Safety was a growing concern in the 70s, but still in 1973 headrests were optional in many cars, even if we are coming towards the end of that era now…
Despite being FWD, the Audi 80 had a little tunnel on the floor, I think it was to improve body rigidity and maybe the exhaust was routed there too (which the game doesn’t seem to know), or maybe I am thinking about the Golf. Or any other car. Whatever, the tunnel is there anyway.
Also, the wheel wells intrude slightly into the passenger compartment, not that uncommon in compact FWD cars.
Audi 80 pedals just…exists, and a pretty generic pedal fixture works well enough.
There are lots of suitable parts from the modular 80s interior, like gearstick…
…and I guess a rather generic handbrake works well enough.
The 70s sedan door cards aren’t really that close but eh. Closest there is I guess.
Bare metal are disappearing from the interiors in the early 70s.
Arm rests are rather square and generic things, so this worked…
And they have the opening handle in front of them.
Vanilla cranks. Set to all plastic they look convincing enough.
Modern times. Even if I am not 100% sure, I have never seen a B1 Audi or Passat with static seatbelts, so I guess the inertia reel type was at least more or less standard equipment. That was at least true for a lot of cars by circa 1973 so I guess it could be the case here.
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The next car will be my personal favourite of all the COTY winners, the 1974 Mercedes S-class.
It will also be very interesting to make since I made its “little brother” three years ago.
The design language is after all very similar, and it will be interesting to see how much I have evolved…
We’re starting with seeing an old friend for the last time. The BMW body that have been the base for so many of the COTY builds are now getting a bit long in the tooth, but for one last time, it has the perfect shape.
I will also be doing the long wheelbase model, the SEL, since there is no good alternative for the short wheelbase version, the SE. The next shorter alternative is at 2.7 metres which is too short, but the 3 metre can be used for the SEL.
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Hopefully you share the file for this one when she’s done 
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Yeah I will try to fix and upload the files soon. None of them are secret, I have just been lazy with fixing the engineering.
I must say I am not 100% satisfied what the grille turned out like, so if anyone has better ideas on how to do it, feel free to share them…
First, I used this fixture for the sides, anyway.
This one at the top
…and this one at the bottom. And then of course I negataped the body behind it.
Added a mesh…
…and the chrome trim.
Now we are entering the era of “composite” headlights. So, it already starts to make sense to use MDHL parts. So, first, this one as the basic “bucket”.
And then those reflectors, a wide one for the headlight and a narrow one for the foglight.
Added bulbs
Used patchwork for the lenses, a more “dense” one for the foglight than for the headlight.
This fixture for the turn signal
Transparent orange bumper bars to give it the “ribbed” pattern
Added the small bumperettes below the headlights…
…as well as the main bumper.
Good thing the exact right wheels are available!
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The lower grille was added.
As well as the very narrow chrome strip surrounding the headlight/turn signal assembly.
Also, the usual boring seamwork.
To replicate the lower radiator emblem, I first added this Mercedes emblem…
Then a crushed metal round sticker, with a blue sticker on the outside.
Followed by a chrome 3d ring to surround it all. No, I am not going to replicate the laurel wreath, too much fiddling for too little result.
The ring also was useful to form the base for the hood ornament (yes, I saw later that it needed to be sized larger than this)
A chrome 3D cone as the “foot” for the hood ornament.
And then adding the Mercedes star inside it, but one is not enough.
Another one facing rearwards is needed since the backside is transparent.
Then, since there is a recess in the middle of the hood bulge, there was some body molding work needed.
The flat surface in the middle positioned a little bit lower.
And the rest of it level with the raised molding parts.
Added the vent for the air intake.
…and did the remaining parts of the hood bulge.
Wipers was a bit tricky to get looking right, but I think I finally succeeded.
Negatape was used to cut a new hood gap.
“Integrated” mirrors to the bodwork was something more or less new by 1974, we now see it on the S-class and we will see more of it on our future builds.
This piece of chrome trim is there on a real S-class, and it makes some of the bodywork transitions smoother on the replica.
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Started adding the side sculpting, which I guess will help to remove some BMW looks from the body.
Done!
Or well, almost. This crease should not be forgotten either.
Door handles added.
As well as the side trim.
The dark grey sills were recreated with decal patches.
Since this model of handles weren’t available with built in keyholes, I had to make that myself for the front doors.
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Too bad SAAB never got a European COTY. The NG 9-5 deserved one. It was beautiful then and now. It shouldn’t have gone to the Polo. It should have gone to this car on looks alone. I know it held its value poorly and couldn’t beat the E-Class or the 5 Series with the poor quality of its interior materials, but SAAB made something beautiful, and I will not rest until it becomes treasured.
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I know this is a little off topic, but good work! Will the SD1’s doors randomly fall off? It did come from British Leyland, after all.
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Whoops, by "off topic, I meant about SAAB.
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The base for the taillights are some really simple vanilla ones, but…
The “self cleaning” ribbed lights was a revolutionary design that became iconic for the brand. Easiest solved by adding some bumper bars…
Plate recess between the taillights: A vent with everything set to body colour.
Rear bumper also rather straightforward.
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The rear bumperettes/side trim is a kind of complicated design, I did a simplified one using two fixtures, not perfect but eh, looks right from a distance.
Gave the rear window more of a wraparound detign like the original, using bumper bars for the window trim, and translucent patchwork for the glass.
Worked on the new door frames
And the patchwork for the C-pillar
Also, the wide rain gutter on the W116 luckily can hide a lot…
Almost possible to see what it is going to be now?
Badges on the trunklid.
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I love this series for showing how many details real cars have, and how much they can affect the overall look. I’ve missed it, good to see it back 
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Doing some of the brightwork in the rear, and I guess the pictures speaks for themselves.
A slight adjustment of the shutline of the trunklid.
Maybe a sunroof? It is a luxury car after all.
The fuel filler door is a relatively simple affair.
Dual exhaust, angled down. I don’t think there is a twin pipe version of that one so I had to put two in there.
Aerial…
The obligatory pics, and yes, I guess you see the W116 even with the main body removed.
735 Astralsilber was my choice of paint, doesn’t get much more 70s/80s Mercedes than that.
Now on to the interior. I am just going to ask one thing first. @G_Fera , are the seats on your list of mods to make? It feels a bit respectless to ask for them and then not use them, so if they are on the way, I will wait and maybe just put in some place holders to see the proportions of the interior. If you don’t think you’re going to make them, I’ll figure out how to scratch build them instead…
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TBH when I think of Mercedes from that era, I think of the W123, and when I think of W123, I usually picture it in green that seems to be 880 Agavengruen. Although I admit that I found the name on a site called… astralsilber.de, so you seem to be right 
Well, good news then! I almost finished the front seats and will start working the bench rear seats this week. I have no idea when the full pack will release, but I could arrange to send you a WIP “beta” version if you need it soon
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Oh, I can wait, that’s not a problem, I just wanted to know if they were actually coming.
The headrest shape wasn’t all that uncommon in this era but we don’t have anything really resembling it, so…I try to only use mods available to the public, but this time your offer to make seat mods came at such a great time, so I could “bend” that rule a bit, haha.
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I mean… It will become public eventually right?
Also, I knew this would be a little bit controversial, so let me explain my thoughts behind this:
Yes. More common was actually the “funky” colours (my daily, 1979 W123, is the horrible “Kaledoniengrün” shade, lol). So, what did I actually mean?
Well, every brand made “funky” colours by the 70s. When it came to silver, it feels like the opposite of today, when every car you see is somewhere on the greyscale. It wasn’t all that common during the 70s or the first half of the 80s. It feels that the brand where silver cars were common was Mercedes, probably a nod to the racing heritage. It’s a colour that feels “iconic” to the brand, maybe not as much as Rosso Corsa to Ferrari, but still.
Also, I remember that while silver cars of other brands did exist, they were a bit boring. Astralsilber (or the later brilliantsilber) was shimmering in a way other brands didn’t seem to match all that well. Sure, Mercedes might have had “a bit” higher quality level on their paintjobs than lower end brands like Opel or VW…
Also, if I was making a 280S I could as well have made it some typical 70s yellow or green, I just felt that the 450 SEL (which I did choose because I could find a closer wheelbase match) deserved a metallic, and Astralsilber felt a bit typical to the brand. Good enough explanation?
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