A lot of makes and models get destroyed in the making of movies...for years!
We just happen to be sensitive to the MB logo affixed to particular ones!
When you have a multi-million dollar movie budget, destroying a few W126s in the process is just a ledger entry...like copier paper!
Consider the now cherished Dodge Charger that brandished the "General Lee" logo in the Dukes of Hazzard...I'm sure they destroyed about ten of those for each "car-launching" episode!
But they were fairly common in those days, I read a bit of trivia that indicated that the studio rounded up enough examples to keep the show running for another decade!
And the W126 was prevalent in the early years, so they were easily obtained...