Press Release
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: 1952 W188 / 1956 W180
Page 3: 1961 W111 / 1981 C126
Page 4: 1992 C140 / 1999 C216
1961: The 220 SEb Coup?????????????????? climbs the pinnacle of elegance
The year 1961 saw a number of epoch-making events which drew enormous international attention, as unremitting advances in communications technology ensured that they reached every household in possession of a television receiver. August 13, 1961 will always remain a painful memory in Germany, as this is the day when the GDR sent in construction teams to build a wall between East and West Berlin. This marked the start of a political division which would last for 28 years, and only ended with the events that precipitated the fall of the wall on November 9, 1989. Even though accompanied by a great deal of propaganda, the first manned space flight in 1961 was a trailblazing achievement in a positive sense: in a "Vostok" rocket the Russian Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth once in one hour and 48 minutes, becoming a Hero of the Soviet Union. In contrast, September 10, 1961 was marked by the tragic death of the German racing driver Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, who lost control of his Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, killing himself and 16 spectators.
In 1961 yet another coup?????????????????? was in the limelight at Mercedes-Benz, when the 220 SEb Coup?????????????????? in the W 111 series was presented during the opening ceremony for the new Museum at the plant in Stuttgart-Untert??????????????????rkheim on February 24. Once again the designers had demonstrated their creativity and unerring sense of style. This elegant and prestigious coup?????????????????? possessed a compelling aura, while power and comfort blended to form a harmonious whole which was already visible externally. The tailfins which adorned the saloon models were now only vestigial, thereby reinforcing the flowing lines. The car's well-balanced design dispensed with any form of styling gimmickry. This fully-fledged four-seater with plenty of space for longer journeys had adopted not only the engine and suspension, but also the safety body from the four-door Saloon. Otherwise the Coup?????????????????? was a completely new design.
First regular production car with front disc brakes
The six-cylinder engine developed an output of 120 hp, enough for high average speeds on long journeys. Neither were the performance figures theoretical any more, as the early 1960s were the start of a travel boom in Germany. Car density in Germany had more than doubled again since 1956. It now stood at 95 cars per 1000 inhabitants, though the quality of the road surfaces was still rather variable. The designers at Mercedes-Benz had planned ahead, however: the 220 SEb Coup?????????????????? was the first series production car by Mercedes-Benz to feature disc brakes at the front. There was also a padded steering wheel and new wedge-pin door locks, which prevented the doors from bursting open in the event of an accident. There were also three-point seat belts.
These safety features, as well as the performance figures, were further improved upon by models introduced in the years that followed. To take just one example, the 300 SE Coup?????????????????? in the W 112 model series of 1962 featured a four-speed automatic transmission, air suspension and power steering as standard, in line with the expectations of customers who were covering more and more annual mileages. These Coup??????????????????s were not just predestined for luxurious recreational use, i.e. sheer driving pleasure, but also proved especially ideal for frequent business travellers. The popularity of these models was spectacularly reflected in the sales figures: production of the Coup??????????????????s in the W 111 and W 112 series exceeded those of the preceding "Pontoon" series more than tenfold, with precisely 28,918 units built.
1981: A new departure for the Coup??????????????????s
The year 1981 ushered in the era of truly global communication, both at the technological and social level. A young software company named Microsoft in Seattle, Washington achieved a worldwide breakthrough with its computer operating system when MS DOS became the standard for most of the world's PCs. Another major event was attracting far more media attention at the time, however: the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981. This royal spectacle was broadcast by more TV stations and seen by more viewers than any Olympic Games: statisticians have calculated that more than one billion people witnessed the marriage ceremony. 25 years have passed since then, but in people's collective memory it has gone down as an event which only took place recently.
Media appearances occur at shorter intervals for cars than for royal weddings. This does not lessen the importance of the cars, as they always represent a measure of the technical progress achieved in each case - at least in the case of Mercedes-Benz. When the Mercedes 380 SEC Coup?????????????????? and 500 SEC Coup?????????????????? in the C 126 model series were presented in 1981, the designers and engineers had once again turned to the S-Class as the basis for the Coup??????????????????s rather than the SL-Class, which was also available as the SLC Coup?????????????????? from 1971 to 1981. This initially meant that their dimensions were slightly increased. The design of the new Coup?????????????????? was also derived from the four-door saloons, with elegant and harmonious contours. Its aura was one of even more raw power and agility, however: the body designers had pulled off the remarkable achievement of clothing an extremely muscular body in a finely tailored jacket.
V8 engines for fuel economy
Car ownership in Germany had expanded at an enormous rate, for in 1981 no less than 385 of every thousand inhabitants possessed a car. The expectations of car buyers increased. Mercedes-Benz engineers met the demands for more output with V8 engines for the new Coup??????????????????s, which had also been thoroughly revised to achieve a reduced fuel consumption and exhaust emissions as part of the "Mercedes-Benz Energy Concept". The output of the 380 SEC Coup?????????????????? was 150 kW/204 hp, that of the 500 SEC Coup?????????????????? 170 kW/231 hp. As a motoring magazine wrote at the time: "The feeling of spaciousness and visibility are quite excellent, the SEC appears to drive itself."
In addition to a higher compression ratio, technical modifications included improved camshafts with altered timing, air-bathed injection valves and electronic idling speed control. Thanks to these sophisticated modifications it was possible to reduce the fuel consumption of the SEC Coup??????????????????s significantly compared to their predecessors. Naturally these Coup??????????????????s also shared the same high safety standards as the S-Class Saloons.
A particularly interesting interior feature was the electrically operated belt feeders, which were standard equipment in the SEC models and were designed to bring the seat belts into the field of vision on all four seats, while making those for the driver and front passenger easily accessible. A driver airbag and a belt tensioner for the front passenger were available on request.
The excitement generated by the new, large Coup?????????????????? was not least confirmed by the sales figures, with 74,060 units of the W 126 series produced. These Coup??????????????????s, which many aficionados regard as "the ultimate touring car", are now among the most sought-after young classics produced by Mercedes-Benz. They combine technical progress in performance and handling safety with the traditional standards of exclusivity and comfort.
