Today is another one of those days where I am going to let some photographs do the talking. This is a 1990s W140 series Mercedes Benz S320. The mother of all over-engineered Mercedes Benz. The reason it is in here is because of the condition it is in. It is immaculate. Seriously immaculate but one that is still driven on a weekly basis.
The reason why it is in such a condition after at least twenty or so years on the road is the owners had and currently has spared no expense in maintaining it. It belonged to a friend who inherited it from his father who has passed on. He kept on maintaining it for a few years and was the chap who decided to change the wheels from the original 16 inch alloys to 18 inches that once belonged to a Mercedes W140 CL-series coupe. He had then decided to sell it over to another friend of mine whom most of you know as the serial car buyer whose cars I feature in here very often. He is now a serial Mercedes Benz buyer from the looks of it.
But who wouldn't pass up such a nice looking S-class. This car is stunning inside and out. Really stunning. And since it is an S-class, it has all the goodies from double glazed windows, fantastic soundproofing, a ride that you could kill for (even on this pre-air suspension S-class), supreme waftability (it just glides on the road), a smooth straight-six 3.2liter engine and a smooth changing 5 speed automatic gearbox. The 3.2liter straight six makes 231PS and 315Nm. It could do 0-100kmh in about 9.5seconds and cruise effortlessly at 160kmh for hours. Top speed should be about 231kmh. And it weighs 1900kg.
It may be a tank, but it is still so easy to maneuver and drive around town (I remember writing an article on my drive experience in a similar S320 five years ago for CarThrottle). Parking is the only issue as it is huge. It does the rest quite well. Not in the sports sedan way, but in the full on luxury car sort of way. Even to this day.
The thing about the W140 is that it actually is as large as the current W222 S-class. It also has that upright grille and squared off bodywork that somehow does not look dated especially since it now has 18 inch wheels like the current S-class. This is a beauty. Enough said, just enjoy the photographs. I will eventually write a drive report about this beauty one of these days. With more photos.
Damn. This may be a tank and there is nothing sporty about it at all. I still get weak knees looking at it.
(c) 2016 motoring-malaysia.blogspot.com
2 comments:
Really nice to know that you and your serial mercedes buyer knows how to appreciate heavy german metal from that era. Never going to ever see this kind of no expense spared build quality again.
Worth to own one?
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