Quote:
Originally Posted by MrOwl42
Does anyone have good sources/stories to verify the safety of a W123? I've got a 1977 300D, I know it doesn't have airbags, but still is an extremely solid car with crumple zones. Some people are questioning the safety of it, so I was wondering if anyone had some sources or ways to prove it's safety. Pros as well as cons are welcome.
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It was safer than any other car on the road when it was new and for some years to come thereafter, except for an S-Class Benz. People who tell you it's an unsafe car are idiots.
A lot of drivvle is written about modern cars being safer because of ABS, better handling etc so you can "avoid' the accident. That may be so in some circumstances. But you can be involved in an accident when sitting stationary at a traffic light and some dumbass runs a red light when all the gizmology in the world wont save you. The only thing that matters in that case is the strength and design of the vehicle you are sitting in.
Almost fifty years after the W123 debuted it's possible that if you buy a new car you might emerge from an impact better off than if you were in a W123 but In my opinion you're as better off or better off in a W123 than many if not most of the average cars built over the last fifty years.
Regarding the advert of the Chapmans peak crash. I recall seeing that when I was a youngun back in SA. BMW immediately countered with a really weak ad claiming that if he'd been in a BMW he wouldn't have left fallen asleep at the wheel and gone over the edge in the first place. It was a pathetic attempt at a riposte and they dropped it pretty quickly as I recall.
Interestingly nobody ever tried duplicating that feat in a Five series BMW...
However that is not the last time a W123 saved it's owners life in that manner. Some years later a similar incident occurred in Lesotho. A landlocked mountainous kingdom completely surrounded by South Africa. A 123 owner survived a similar plunge down a mountain cliff side. And Mercedes Benz also used that incident in an ad campaign. Interestingly enough BMW didn't even attempt to counter that one.
With the Chapmans peak incident (A road I have traveled on a few times myself by the way) MBSA gave the guy involved a new Mercedes. But the next time it happened, in Lesotho, they did not, much to the chagrin of the owner. Perhaps they were worried they might have to keep dishing out new Mercedes if the owners kept surviving apparently unsurvivable accidents
- Peter.
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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S