This is supposedly a 2004 E-class, Kinda hard to tell.
Whats really amazing is that they survived!! Head on with a semi truck!!

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Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

I find that hard to believe......but then I grew up with a girl that hydroplaned an AMC Gremlin...crossed the centerline and pegged a Kenworth head-on. Totaled the Kenworth.........took 2 hours to cut her out and she spent 6 months in a coma........suffered brain damage...still a sweet girl but obviously is not the woman she was before. This Happened about 1980 so yes I guess its possible.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

He must have been going well over 100mph!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

It's hard to tell from the photo, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of those "cut and shut" jobs, which is pretty common in 3rd world countries. Two wrecked cars are cut in half and the two "good" halves are welded together. It may look OK on the outside, but the structural integrity is abysmal.

Supposedly this happened in Germany, I would doubt that they pull that kind of stuff over there. You never know though. I would definately say someone was going well over the speed limit or this happened on the Autobahn.

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

Here is another pic of the poor car.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

If anyone survived that it was due to sheer luck and had nothing ot do with engineering.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I dunno, it may just be me, but that looks like it might be more of a side or oblique-collision than a head-on. The hood doesn't look like it came out of a high-speed frontal crash, although the rest of the car looks like it took a lot of damage. Or maybe it went under a trailer - that could explain why the roof is practically all sheared off..

At any rate, I guess it goes to show not even the best engineering in the world can overcome physics... On a similar note, anybody watch the British tv show Fifth Gear? Last week's episode, they staged a side collision with an SUV going 60 mph into a 90's Civic going 30 mph - the SUV practically drove through the Civic...!

Or, maybe it was a frontal collision, but with very little overlap. It does look like the whole right side was taken off.

The roof probably wasnt "sheered" off. It was probably cut off, thats what i noticed anyways, I was in a wreck close to that. She was doing 75, and I was stopped.. and well, it wasnt pretty, but i have no after effects except that i still pull glass out of the back of my head to this day (it happened 2-17-01). I was driving a '85 Ford Escort station wagon, if anyone was in the back seat they would have died for sure the cops said. They even put it in the report as a 2-door vehichle it was so destroyed.

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Kenni
'85 300D turbo
208K miles
FOR SALE (kinda)

Yeah, the roof was definitely cut off. You can see the cuts in the photo if you look closely. Nonetheless, this was an awful collision. I believe Mercedes engineering, and most importantly seatbelts, did “help” save the lives of the people inside.

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

On a sadder note, This E55 hit a truck head on at 125 MPH. Unfortunately all of it's occupants were killed, obviously.....