Mercedes S-Class W116 (seventies model)

BrianD3

I have always liked these since I was a kid. A big seventies barge with big chrome bumpers usually painted in some seventies colour like green, bronze or brown I have never driven one or been in one though. What do others think of them?

One of the characters in the RTE TV series Bacherlor's Walk drove a green W116 with IIRC a brown interior. In my opinion the car looked really well being driven about in modern day Dublin among all the bland modern machinery and horrible MPVs/SUVs etc.

Of course you can't talk about the W116 without mentioning the amazing 450 SEL 6.9 version with its 6.9 litre V8. Racing driver James Hunt was a big fan of these and was quoted as saying it's the only car in the world which looks like a taxi but has the performance of a Ferrari. I have seen one 6.9 on Irish roads - a purple one seen in Templeogue around 10 years ago.

Apparently these cars suffer badly with rust just like most other seventies cars. So they are not as "bulletproof" as a lot of people seem to think. Mechanically they are very long lasting although steering and suspensions can give trouble.

mike65

The 116 certainly had a light touch compared to the previous and subsequent models. Now mainly spotted with trees growing out the sunroof in the sticks.

Mike.

aodh_rua

Has to be one of my favourite cars too. As it happens there's a 6.9 for sale on carzone.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=Car&carID=171801&message=You%20searched%20for%3A%26nbsp%3BMercedes%2DBenz%20450%20SEL%2E%20Your%20search%20returned%20one%20vehicle%2C%20which%20is%20shown%20below%2E&CFID=12320612&CFTOKEN=67766533

BrianD3

That 6.9 is a beauty! Price isn't *too* bad for an Irish classic assuming the bodywork underneath is good. No classic tax on that 1979 reg car though!

Volvoboy

That one that was in Bachelors Walk was up for sale on CBG not so long ago think they were asking 10K.

Always remeber me geting my hand caught in the double bumbers on his W116 Powder blue, he had to damage the top chrome part to get it out,
another ocasion in the same car, on Talbot st he was dropping my grandmother to town and got out to help her, me being about 1 locked my dad and gran out of the car, then got into the changing bag, smeared powder and vasaline on the dashboard, a crowd gatherd and a passing officer of the law had to smash the back window to get me out.

Mercedes Window £1000, having me as a son, priceless:D

Blue850

Top of my list when I go shopping next year, I'd prefer a W108 but my budget says W116 or a W114/5.
This is on carzone as an 350SL?



http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=478681

Its a pity they didn't use the brown 6.9 in Ronin for the chase with the BMW in Paris

MercMad

That Batchelors Walk one is a rough as a bears ar5e. I've seen it at various shows over the years and most recently last weekend. I wouldn't give €2000 for it !

It looked great "on screen" but I reckon its been left outdoors ever since !

A guy in our Club owns a 6.9 with only 26,000 genuine miles on it. He's 2nd owner and when I was in the car in June it was the nearest thing to a brand new car you could imagine ! This thing was fully loaded with options too..............terrific car !

Unfortunately 116's over here fell into that "banger" category rather quickly and few decent ones survive !

That 350SE at Weston looks good at that price !

Anan1

20 years ago, I managed to talk my parents into buying a 1976 W116 280SE in Havana brown with 56,000 miles and one owner. The car cost £5,400, and was quite literally like new. I wasn't old enough to drive at the time, but the view over the long, wide bonnet was nothing short of spectacular at the time. Although my mother absolutely hated driving the car, it is generally credited with closing the deal on our family home. It subsequently transpired that, when we viewed the house, the seller had been under the impression that we had the cash to pay for it in the boot.