The other I day I ran accross this article written on the british magazine CAR about the W140.

The words summarize what the W140 is really all about:

"Mercedes-Benz is the car maker that has striven more than any other to construct the world’s best car. Time and time again in its 100-year history, these efforts have been met with resounding success. Its current champion, the S-Class (1991-1998 / S280-S600), is the definitive expression of automotive perfection, and not merely for its unrivalled on-road presence. It is this car’s unstinting commitment to thoroughness, the completeness of its conception and the sheer scope of its competence that justify its reputation as the most sophisticated car the world has ever seen.

Yet the most astonishing thing about this Mercedes is that for all its formality, for all its size, it is as deft and as nimble as a competition-bred sports car. It plays the entertainer as well as it plays the faithful retainer – an ability that never fails to amaze the unwary. Equally astonishing is its detailing: the double glazing, the electrically assisted closure of the doors and boot, the modest flap that emerges from the boot-lid to aid your opening it. But all this is merely the outward evidence of the completeness of the car’s inner being. It is engineered for almost every conceivable circumstance, whether it be cornering, cruising, or even crashing.

It is also quick, and dead quiet. It will pacify its driver and cradle its passengers in luxury the lap of which they will never have experienced before. Effortless high-speed cruising is – in this car more than any other – conducted in the sepulchral space of the most opulent drawing room.

The S-Class reeks of quality –quality of every kind, a quality that runs to the very core of its soul."

[Taken literally from an article printed on CAR magazine, July 1994, page No. 139]

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A. Rosich
CL 500, 1998
S 500 L, 1998
E 320 T, 1995 [Sadly sold ]