Minneapolis Street Sighting: Mercedes 450 SEL

Its not a secret that Mercedes currently makes some of the most technologically advanced luxury cars on the market today-- but what may be hard to grasp is that the concept of Mercedes being at the forefront of the luxury car game is nothing new. Enter the Mercedes S-Class; first debuted in 1954 as the "Ponton", the S-class would move up the rankings to eventually become the luxury car everyone benchmarked for their own cars--and the car that no one has come close to beating, in terms of ride, handling (for a big car), styling (which is now hideous), and technology.

Over the years, like all cars, the S-class got bigger, and it gained V8 engines in the W111 series. It was in 1972 with the introduction of the W116 that having a V8 no longer meant having the very top-tier model. The 450s were the top of the non-special order series and as the name suggests, these cars had a 4.5L V8, good for roughly 230 horsepower, and roughly 300 ft/lbs, the 4.5 in these big cars was no slouch.

Granted, it was no 6.9, but the regular 4.5 was a decently performing car—and for the people who bought these, that's what mattered most. Oh, and luxury mattered too. That's why these cars had Zebrano wood in the dash, the instrument surrounds and in the center console. and leather on about every other surface—and that includes the headlining.  About the only thing that wasn't very luxurious about these cars, and this goes for all pre-W123/W124 Mercedes is the rustproofing—which were pretty much non-existent. The complete opposite of Volvo's strategy.  More on that later.

 As I explained above, this generation of Mercedes S-Class was notorious for rusting, even in drier climates. Here in the rustbelt, a vast majority of these cars have already met their fate, and this one looked to be doing the same. 

When viewed from across the street, this example appeared relatively clean. Problem was, on closer inspection, it wasn't. While the white paint looked generic at first glance, it probably was original. However, on this poor example, that's not saying much.  Deep down, this big Benz harbored a very dark (and quite sad) secret. Rust—and lots of it, if the crevices were any indication.

Since I shot this car about four years ago, this one has likely met its maker. Here's hoping that before it did, it provided a new owner with whatever decent body parts it had left.

Am I glad I shot this? Yeah, because I haven't seen another one driving since.  Yes, I have been by this adress, and there's a boring Oldsmobile Alero out front. Sad day, I suppose.