In the course of the Eighties, in the event you wished a giant, highly effective luxurious sedan with otherworldly construct high quality and all the newest technological marvels, there was just one rational alternative in the event you had the cash: the Mercedes-Benz W126 S-Class. I see fairly a number of W126s throughout my junkyard adventures, together with a pair with higher than 500,000 miles displaying on the odometer, however right this moment’s 420 SEL— present in a Denver self-service boneyard not too long ago — is an unusually clear instance with heartbreakingly low miles.
For a W126, even a gasoline-burner, 161K miles is simply getting damaged in!
The inside seems prefer it’s 10 years outdated, not 35.
The sheetmetal is a bit dirty, however there is no rust and no critical dents.
This automobile had an MSRP of $58,540, or about $155,357 in 2023 {dollars}. It wasn’t the most costly Mercedes-Benz automobile you would purchase in 1988, nevertheless; that honor belongs to the rakish 560 SEC two-door and its $76,380 price ticket (a surprising $202,701 after inflation).
The ’88 420 SEL has a 4.2-liter SOHC V8 rated at 201 horsepower and 228 pound-feet. If that wasn’t sufficient energy for the S-Class sedan shopper in 1988, there was the 560 SEL and its 5.5-liter V8 with 238 horses and 287 pound-feet (and a listing value of $69,210, or $183,673 in right this moment’s cash).
In the event you wished a handbook transmission in your W126, you had to purchase it in Europe (and also you could not get three pedals with the most important V8s, even there).
Driver’s-side airbags had been non-obligatory within the W126 beginning in 1981, changing into customary gear in 1987.
As a result of it is at all times 4:20 in Denver, badges from 420 SELs and S 420s are likely to get pried off vehicles shortly, after which we are able to assume that they find yourself on the partitions of groovy little hippie pads. Not on this case!
We will solely hope that among the good elements from this automobile can be rescued earlier than its date with the crusher.
Go forward, cruise at 125 mph.
There has at all times been a giant Mercedes.