This is a call that the Potomac Heights Volunteer Fire Dept & Rescue Squad responded to on April 16. I've only seen one other photo of a W126 split like this, and that was over 10 years ago. I think either shoddy repair work of previous accident damage, or extreme rust led to this result. I was able to ID it as a 300SD by barely making out the Turbodiesel badge in the one photo that shows the rear in the forest.
https://www.facebook.com/PHVFD7/posts/715467258556876

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Is this the picture you were thinking of?




More than likely shoddy body work.
Welding a rear or front clip onto a badly wreck vehicle.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Yep. That's the photo.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Wonder if it hit a guy wire and it acted like a cheese cutter?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Something is weird about it for sure.

I was hit on the driver side of the front clip at an intersection in my '83 SD. It was a solid ex-Texas car (only had it six weeks at the time).

I was hit by a full-size Buick sedan doing about 45-50 mph.

It spun me around about 1.5 turns and bent my front clip over at I am guessing a 25 degree angle? Insurance wrote the car off, but it was repairable should I have wanted (I did not, given the shock of the incident).

How you end up with the split I see in the accident pic (the original one) is beyond me. Either that car was terminally rusty or it hit something relatively thin but immovable.

The fact that the occupants weren't seriously injured, even in an S-Class, is remarkable given the huge forces it would have required to sever that car. That was an awful hit, however it occurred.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

They had NO WAY of knowing that if not for the clip, their lives might have been lost! What good luck! The energy forces were absorbed / exerted into the clip!

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Those pictures are shocking.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Definitely a cut and paste job done wrong. You can see the broken weld in the frame member in what should be below the right rear door opening.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
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2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

That was cut to get the driver out you can see that .

Uhh, I think the posted pic is from a different incident. Following the facebook link shows pix of a rural road night-time scene, car has front end off at the A-pillar. This pic is a city street, daytime, with a telephone pole as the "cutting" instrument, not a tree like the OP was talking about.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

Rust is a likely cause, too, though one can't be sure without looking at the subject vehicle in person. Usually a splice repair has the opposite issue - it's TOO strong and messes up the controlled crush (designed collapse of the body structure to protect the occupants).

My tendency is to add gussets and stiffen the body which is great for daily driving but bad if the vehicle is involved in a collision. I'll wager that most professional body guys have to fight that urge, too, though modern repair practices warn against over-strengthening the structure. As noted, it's also difficult to tell what was done to extract the occupants vs. what failed in the collision. Either way, it's better to keep your car and trees (or other immovable object) at a greater distance than these two drivers did.

Dan

This pic has been around for years.

That car has been sawn in half.

On another group this pic was investigated and deemed to be altered. I wasn't involved so I can't say whether that conclusion was correct.

o collision in the universe would split a car apart that cleanly. Even if it had been a poorly done "cut n'shut."

Also note the absence of any leaking fluids.

I wonder if it was staged for a film or TV show (a previously wrecked car brought in as a prop). If not, it's the cleanest major collision scene I have ever seen. Any big impact usually sends all manner of junk all over the roadway, as well as fluids.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Should be noted that the pic in this thread is what the OP referred to as the one seen years ago, not the accident over the last few days...


Sent from an abacus

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

For the day time pic, note that the grass is untouched. If the car was rolling backwards it would have plowed up grass and likely not have gotten that far in the pole.

And, there is no sign of lateral impact to split the car. The rear doors are missing and the RR door striker is apparently undamaged.


What did the car hit and why are the rockers not pushed in?

Looks to have been cut up and pulled apart.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.