OK, I know it has nothing to do with tech help and support, but this always puzzled me, and thus far no one could explain this to me properly. If any of you guys could, I'd be grateful!

So here's the deal:

I am talking about 'pre-class' cars, when letters were behind the numbers, and E stood for 'einspritz' = injector, C for coupé, L for 'lang' = long, etc.

For now, let's stick with W124 & W201s.
So, what's the point in calling a

250D a 300D 2.5, or a 190D 2.5 in the US?
why is a 260E called 300E 2.6 in the States?



Is the 300 & 190 stand for the chassis, and the other number represents the engine? I am not sure, because, if it was like that a 400E would be called a 300E 4.0, but it isn't, so I don't see the logic there.

Another interesting thing that puzzles me further is that I haven't seen it on W126s, or R107s which came from the same era...

There's no 500SEL 4.2, or 3.8 or is there?
Also, I don't remember any 450SL 2.8, or 280SL 4.5 or whatever...

Could you please someone clarify this?

In Europe, it's nice and clear, numbers stand for the engine, and that's it. Anyone can differentiate a W124 from a W126 or W201...

I don't remember W123s, but I think they were called 200s in the States...? I can't remember. Was there a 200E 2.8 or a 200 2.5?

cheers

__________________
previous:
1977 W123 200D - the slowest car I've ever driven, 500k+ miles when sold
1992 W124 250D - 257k miles when sold
2002 VW Polo 1.4 - 100k miles when sold
current:
1987 W124 300D Turbo - 320k miles