Introduction of the W 116 series, the first S-class generation.
The new S-class project
coded W 126 began. Werner Breitschwerdt (above right) was the project
leader.
Bruno Sacco was the leader of the W 126 design team.
Aerodynamic design breakthroughs
of the land and air transportation: the Mercedes W 126 and the Concorde
(above left); W 126 lineup in 1980: 280, 380 and 500 SE/ SEL (above right)
1981 W 126 Coupe 
500 SEC
Above: One of the world's most elegant luxury coupes of all times, the
Mercedes C 126
W 126 received its first and the only facelift and modified models were introduced to the world at the IAA held in Frankfurt in September 1985 to replace the existing models.
An all new entry S-class models, 260 SE joined
the S-class family.
300 SE/ SEL were introduced to the S-class series to replace the 280 SE/
SEL. These new models adopted the 6-cylinder engines from the W 124 series.
420 SE/ SEL/ SEC were to replace the old 380 SE/ SEL/ SEC. The 420 used a modified, rebored engine from that of the 380's.
The 500 SE/ SEL/ SEC received a modified engine after facelift, though the model names remain unchanged.
A new model 300 SDL was launched in North American
market to replace the previous 300 SD.
New Mercedes flagships, the W 126 560 SEL and 560 SEC were introduced.
Start from this year, catalystic converters were made available for all Mercedes models.
Jaguar revealed its XJ series III replacement, the XJ40 series.
In 9/ 1986 300 SD joined 300 SDL and was available in North America only.
Facelifted W 126 debut in HK
Jaguar XJ40
Adv. from a local financial magazine in 87
BMW introduced the new E 32 7-series. Later in September the BMW flagship 750iL was launched. Together with the new Jaguars, the new 7-series challenged the decade-old S-class's leading position as the world's finest luxury saloon.
Above: The new BMW 7-series, E32: 735i & 750i
W126 was honoured "The Safest Passenger Car of the year" by the U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute.
Audi launched the Audi V8, the company's first premium class sedan.
Audi V8 - U.S. version (Popular Science, Dec 1989)
Mercedes-Benz installed a line of newly developed multi-valve engines (which were built to use premium unleaded petrol) in the W 201 (190Es) and the W 124 series (the next generation of W 124 was named as E-class). Due to the embarrassing situation of the W 126 as it was due to be replaced in the next two years, the new multi-valve engines were not available on any of the W 126 cars.
A new diesel new W126 model named 350 SDL (with a new diesel engine) was launched in June 1989 in the North American market.
The position of W 126 S-class was proven to be unshakable though the range was reaching its tenth year of production. In Germany, the 1988-89 annual sales of W 126 was up by 6.9% compared with that of the last year. In contrast, the four-year-old BMW Sevens sale dropped by 14.2% in that year.
W126 retained its title as The Highway Loss Data Institute's "The Safest Passenger Car of the year" in 1989.
420 SEL - US version
Nissan Q45 & Lexus LS400
- US version (Popular Science, Dec 1989)
Lexus LS400 - US version (Popular
Mechanics, Aug 1990)
The C 126 coupes' territory remain untouched by the BMW (though long been put into comparison by many, the 80s' BMW 6-series was not supposed to be a direct alternative to the C 126 due to its completely different design orientation) until the latter debuted its new luxury coupe line, the E31 8-series. Other rivals in the class included the Jaguar XJS and Porsche 928.
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| Brabus 500 SEC at 89 16th Toronto Auto Show | Porsche 928 |
Mercedes-Benz revealed the press photos of the saloon version of the W 140 series - the next generation S-class.
Production of the W 126 series was cut to give way to the next S-class.
There were still considerable units of W 126 saloons,
about 14,000 were produced during 1991. The
production of the SEC coupe siblings still went on, though it was becoming
more scaled down as the year end approaching.
After these W 126 saloons and coupes had left the factory,
the production of the W 126 series saloon was officially ceased in late
August. Up to August 1991, a total of 818,063 saloons and 73,069 coupes
were produced in the W 126 series' thirteen years of production span.
Back to the W 126, a total of 97,546 units of diesel W 126 models were produced.
An interesting comparison on sales record of the two 560 saloon models: up to spring 1992 an impressive sum of 75,071 560 SEL were sold, compared with only 1,252 of the 560 SE.
In 1992 the last 38 W 126 saloons were assembled
alongside with W 140 and it marked the end of the W 126 series' long and
distinguished career. These 1992 produced W 126 included six 500 SEL and
thirty two 560 SEL. The total number of W 126 car production had reached
the amount of 890,000, making W 126 series the most popular top-of-the-line
luxury car series in the world. No other automobile manufacturers could
parallel such accomplishment in this class ever since.
The new S-class (W 140) sales dropped dramatically in Germany in its early years of production due to its environmental unfriendliness. The cars were criticized as being unnecessarily bulk and heavy.
Despite its slab-sided look, the W 140 was mechanically sophisticated and a true engineers' masterpiece. The car was solid and impeccably built, and it was the last "over-engineered Mercedes" which no newer Mercedes including its replacement W 220 S-class could rival it (not even close) for build quality.
W 140 Saloon and C 140 Coupe
All models of W 140 received new model naming. For example, a 600SEL was relabelled as S600L, a 600SE was renamed as S600 and a 600SEC was thereafter coded as S600C. It marked the end of era of SE, SEL, SEC model naming and best avoided the confusion of mixing future models with their predeccessors. After then a W 140 500SE will be known as S500, which would not mix up with the W 126 500 SE.
An interesting story: W 126s were back to HK
I don't know if it is appropriate to put the picture above here. The fact is that during the period bwtween the late 80s and middle 90s W126 sedans were the most stolen automobiles in Hong Kong and the sky high loss rate had pushed up the vehicles' insurance charges. The reason behind is not difficult to understand: the booming economy in Mainland China in the early 90s had driven the demand for luxury sedans. In China Mercedes had the most impeccable image and these illegal import RHD W126s could be sold for big money. The situation went out of control until the Royal Hong Kong Police and Chinese Police joined forces to tackle the problem of illegal imports. (unlike Hong Kong, cars in China are LHD). The picture above is one of the several "vehicle return ceremonies" at the HK-China border.
Production of W 140 saloon was discontinued in summer 1998. A total of 475,000 saloons were made.
Production of C 140 coupe was discontinued in summer 1998.
W 126 saloon with its predecessors
and successors
The wonderful cars in the following three photos are the latest S-class, W 220. The background is my hometown, Hong Kong.
Photo source: Mercedes-Benz AG
