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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.
This car sold for an undisclosed offer below the $8,950 Buy It Now on June 24, 2021.
With basically all the attention paid to the E55 AMG when talking about the W210 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, I think sometimes we forget that there was another V8 in the family. Well, technically two V8s with the aging M119 in the E420 and the new kid on the block M113 with the facelift E430. Today, we have one of the best early E420s I think I’ve come across in a long time, and even better, it is painted in Viola Metallic. This won’t last long.
Thanks the Mercedes-Benz W463 chassis from running 1990 all the way to 2008 on the same platform, you do get some mixing and matching going on in terms of body parts. However, almost every time it is someone sticking late model bumpers and grilles on an early example, but touching nothing in the interior so when you open the door you are mightily confused. I really don’t like that as the early example and anything pre-2002 in the US is a rare bird that should be left alone. However, today’s 2002 G500 is a little different situation. This is not a bolt-on bumpers job – not even close.
While the M5 may have the notoriety of being the first serious super performance sedan, it’s easy to forget that Mercedes-Benz really started the trend. As early as the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz was building some of the fastest large cars in the marketplace. They were expensive, complicated, and beautiful works of engineering. It took a while post-war for both the marketplace and the company to come back to full strength, but two cars created in the midst of an international oil crisis I really think point towards the character of their respective companies. First was BMW’s hard-edged, barely disguised racer for the road, the 3.0CSL – which we sort of just looked at. It was expensive, relatively lightweight, stunning to look at and pretty quick to boot – a sporting nature that would carry through to the current generation of BMWs, still considered the benchmark in sporting sedans. On the other side of the fence was the 450SEL 6.9; who else but Mercedes-Benz would put the largest production V8 into a sedan when there was a gas crisis? If the 3.0 shouted about it’s racing prowess, the Mercedes was subtle and understated. Indeed, option number 261 even removed the displacement badge on the rear, and outside of that you’d only see hints of the car’s performance by the bulging tires and slightly more showy exhaust. But stomp on the loud pedal and the best part of 290 horsepower was on tap for you – and this was 1975. Remember 1975? It was when the base Corvette had 165 horsepower and if you wanted to just break 200, the L-82 was your only option at 205 horsepower. A full 40% more powerful, the Benz was the match for sports cars of the day in a straight line but offered extreme luxury at the same time:
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.
