Your classic: Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé

| 18 Aug 2026

I consider my car to be a sort of reflection of my personal history.

There are very few Polish-born residents in Angola, and a classic Mercedes-Benz is just as rare a sight in the streets of its capital city, Luanda.

My W111 220SEb Coupé arrived here in 2024, two decades after my first visit to the country.

Making my dream of owning a classic car come true was a fitting way to celebrate.

This Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé lives in Luanda, Angola, where classic cars of any kind are a rare sight

Luanda is a bustling African metropolis and hardly an obvious location to keep a classic car.

The main concern is not so much the condition of the roads – in the city centre and prime residential areas all you need is sufficient ground clearance to deal with potholes.

Rather, it is the availability of spare parts and expertise to deal with the complexities of unusual cars that makes owning motoring exotica difficult.

The Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé’s journey to Angola wasn’t straightforward, but persistence paid off

That doesn’t stop some Angolans from importing Porsche 911s or even Ferraris, but I don’t like the idea of a ‘weekend car’.

I wanted my classic machine to be an everyday companion, for daily shuttles between home and office, shopping or to meet my friends.

Therefore a high ride, simple mechanicals and the fact that I consider the 1960s a peak era of car design narrowed my selection.

My initial choice was a Peugeot 404, a true African legend. But then I came across an advert for a white W111 Coupé: it was love at first sight.

Air-con was retrofitted to this Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé

And, as is so often the way with affairs of the heart, you learn to be careful what you wish for.

I consider myself a rational individual, always trying to make as informed a decision as possible.

This time, however, I decided to purchase the car while in Angola, without inspecting it.

The advert was posted by a Polish Mercedes dealership specialising in classic vehicles, and when I eventually arrived in Poland to pick the car up, it looked okay at first glance.

The eye-catching Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé turns heads wherever it goes

I intended to send it to a specialist company to fit air conditioning, so I thought some minor flaws would be easily sorted out. I couldn’t have been more mistaken.

When the car reached Rzepecki Auto (a Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar specialist) near Warsaw, the garage owner frowned, but even he couldn’t predict how bad my car was.

What was supposed to be a simple modification turned into a two-year uphill struggle.

The Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé is Jacek Wasilewski’s daily driver

Fixing one problem led to finding another, but to summarise: the engine had to be completely overhauled, along with all the suspension; almost the entire floorpan had to be replaced; and the chassis structure had to be reinforced – underbody rust was so extensive that the car could have split in two at any moment.

I should have gone for a full, nut-and-bolt restoration right away, but for the whole time it seemed we were just one job away from making the car usable.

I decided I could live with body imperfections, and the priority was given to technical worthiness and reliability.

Finally, though, my Mercedes was ready to be shipped to Angola – although this proved to be no easy feat either.

Access to Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé spare parts can be a challenge

When the car was ready in its container in Gdańsk, it turned out there were new regulations and that extra paperwork was needed for it to leave Poland.

It took another five months to obtain the approvals.

Six weeks later the car arrived in Angola. The customs clearance went surprisingly smoothly, but administrative headaches were far from over.

The Mercedes-Benz 220SEb Coupé was perfect for its first job as a friend’s wedding car

Applying for the licence plate became a long story. Angola bans the import of cars any older than five years, but there is an exemption for ‘collector’ cars of more than 30 years old.

Still, such imports are so rare that it baffled the police officials responsible for issuing numberplates.

Being such a rarity, the Benz never fails to impress the general public.

Others on the road and bystanders react enthusiastically, waving at me, taking pictures and making videos.

Security guards at my compound instantly named it carro de novela – a car from a TV soap opera.

My Mercedes’ first mission was to take my friend’s daughter to her wedding.

Having owned the car in Angola for almost a year now, what feels especially rewarding is that I’m able to use it for commuting and other daily needs, not limiting myself to short weekend drives.

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