No, I've never even sat in one - much less driven one. I wonder why they did that. I learned long ago that Mercedes engineers (before about 1990) did some things that at first glance seemed weird - at least to someone used to American engineering...... but after thinking about a difference and working with it, I usually saw the light. The first thing I noticed about those cars back in the '70s was the o-ring seal for the thermostat housing...... so much easier to replace than scraping gaskets.

There was a time when those vehicles were the best automotive value ever built.

Frank