Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I love this one. This is a 2001 Mercedes-Benz S500 that has been modified by Brabus with their B11 package and is also armored to a B4 level. I suppose the extra power is needed given the weight. It is finished in the wonderful color of Mystic Blue Designo Metallic and the interior? Oh, wait until you see what they did. I was not prepared for this.
I often wonder what comes of the W140 Mercedes-Benz coupe. They certainly aren’t as striking or stately as the previous generations, but they are extremely high quality and can still be used as a daily driver without issue. Production numbers went down as the generation aged, and trying to find a V12 example in the later years is extremely tough. Still, you can find a V8-powered car without too much work and judging by recent results, not too much money. Today’s example, a 1995 S500 coupe in Virginia is finished in the wonderful shade of Emerald Pearl, gets you into what seems to be a clean car without too many miles.
Some cars are all bark and no bite, while some are both, and very few are the opposite. If you were Mercedes-Benz in the 1990s, you weren’t concerned about being flashy and letting the world know what you were packing. Even more so when it came to then-small tuning arm AMG and their subsidies around the globe. Sure, you could order some different body work from them, but looking back now, it is extremely constrained compared to what we are used to as normal now. Today, we have a seemingly innocent S500 up for sale in Japan, although the multi-piece wheels and tiny little trunk badge is a little bit of a giveaway that this isn’t a normal S500.
I don’t think anyone has ever really slept on the W140 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but it certainly seems in the past 18 months or so that people are getting wise to their collectability. We’ve seen some really nice S600 examples sell for big money and then even bigger money given low miles and outstanding condition. However, they made a ton of W140s and I’m willing to bet they’ll be way more on the market than the demand will command. This isn’t a 500E or 2.3-16v, then was the very mass produced range topper.
Naturally, when I see what looks like a clean W140, I have to take a look not only to see the condition, but what the owner is thinking of in terms of value. Unfortunately this owner is slightly overestimating the current value. More like slightly.
I harp a lot about the W220 Mercedes-Benz S-Class and how it might be the most disappointing flagship the team Stuttgart has ever launched. It was the year 2000 and this car fit in quite well for the time, just like oversized baggy suits and trucker hats. Well, all those were donated to the Goodwill during spring cleaning 2005, but the early W220s lived on and still roam the earth to this date. A lot of these are now on their 12th owner and look like this, but some of these survived, and this is what we have today.
This 2000 is finished in Bordeaux Red Metallic, which is not to be confused with Titanite Red Metallic from a few weeks ago, and inside with find a Java leather interior. It is quintessential early-W220 with the blobby 17″ wheels to match the body. Inside, much of the same with a two-tone dash and that very tiny COMAND navigation system that was a slight upgrade from the maps in The Legend of Zelda. So if no one wants it, is it actually worth anything? Seems to be.
