All Entries Tagged With: "S-Class"
Fuenfkommasechs Returns! W126 Benz Site Extraordinaire
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via Fuenfkommasechs.de
W126 Benzers rejoice! Fuenfkommasechs has returned!
There is a lack of quality sites that cover Germany’s best efforts of the 1980s. Fuenfkommasechs was, and once again, is an island in this desert. Following an extensive and beautiful overhaul, the premiere source for W126 info is back.
A veritable treasure trove of insightful commentary, history, archival imagery, technical material, and new photography, Fuenfkommasechs articulates the grandeur that is the W126 generation Mercedes-Benz S-Class, in large, and the magnificent 560SEL, in particular.
There is one catch: the site is published in German.
Luckily, the site compensates with an early online version of ASR, if you will, providing a practical, if rough, translation tool for most any language…including English.
Given that I share with you an undying ardor for Stuttgart’s greatest of elephantine chariots, I could not help but share this most remarkable site.
Enjoy!
Linked: Fuenfkommasechs.de
Marketing: S-Class Ownership Circa 1991
Not only will you belong, you’ll be a step up.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
HOW times change.
Scanned from a M.Y. 1991 Mercedes-Benz S-Class US market brochure, this pic provides an interesting study in attitudes that contrast with the company’s more democratic, inclusive messaging today.
In this carefully crafted scene, we’ve sort-of said farewell to the Go-Go 80s and find ourselves within the walls of a clubby fortress of social exclusivity, wealth, and security; insulated nicely from the troubling early-90s.
Our protagonist, brimming with confidence – sophistication’s not only her occupation, it’s her vocation – is the up ‘n coming blonde W126 driver (40′s?). She may or may not be new to Mercedes-Benz. But she is new to the S-Class.
Whatever the case, she now stands one step above the grayer, more established lady (upper 50′s?) whose car is the stately, if now slightly dated W116.
Does that ruddy red symbolize a jealous pallor? The older Sonderklasse is positioned in direct view of the new flagship.
Message received: our younger lady’s pulled a coup!
The W126 wins the conversation piece. If it’s access she’s after, it’s the key to the club. Suddenly, our lady is now credible and emminently includable. Buy the new Benz and it will not only compliment your style but elevate you past your would-be rival.
The supporting text: “Over the years, Mercedes-Benz owners have stated their intent to buy the same make again to an extraordinary degree. Such staunch loyalty may be the most revealing insight of all about Mercedes-Benz. [...] If you own a Mercedes-Benz, this quality [...] will come as no surprise; if you are looking forward to your first Mercedes, it will be a pleasant surprise indeed.”
The message: like bullion, US securities, and shares in Proctor & Gamble, this time capsule tells us that the S-Class stands as secure capital; a timeless guarantor of socially accepted, luxurious, and ultimately secure transport for anyone who’s, well, anyone. Judging by the conspicuous absence of any other marque, we’re left to contemplate no other choice.
BMW? Whom?
Rendezvous: Lelouch Benz Visible In Film
I spy…
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via IMCDB.org
CLAUDE Lelouch, the French director-turned-stunt driver extraordinaire who shot the 1976 cult classic C’etait un Rendezvous, has long since confirmed that the car in the extra-legal race-through-Paris short was not a Ferrari 275GTB (as the film’s sound dubbing implies) but rather a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.
The benefits of using the W116 Benz as the stunt / camera car are clear.
Thirty years ago, Mercedes’ flagship produced Ferrari-grade speed while maintaining a hydropneumatically suspended ride that provided the fixed camera rig a smooth platform as Lelouch (the driver) raced over Paris’ lumpy 19th century streets.
However, because our P.O.V. is facing out from the front bumper, we never actually see the car in action from a roadside perspective (hence the Ferrari illusion).
…Or have we?
The above and highlighted screengrab posted on IMCDB.org claims to show the Benz’s headlights reflecting in the street-level windows of some magasin on the corner of l’Avenue Opéra and Rue d’Antin.
According to Google Street View map that same storefront today is home to a Serge Blanco boutique.
What makes this interesting is that it’s akin to catching a magician’s turn of hand – mid act. Equally notable is the dedicated sleuthing of one fan who took time to find this proof. Such discovery only compels us to further admire the original feat.
Buy S600, Get Free Gulfstream (jk)
S600 in that 70s brown.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
“BRAND” association. Isn’t it marvelous?
Depicted in this simple, composed shot set on some airfield, somewhere in this globalized world of ours (DE?) is a Mercedes-Benz S600 (in brown!) parked presciently next to the open door of an attending avion privé.
A natural fit, then. Motoring and aviation. Luxury by land and air.
Speaks to corporate efficiency. A smart, luxury sedan with king-maker power and absolute comfort for the high placed exec (i.e., the CEO or Chairman). Or the Gold standard for the celeb, personality, or simply well-to-do anon. Parfait.
Trouble is, this photo op seems a little too rehashed. Not that we haven’t seen this scene before. Because we have.
Perhaps, is it just me? Or is the great W221 Sonderklasse losing its luster? Those fat arches, colorless side indicators, and the severe cant to the grille – the sedan’s nose looks as pointed as the plane’s.
Not that the flagship’s age – even post LED facelift- should trouble Mercedes-Benz. Gold’s up these days.
History: Mercedes-Benz ESF Program
Four decades of “ESF”
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
FOUND an interesting story on Daimler’s media site about the company’s Experimental Safety Vehicles program. Mercedes has been producing a fleet of “ESF’s” since the US DOT under the Johnson Administration started a Federally funded ESV program in 1968.
Mercedes followed with their own program in 1971.
The fruits of the program? Read to find out. Follow the jump.
RetroClassics in Stuttgart: W126 Fest!
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Fuenfkommasechs
OUR friend Johannes Schlorb is at it again. Equipped with a fish-eye lensed camera, he recently set about taking some smart shots of a “RetroClassic” event in Stuttgart – featuring mostly 80s gems from BMW and Benz. The W126 Sonderklassen appear in brilliant form. Look carefully through the fotos, and you’ll spy the Silver Spur that found its way onto the floor.
[Linked: Fuenfkommasechs.de]
