Bugatti 57SC was just the same and the steering loaded up horribly on corners taken at any speed. I suspect restorers don't pay enough attention to correct setting up of caster angles. In the Bugatti, this is set by wedges in the rectangular holes in the forged tubular beam front axle, where the quarter elliptic springs attach. The 540K front suspension is weird with a strange double linkage from the chassis to the lower wishbones. 

Wilson

 

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Well said Wilson.  A friend of mine with a substantial collection of decent cars disregards the opinions of others and has his mechanics restore the cars paying particular attention to all the suspension dimensions.  On cars with a beam from axles and sometime others a very small Volkswagen horizontal damper is fitted to the cross-steering linkage.  On all the pre-war Rolls-Royces I have owned or driven none needed any assistance added to the steering as it had all been adjusted precisely.  IMHO, and I don't want to offend anyone, a lot of people in the old car movement had little idea of what the cars were like originally and furthermore are proud owners as a status symbol while tootling along at 30 miles and hour.

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Well, let's keep this going.  what car is this?

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Close enough.  1907.  Your turn

 

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5 hours ago, stuny said:

Close enough.  1907.  Your turn

 

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