Yahoo Movies This Forgotten 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC Is a Reminder of Past Glory
If your attorney showed up in this car, you were reassured. It was the sort of big coupe that CEOs, venture capitalists and country club presidents drove. Most impressively, it was the sophisticated machine of choice for Dalton, professional “cooler,” NYU philosophy graduate and ass-kicker of shit-kickers in that 1989 classic tale of honky-tonk justice, Road House. And now, it doesn’t get much respect at all.
Found derelict in Buellton, California, this Mercedes-Benz 500SEC is likely never to run again. It’s a member of Mercedes’ justly renowned W126 family of full-size machines that were produced in the 1980s. Well, the four-door sedan was built between the 1980 and 1991 model years. But the far rarer “C126” coupes – the SECs – were only screwed together for the 1982 through 1991 model years. While the sedans succeeded the first car to be called an “S-Class,” the mighty W116, the coupe succeeded the oddly proportioned C109, which was a stretched, hardtop version of the R109 SL roadster.
The W126 coupe has, in some ways, set the template for all current Mercedes coupes. For instance, unlike previous big coupes, there was no separate grille shell and three-pointed star hood ornament. Instead, the C126 used the SL-style nose with the humongous logo in the grille center. Ever since then the hood ornament and grille shell have faded as distinctive elements of Mercedes styling and the grille star has become the norm. That transition started here.
Bruno Sacco took over as the head of Mercedes design back in 1975. That was too late to change the W116, but it left the W126 and C126 in his charge. Moving away from the strictly upright, staid styling that had been the hallmark of Mercedes for generations, the two 126s were sleek and raked. They looked aerodynamic and modern without seeming trendy or overdecorated. Even now, 40 years after they appeared, they seem contemporary and elegant. Even beautiful.
But time hasn’t been kind to big coupes. In a world obsessed with SUVs, the two-door has faded away almost completely. So as pretty as the pillarless C126 is, they are artifacts from a world gone by. There may still be a few old-timers out there craving the presence and personal style of a Mercedes coupe, but the automotive culture has moved on.
This particular C126 is marked as a 500SEC and, assuming it’s not a grey market import, that means it’s likely a 1984 or 1985 model. The first C126 coupes were 380SEC models powered by a 155-horsepower, 3.8-liter V8 which was pathetic. The new 5.0-liter V8 used in the 500SEC was rated at a not-so-lousy-but-still-lousy 184-horsepower. The 1986-and-later 560SECs are more desirable with their 238-horsepower, 5.5-liter V8 making them far more athletic machines.
Mercedes built almost 80,000 of these coupes over their lives and there are plenty around. Prices for solid drivers are well below $10,000 even for the 560SECs. And this one in Buellton? A lot cheaper than that.
Yet nothing is quite as expensive as a cheap Mercedes.
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