“A glance across a crowded street and suddenly, nothing else matters. Forget for a moment, that it has been called the ‘best car in the world.’ Or that many consider it the most technologically advanced sedan ever built. Forget that the S-Class is the car many other manufactures emulate. That it represents not just how things can be done, but how they are done… Because the only thing that matters is how it feels to you.” - 2002 Mercedes-Benz S-Class North American brochure.
This emotional epithet – an overture to the world’s well-to-do and, judging by the last line, the truly self-absorbed (just joshing), puts to words the transformation at Mercedes-Benz in the late 1990s.
Mercedes-Benz would no longer be known as that stodgy car company, known for making cars that felt like and resembled “bank vaults” with engineering to match, but would be crafted with emotion and feeling and rely on the latest technology.
It was as though Mercedes-Benz, the dashing man of the Viennese ball suddenly went through a mid-life crisis whereby he discarded his hamburg, tore of his black tie, put on 30 lbs of 8 karat gold bling and donned a G-Unit cap cocked sideways.
Ja, Ja, Ja –G – Uuunittt! He would brashly proclaim.
Sadly, all but a few of his fair, fellow ball goers would follow suit. Tossing away the classic for what was in style – street cred.
The S-Class was not as déclassé as all that. But, it was damn close.
Upon the Benz’s introduction, observers over at rival company BMW marveled at how the paragon of aristocratic German luxury heritage, just went “middle class”.
As if to support this new position, Mercedes-Benz interviewed some of its own employees who claimed that driving the previous W140 S-Class made them feel conspicuous and ashamed of their material wealth, whereas the new S-Class was modest and understated.
They did not have to feel ashamed anymore.
Give me a break.
Let’s get something straight. The 2005 S600 retailed for $134,000. The 1999 W140 S600 retailed for the same money. Only a select few could afford either. Modest styling or not, the statement is of outlandish monetary wealth that in most parts of the world requires a security detail.
Is the consumer really justified in spending six figures on an understated car? Did not the Volkswagen Phaeton flop on that very premise?
The last S-Class was, after the initial shock of the redesign, a blandly suburban vehicle.
The car was so modest, in fact, there was a redesign in 2003 that made the grille more adroit and the headlamps more defined so as to make the front stand out.
Still, the Benz’s proponents proclaimed the car’s “effortless elegance”.
I don’t think so.
Only the Japanese do Japanese well. When the Germans do Japanese, the result just looks cheap.
One example: on many American and Japanese sedans, the top of the front door sill and the A-frame pillar are one and the same.
Presumably, there are lots of good aerodynamic reasons for this to be so.
However, it is a design facet that is primarily given to economy cars. When one opens the door it exposes the edge of where the windshield is mounted.
In the bid to be a wind-tunnel champ, designers made the last S-Class with this unfortunate feature.
Wisely, Mercedes-Benz has changed the design back to the original separate door, separate frame on the 2007 S550.
The out-going S-Class will be remembered as a demarcation from the old way of doing things. It is a highly Lexus-ized Benz that will not age well.
This is due primarily for two reasons: one point is the car’s heavy reliance on technology as a selling point. Technology is quickly dated however, and we are left with a car that carries little soul after the gadgets are no longer new.
The second point is the aforementioned suburban look of the car. The lastest S-Class picks up the mantel of being large and bold, rather than quiet.
After all, if you really wanted to spend $134,000 on a quiet super luxury sedan, would you not have bought a Volkswagen Phaeton instead?
For more information on the out-going S-Class, click the link: MBUSA
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