smooth success

Stuttgart, 30 September 2014

What that gets quite a H flag? So not likely a few car fans react when they hear that early copies of the Mercedes W 124 now knighted for classic cars. No wonder, the former upper middle class with star on the streets is still quite present.

Friend of the wind

The new sedan in November 1984. is presented in the specification for the developers especially the reduction in consumption was high up, eventually the fuel prices had dressed again significantly since 1979. The design of the W 124 is based on the little brother, the 190 - 124er One of the features is the on the lateral upper edges very rounded tail, by the sedan achieved a drag coefficient of up to 0.29. Not without controversy, the inclined inner edges of the taillights. In such a way that the boot lid are far pulled down. Nevertheless, the available accessories covers for the space between the rear lamps are a bestseller. In general, the unadorned W 124 seems strange compared to its chrome-laden predecessor on many tradition-conscious customers. But the renunciation of wood inside and outside chrome was chosen deliberately by design chief Bruno Sacco. The stronger he is bothered by the facelift of the year 1989, when the 124er but then gets much wood into the cockpit and change chromumrahmte sidebars external appearance. Spicy: Just this Sacco not so much esteemed bars get the name " Sacco - boards ".

bumpy start

But back to the year 1984: Among the new features of the Mercedes W 124 are the so-called multi-link rear axle and the eccentric-sweep windshield wipers. He is supposed to clean 86 percent of the area, but initially tends to smear. And the build quality makes at the beginning of the career of the W 124 for problems: Taxi drivers protest in Untertürkheim. One problem with the manual transmission Diesel is the " Bonanza " effect, a rocking of the engine block when accelerating. Speaking of Diesel: The engines range from 200 D with mild 72 hp to the newly constructed six-cylinder in the 260 E ( 160 hp ) and 300 E ( 180 hp ).

Gradually the mean time Mercedes - series (after today's count, there were at the car only C, E, S, S Coupé and G! ) Expanded. The T - model will be presented in September 1985, the station wagon comes with standard self-leveling on the rear axle by Hydro pneumatics. At the same time there is for the six-cylinder models of the " 4matic ", a highly complex four-wheel drive, which is very expensive at around 12,000 DM charge and so overwhelmed some workshop. 1987 coupe will follow with a shorter wheelbase to the sedan by 8.5 centimeters and automatic belt feeders. Parallel to the facelift of 1989 Mercedes brings out the saloon with extended wheelbase. 80 more inches make the car 's six-door model with three rows of seats. Be rebuilt vehicles at Binz in Lorch. There ( and other companies) also occur the distinctive W-124 - Ambulance.

dare force

In October 1990, Mercedes eventually stirs up the hottest iron of the 124 - series: The 500 E gets a V8 with 326 horsepower under the hood that puts it in 5.9 seconds to 100. Nearly 135,000 Mark are investing time, in return you get an enormously well-manufactured car, because the E 500 is built at Porsche and safeguard the company from bankruptcy. Only the subtly flared fenders and a lowering indicate the force - Benz. If you like it even less noticeable, selected from the 1992 E 400 with 279 hp. Like the rest of the series, which since 1991 also includes a four-seater convertible, he gets from June 1993, the E before the number provided: The E - Class is born. In August 1995, the production of the 124 sedan ends in 1996 followed by the T - model. As a final variant of the Cabriolet 1997 retires. In total, over 2.7 million vehicles will be built, by far the largest proportion of them sedans. Only 34,000 convertibles arise even rarer is the 2342 - built sedan times with six doors . ( rh )

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