Today I’m
writing about the Mercedes-Benz W140 S-class. Many of you who were born in the
80’s and early 90’s would surely remember this automobile. And maybe by looking
at it, some may even remember this car to be the same model as the one Princess
Diana crashed in 1997. The Mercedes-Benz W140 was one of the largest Mercedes
to be manufactured during the 90’s and it replaced the very successful Mercedes-Benz
W126 and not surprising, they were both designed by top designer Bruno Sacco.
The W140
had many different engine variations which included the entry level 2.8 litre 6
cylinder, the 4.2 litre V8 and to top it up was the 6 litre V12. The common engines
in Malaysia were the 2.8 litre and 3 litre 6 cylinder, though there are a few
rare imported models with the 5 litre V8 and the 6 litre V12, both known as the
S500 and the S600 respectively. They came in 3 main different body variations,
the short wheel base (SWB), long wheel base (LWB) and the Coupes later to be
known as the CL. And there was also a made-to-order limousine version.
During it’s
7-year production period, more than 400,000 units were built. As what most of
the S-Class cars were used for, they were mostly used as State cars for
ministers as well as high ranking government officials worldwide including in
Malaysia of which you could once in a while come across a bullet-proof model
even here.
There were
also many technology advancements that were present in this car and to list it
would be endless but do go have a look at one if you are interested as it’s
luxury will certainly blow you away like it did to me some time back. A good
example with everything intact and close to mint would only cost around RM 25,000
depending on the condition. Trust me, these older top range cars have never
failed to surprise me with the technology available during that time.
The short wheel base (SWB)
The long wheel base (LWB)
The Coupe later to be known as the CL
The stretched Mercedes-Benz W140(R) and the W100(L)
