Kyle Hyatt's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE: A big, beautiful, hand-built heartbreaker

This big hunk of West German metal is my 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE.

The W108 chassis -- as it's known internally -- was styled by Paul Bracq and bridges the gap between the more baroque Benzes of old and the more modern cars that most people think of when they think "old Mercedes."

It's a short-wheelbase model with a mechanically fuel-injected inline-six-cylinder engine.

I've owned the car since 2016 and drive it regularly, thanks to our classic-friendly Los Angeles climate.

My car was a single-family car and has an extensive service history with all the original Euro delivery goodies.

It's surprisingly reasonable to drive in modern LA traffic, despite being relatively slow.

The car boasts modern features like a four-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel disc brakes.

To start, all 280 models were powered by 2.8-liter inline-six engines -- the M130 for those who are playing at home.

The "E" in "SE" stands for einspritzung, aka fuel injected. The 280S was a similar car, but used carburetors.

The Bosch-designed mechanical fuel injection system is very similar to diesel systems used from the 1950s through the 1990s.

It also bears a strong resemblance to the MFI system used by Porsche on early 911s.

Mercedes is well known for using massive steering wheels throughout most of its history, but did so as a safety feature so the car would still be steerable if power steering failed.

The W108 gauge cluster is gorgeous and features analog gauges for oil pressure, engine temp, fuel and speed.

The famed 300SEL 6.3 model got a small tachometer in place of the clock.

W108 and the long-wheelbase W109 models were available with either column-mounted or floor-mounted shifters for their automatics.