There’s a concept, particularly amongst taxi drivers, that basic Mercedes fashions from 1968-1997 had been extra dependable than at the moment’s fashions. How a lot reality is there on this concept? A number of consultants, together with former 1980-Nineteen Nineties Mercedes chief designer Peter Pfeiffer, attempt to clarify this notion.
You’ve most likely seen quite a few YouTube movies of taxi drivers boasting that their Mercedes W123 and W124 vehicles have gone thousands and thousands of kilometers with out vital repairs. Therefore, the concept basic Mercedes fashions are extra sturdy and dependable and new ones would not have these qualities.
Deutsche Welle tried to unravel what lies behind this notion and talked to some prime folks at Mercedes, together with former chief designer Peter Pffeifer, FIVA knowledgeable, and former BMW Motorsport boss Mario Theissen.
Former Mercedes drivers, who’ve pushed a whole lot of 1000’s of kilometers, are very happy with their vehicles and have fuelled this delusion of indestructibility. One among them says:“Are you aware what the Mercedes star emblem means? You’ll be able to drive thrice across the globe, and the automobile stays a Benz, i.e., indestructible. That emblem is exclusive“.
How a lot reality is there on this delusion?
Peter Pfeiffer, the designer who created the Mercedes W124, certainly one of Mercedes’ longest-running fashions, produced between 1984 and 1997, says the philosophy of the mannequin was simplicity in design and growth and discount to the necessities.
Mario Theissen, now a FIVA knowledgeable, inspects, analyses, and certifies 1000’s of basic vehicles yearly. He sees German high quality as immediately linked to German engineering. Fifty years in the past, advertising didn’t play an important position in growing a automobile because it does at the moment. Designers and engineers dictated the planning of a product, not advertising departments. A number of years in the past, when advertising was changing into more and more necessary, a BMW official mentioned that the time had come when “we not produce vehicles that we engineers need, however vehicles that advertising need.”
So at the moment, advertising will get concerned proper from the event stage and dictates what contains a automobile ought to need to face the more and more fierce competitors.
Traditional automobile seller Burkhard Steins explains the place the parable of the W124’s indestructibility comes from. He has lifted the coupe model of the W124, referred to as the C124, onto the elevator and reveals that each one the elements had been outsized to face the check of time, whether or not or not it’s suspension arms, bushes, or drive shafts. The entire idea of the automobile is predicated on utilizing one of the best supplies. He additionally says that not solely the construct high quality of the W124 collection is great, however the restore and upkeep operations are easy and simple for much less expert folks to hold out.“The engine compartment may be very ethereal, and you may service and restore the engine utilizing easy instruments. For instance, you’ll be able to take away spark plugs in minutes“.
Steins says that the W124 collection is the top of Mercedes’s high quality. After the demise of the W124 in 1997, manufacturing high quality started to say no. That’s when Mercedes administration determined to make a big change as a result of rising competitors and shareholder stress for larger earnings. Consequently, suppliers had been below stress to supply elements at decrease costs, and Steins says that whenever you put stress on the provider, you gained’t have the identical high quality elements as earlier than.
Then again, exponentially rising digital complexity has led to varied reliability issues. Steins says at the moment’s vehicles have a restricted lifespan of 15-20 years, whereas the automobiles like W124 had been designed for eternity.
In conclusion, all of the consultants interviewed to verify that this delusion of the indestructibility of basic Mercedes fashions produced between 1968 and 1997 is as genuine because it will get and that it isn’t only a delusion, being defined by the standard of the elements and the simplicity of building that made these fashions indestructible.