A nostalgic look back at the history of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, arguing that the W126 generation (1979-1991) is the most quintessential S-Class.
For a car that’s designed to be serene, rising above the concerns of the workaday world, the S-Class has had quite an eventful history. Look no further than the presentation of the W140 generation in Cannes, when controversial R&D chief Wolfgang Peter managed to back one into a tree. And that’s even when early models were fitted with chromed pointers which extended on both sides of the rear wings in reverse gear to mark the big beast’s extremities. There’s no denying its decades of excellence.
But of all the big Merc saloons, which is the best, the most significant, the ultimate? I start my search by browsing through my collection of brochures, which includes S-Class models and spiritual predecessors dating back to 1954. After leafing through piles of material on a long, rainy weekend, the 1979-1991 W126 makes a very strong case. I’m also drawn to the 1972-on W116 that came immediately before it, but that was more about excess than style. It proudly wore daring colours, and the chrome content per square inch was second to none. Its awesome 6.9-litre engine arrived just in time for the energy crisis triggered by the Yom Kippur war of 1973. Another close runner-up is 1991’s W140, a mammoth slab-sided notchback, designed by Olivier Boulay. Like the rival BMW 7-series, it was available with a 12-cylinder engine. From today’s vantage point, it looks misguided, but at least it was distinctively, uniquely S-Class. The three generations that followed were in essence full-size metamorphoses of the E-Class: competent, comfortable, and commendably efficient but visually me-too and conceptually less adventurous. So it has to be the W126 that’s the most S-Classy of past S-Classes. Of that generation, I have a soft spot for the striking SEC, but I seem to be in a minority in thinking the S-Class is best represented by a coupe; Mercedes hasn’t made a two-door S-Class since 2019
Mercedes-Benz S-Class W126 Classic Cars Automotive History
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