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After last week’s 22,000 miles Mercedes-Benz E500 that with the bidding ended at $79,800, I figured I’d check out another 90s Mercedes sedan with similar mileage that I happen to run across. This is a 1999 S420 with 24,601 miles located in Chicago. Unlike the E500, the presentation and documentation leave a lot to be desired. The mileage doesn’t lie, but when hit with a big price tag for a not-so-desirable W140, it is a tough sell to anymore who isn’t willing to dive headfirst into finding out what this car is really all about. But I’ll try to do my best with the little information and quick photos that I do have, but I make no promises.
I’ve been featuring a lot of really pristine cars of late almost entirely thanks to their low mileage. The reality is these cars are actually pretty few and far between. The overwhelming majority of cars, even German ones that hold a special place in our hearts, are used on a daily basis to rack up the miles and in turn, the wear and tear. But today’s car, a 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300SD up for bid in California, managed to defy the norm and not only rack up a bunch of miles, but stay almost perfect in the process of doing so. How so? Well, it probably took the perfect storm.
The past few weeks I checked out top of the range Mercedes-Benz S-Class: the S600. Last week it was the W221 and the week before that it was the W220. Naturally, I thought it would be a good idea to seek out the first S-Class with a V12, the W140. Little did I know, a reader passed along not only a W140 S600, but one with much than what you are used to normally seeing.
This car is none other than a S70 AMG. It started out life as a standard S600 then was sent to the crazy folks at AMG Japan where it was converted from a 6.0 liter to a 7.0 liter. On top of that, they added front and rear AMG bumpers, some AMG wheels and enough wood for the interior to wipe out a small forest. It is in every way the most ultimate factory W140. (Well, maybe other than the S72 AMG) Just when I thought I had the whole story of this car, it got even crazier. You might notice that despite this car being listed on New Jersey’s Craigslist, it is still located in the (country of) Georgia. Does anyone remember a certain BMW E34 M5 from there? I promise this will all make sense. Just stick with me.
A few weeks ago I looked at the W220 Mercedes-Benz S600 and explained that while it might be tempting to play with fire on one of these fickle V12 beasts, you are almost certainly setting yourself up to get burned sooner or later. Probably sooner. So naturally today, I wanted to check out the next-generation of the V12 S-Class, the W221 S600. Quality and materials-wise, these were a massive improvement over the W220 with almost-new everything and generally improved as much as they could. But notice I said ”almost-new everything” as there is one major thing that was carried over from the W220 S600: the M275 V12 engine. Is it still worth taking the plunge to get your twin-turbo V12 fix while enjoying a deep and supple message from the drivers seat? Surely, time and Mercedes engineers heal all, right?
I get really excited when I come across a nice W116 Mercedes-Benz. Full disclosure, it is probably because I own one and enjoy it a lot. When I caught a glimpse of this 1973 450SEL up for sale in Chicago, my ears really perked up. Being a 1973, the first year for the W116 in North America, it meant that this car had its proper slim bumpers and not the diving boards they put on these cars from 1974 to 1980. Not only that, but I saw some red leather peeking out from inside the car. Now I was really interested! Come to find out, this 450SEL had just 54,000 miles on and looks to be in exceptional shape. Of course the gears in my head started turning and I started to guess how much this prime example was going to command. When I found out, I wasn’t too surprised, but I also knew that this car wasn’t going to be a quick sale just because of what the W116 is.
