**************Chassis*************
Sales designation: S280 [MODEL_IDX = 4]
Order number: 0 7 835 11305
Delivery date: 1998-03-19
Market: AG,Europe
Production order: N
Paint code 1: 366
Paint code 2:
Equipment:968
Engine no.:104944 12 021140
Transmission:722604 00 828070[GA]
SA code:
343 AIR CLEANER WITH FILL LEVEL INDICATOR FOR DUSTY ENVIRONMENTS
423 5 SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION / NAG
481 UNDERSHIELDS
512 RADIO MB SPECIAL WITH TRAFFIC NEWS DECODER (VK), WITH RDS
524 PAINTCOAT PRESERVATION
540 ROLLER BLIND, ELECTRIC, FOR REAR WINDOW
551 ANTI-THEFT WARNING SYSTEM
668 662 + 666
682 FIRE EXTINGUISHER
762 RADIO REMOTE CONTROL WITHOUT PANIC BUTTON
808 MODEL YEAR 1998
828 ELIMINATION OF EXHAUST EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM (CAT)
882 PASSENGER COMPARTMENT PROTECTION/TOWING-OFF PROTECTION (WITH ANTI-THEFT WARNING SYSTEM ONLY)
948 PENNANT HOLDER AND PENNANT STAFF, ON THE RIGHT
987 BATTERY CUT-OFF SWITCH FOR VEHICLES TO BE SHIPPED
In 2020, knowing I was going to be a dad, I stopped buying cars and dedicating less time to my hobbies. But with kid grows up, I wish we could travel in cars, it would be awesome if it was a 140, but we don’t have a car like that yet.
Due to limited free time, this had to be a car that doesn’t need a full restoration or anything close to it, and itself has to be suitable for long trip, which meant high reliability and low fuel consumption. It sounds like Bianca, 1998 S 320 meets all these criteria. As my highest understanding of a daily driver, she even has the scatch-proof white paint. But she’s a beautifully restored example, fresh leather is fragile, everything is new, but we don’t know what’s going to happen down the road.
At the end of 2020 I saw a familiar car, 1998 S 280, the color is 366 Azurite Blue, the interior is 968 Gray velour. The first time I saw him for sale was at Christmas 2018. I was intrigued by this car based in Beijing, I traced it to served the diplomatic missions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Beijing and Shanghai, initially as an ambassador ride. But I didn’t get him because just a few days ago, I acquired a 1999 CL 600 from Florida, in the same color, albeit a much rarer car, but then it proved to be an ill-advised decision.
I don’t like the existence of duplicate labels in the family, especially the exact same color, so I let that go. Two years later, I encountered this S 280 again. It and the CL 600 are two extremes of the 140 family, but I am willing to give up the CL 600 and take the S 280 home. Because the velour interior is very wear-resistant and easy to clean, the car has not received much care in the 19 years of use in the Iranian diplomatic service, but the interior barely has any wear, which is what I am after. On the road, kids will get the seats dirty, but that’s okay.
When I first saw him back in 2018, I called him a “Persian Kitty” because 140 is compared to a tiger in China, and I’m leaning towards the cuter cat, apparently this one is from Persia. As a diplomatic car, the Persian cat has few options, no sunroof that may be broken, no power seats, and no seat heating. Of course, we have automatic transmissions. I’m not a fan of the 366 Azurite Blue , or any blue at all, it would be nice if it was some other color. But for model year 1998, cars with such little equipment are rare in the world, and I can’t expect more.
Even though Iranian diplomatic agencies are not generous with their cars, Persian Kitty still outstrips almost all 140 in China. After a thorough cleaning of the interior, I replaced the damaged trim and aging shifter, polished the wood trim, I’m a fan of eucalyptus. Suspension side onnly four shock absorbers were replaced as they were turned into Chinese made replacements by the previous owner. The paint was mostly original but had countless dents and scratches, so I repainted the car myself after the PDR was done. In the end, the 2.8L engine had many fluid leaks, including gasoline, oil, and coolant, and I serviced the engine as a whole.
No excessive work, refreshed the rusted iron wheels, I washed the bottom with water and that was it, it outperformed 99% of the others on the market. Persian Kitty will adds a lot of fun to the family until he really gets old one day, and I will repay him with precision restoration.
To check articles about Persian Kitty, click here.