Recently this C126 has showed up in my street and it is somewhat special. It is, by any means, a classic poseur. The BBSs are huge and give the viewer a taste of the time when the C126 was the car of choice for pimps and other shady figures of the night – think Koenig specials. This one even wears a 560SEC badge on the trunk, but the speedo tells a different tale – it ends at 240 kilometers per hour which would make this a 500 or even the rare 420 coupe, as the 560SEC was the only C126 with a speedo reaching all the way up to 260.
Also fascinating to me is the cloth interior with a seat design that I have never seen before on a 126. Does anyone here know if this was offered by the factory?
I love dusty cars! The mystery! The tragedy! The story that no one tells ! Is this really a 560 as the vanity plate would have you believe? Was there a 560 without a passenger side mirror (I would think not).
Not 50 feet from the tragic king of the hill gone under I found street parked his grandfather in spirit – or should I say his grandfather who had emigrated to the US and made a killing there?
The 280SEL 4.5 was exported to the US only and never offered in Germany, where the top dog V8 ran out of displacement at 3.5 litres – apparently deemed insufficient for American duty. I have seen this very vehicle parked around my place of work for more than ten years now. It is kept in immaculate condition. And has no passenger side rearview mirror…..
I have a soft spot for cars who have made the journey across the pond and back, like an immigrant who after a long life of hard work returns to his home country – maybe because it reminds me of all my own trips to the US and back over the years? Be that as it may, there are not many who have completed the journey and the most interesting ones are the one that were never available in Germany. Seeing them back on the roads here makes for a satisfying feeling.
Like finding this W123 300D Turbo, parked right next to a bicycle repair shop that I frequent. The 123 in Germany was offered with the inline-five turbo diesel only as a the station wagon – basically creating the fancy wagon class of vehicles in the German market.
Continuing the tradition of importing Mercedes from the states back to Germany is this W210 E55AMG – the first of its kind that I have seen on German roads.
Apart from a rare US-only import, the 123 is still a very common sight on German streets, this being a fairly rare early C123 with the still-carburated 2.3 liter engine.
When you hailed a cab in West Berlin in 1980, your chances of this being your ride were like 99 percent.
A typical sight in my neighborhood – curbside classics on cobblestone roads with painted walls. This generation of Mercedes diesel engines helped coin the term “Wanderdüne” – traveling dune – Its progression through space was almost imperceptibly slow.
The R129 has been fully accepted as a classic Mercedes by now and for some it is the last true SL. They are not particularly rare around here, but this one is the first one in a long time to come along in that particular shade- Tourmaline Green metallic, if I’m not mistaken.
It’s nice to actually spot a classic Benz that hasn’t been restored to better than original, for a change. My grandfather had one just like that.
Before you say blasphemy, you can’t post the car that marked the end of Mercedes as we thought we knew it (even though I would argue that would be the W202 C-Class), please scroll below. I know how hard it must have been for Americans not to receive the W/V168 A-Class. But the high roof long wheelbase W414 Vaneo that was based on the 168!!!
Just look at the proportions! And while some W168 survived in the hands of caring senior citizens who appreciated the high seating position, the W414 – whose purpose must have been unclear even to the Mercedes marketing department – is by now easily the rarest of Benz’ on Berlin’s roads.
Such a strange vehicle: I’m gonna go out on a limb and argue that in twenty years, this will be a total classic and highly sought after. Needless to say, I absolutely want one – preferably with the 1.7 liter 74 hp diesel – good for 0-60 in 19.5 seconds and 94 miles per hour pedal to the metal – the true successor in spirit of the Wanderdünen from the classic era of Mercedes diesels and by far the slowest Mercedes Benz since the end of the 123 diesels production run.
Nice collection. Your photo of the orangish C123 in front of the graffiti is my favorite shot. One of the few cars that can successfuly rock wheel covers that are the same color as the body. And as you say, it’s such a “Berlin” scene. I’ve only been to Berlin once, a few years ago, and i absolutely loved it. Such a cool, bohemian city, and unlike Amsterdam has plenty of room to walk without one having to worry about getting mowed down by a bicycle or a “bromfiets.”
I also really dig the Vaneo. It’s just so goofy looking! But also very practical.
Thanks for the wonderful MB tour of your area. Often after reading an article I go to Google maps to have a look at the street view and check out the architecture, so in I went and purely by accident the first vehicle I saw was a Vaneo in Bayerische street. I agree they will be sought after, very practical for city use.
The colour of that orange 240D is so particularly European to me. That shade was certainly never offered in South Africa.
Ooh that quarter, so luxuriously long. That’s true luxury, seeing a big sprawling vehicle waiting for you every mourning.
*quarter panel*
I’ll take the coupes though the 2.3 gas would be pretty slow too.
Berlin has in my mind has always been a Mercedes city. Not just the taxis, but I remember vividly (from when I could only go to West Berlin) the big Mercedes star on top of a building in the center of the city and also discovering lots of Wiking (also from Berlin) 1:87 scale Mercedes models in the toy department of KaDeWe in 1979.
Later in a united Berlin I went to the Classic Remise car paradise where lots of collectible cars are stored and sold; there is a trove of historic Mercedes to see there.
. It is, by any means, a classic poseur. The BBSs are huge and give the viewer a taste of the time when the C126 was the car of choice for pimps and other shady figures of the night – think Koenig specials.
I find this to be quite tasteful, actually. The only deviation from stock are the bigger BBS wheels, but they really aren’t really “huge” in the modern context at all. This car is nothing like the very overdone custom C126 coupes at the time.
In fact, this is pretty much exactly how my C126 would have looked like at the time, maybe with one size smaller wheels. But then maybe I’m a shady figure of the night too. 🙂
I’m with Paul – it looks good but on those cobbles……..maybe I’d have second thoughts.
And go back to the 280SEL 4.5
The grey SEC has early side panels indicating 380 or 500, 560 has flat panels, trim looks custom but may be genuine as it appears really well done with original quality material. Too nice to be original given the age. It does have later 560 steering wheel with airbag.
The Tourmaline 129 SL looks more like Petrel Blue in the picture.
Nice to see 123 abound.
I knew someone via another friend who imported German cars from the Bay Area back to Germany between 1991-97. Mainly M-B and Porsche with some American iron thrown in. Said there was a big demand for them as they could no longer be found on their roads back there. However, by 1999 he transitioned over to his own powder coating business.
The memories when I saw that Ponton!
When I was a kid, so many of the European migrants around St. Kilda who’d made good bought a Ponton. Not sure where the nearest Mercedes dealer even was, but they were nothing unusual around Acland Street in the early sixties, a very cosmopolitan part of Melbourne before any of us knew the word. Fintails never seemed to have the same following, but later the 123 seemed to tap that same market; understated conservative quality.
Hannes, thank you for showing us around.
Was there a 560 without a passenger side mirror (I would think not).
You’re correct. 560 SE/SEL/SEC had the exclusivity of passenger-side mirrors as standard until 1989 when the rest of S-Class model range gained one as standard.
Being curious, I looked up the 1979 price catalogue for W126 S-Class. The passenger-side mirror with electric control was extra-cost option for all engines, costing DM 169.70 ($331.06 USD, adjusted).
Thank you very much for looking that up Oliver !
Unbelievable that you could get a 1988 500SEL without a second mirror !!!!
The SEC coupe has always been a favorite of mine. Although the styling is shared with the sedans, the fastback hard top, roofline really gives it a sporty appearance. It’s also the perfect size, compact enough to be practical, but big enough to be impressive. I wonder how some of my favorite American PLCs would have looked in those dimensions. The Buick Riviera and Eldorado for example. This car is just customized enough. Mercedes used cloth upholstery in a lot of their domestic market models,back in those days, though I don’t know if that fabric is original.
The SEC has original velour upholstery – standard in Europe. Most were single colour with a pale pinstripe in the centre panel, but at no cost one could have three colours (Brazil, blue and black) with ‘inverted’ centre panel. As you can tell I pored over a lot of Mercedes brochures in the 80s.
Thanks AI, that’s a very interesting piece of information!