Growing-Up Mercedes... And the Slippery Slope of Power & Speed.

It's undeniable how much I know about Mercedes-Benz. I grew-up on them, I've driven them, owned a few of them, even worked for and with them.

(Today was a busy day- I should be posting more- but, alas, I'm trying to make something of myself beyond the cyberspace- and, while I'm exhausted... I can't help but draw the funny nuances- Mercedes-Benz- that have been dancing in my head all night.)

This morning I was doing some reading- and came across a factoid- I don't know how accurate it was- the most expensive car ever sold was $26,000,000 (at vintage auction)- it was a Mercedes-Benz W196 racer- circa 1955? I just read it, nodded my head- and forgot about it.


(The W196 must have been right before they pulled-out of factory racing and Grand-Prix in '55; either way- it was perhaps the bloodiest most horrific accident you'd ever want to see- killed something like 85 people... Sick... Anyway...)

The W196 is one of those Silver Arrow-like racers- long nose- they made two versions- a track version and a streamlined version- it was the premier racer of it's kind in its day.

(I think Fangio- perhaps the greatest racer of all time- drove one... for as much as I know about cars- I'm not the biggest racing fan- strangely enough.)

Anyway- in late 1985- Mercedes-Benz unveiled the W124 300E... It was much anticipated- totally new and revamped from the even-then out-dated W123 of the late 1970's... For the record- my mother had one, a 300E- she said it was "alright..." even back then.



A little known factoid- the then new 300E could keep pace with, on a track (maybe it was the Ring? Or a Stuttgart test facility?) with the W196 racer... on a straight-six engine with 177 horses. Not bad for "alright."

If you think about it- it only took 30 years- but a four-door production vehicle keeping pace with a state-of-the-art racer of just 30 years prior- is kinda cool. I mean- you wouldn't want to comprehend what a state-of-the-art racer today could do to even the fastest of road-going monsters you could buy- it's not even close... (Watch below...)

But what hit me today- and not nearly amazing, but just equally as cool is- is this...

In 1990- twenty years ago- if you wanted the very best Mercedes-Benz sedan- it was the 560SEL/SEC.

What a lot of people don't know- the 560 (its like a German version of a Chevy 350) was supposed to be a limited production/edition car- a spawn of the 500 prior- which, well.. Let's not get into the history of the Mercedes-Benz aluminum V8 engine... here, it's chock-full of technical BS, and politics too.

Okay- so the 560 put out 228 horsepower- it was the biggest, and baddest engine they made. Top-of-the-line in 1990.

(Yeah, I know, they also had the multi-valve 5-liter in the 500 SL that put out 322 horses- but don't kill the bit, you couldn't get a 500SL in 1990- they were on huge back-order....)

My family- having owned and driven all kinds of big-bore German might back-in-the-day- took a test drive in a bottom-of-the-line C300 today- with... Drum roll.... 228 horses too. My mother wants a new car... "alright?"

And they're complaining, worried, that 228 horsepower isn't enough to keep-pace with cars nowadays, putting-out easily over 300 at the crank (not the rear wheels mind you) like it's nothing.

I understand where they're coming from- I mean- what's 228 horsepower today?

Then it hit me- and I reminded them- just twenty years ago- the best Mercedes-Benz they made put out the exact same horsepower- the 560 @ 228-horses.

What does the best road-going Mercedes-Benz, production, put out today? In excess of 600 horses.

I really don't care or count beyond 600 horses- and either should you.

While the video(s) below are a little old- they showed them when I went to Mercedes school up in Montvale, and it's a testament to innovation- and how racing improves the breed... And how, well, it's still not even close- like it used to be.




And if you don't think the W210 AMG or the A-Class is fast enough- check this out.



And, finally, watch this one if you're hung-up on the newest, latest and greatest...



I told my family to sleep on the 228-horses; after all, it's still a Mercedes-Benz- it'll go like hell if you needed it to, and in all directions (which is more I can say for most other cars, even today...) but it got me thinking how even with innovation and progress- it was a quantum leap in 1986 to keep up with a race cars of the 1950s.

Now, it seems just a bold step forward. 228 horses, from the top, to the very bottom-of-the-line. And none of them can catch a race-car. It's not even close now.

As for my mother- I hear NASA is retiring the Space Shuttle- I think they'll have at least one to spare.... Maybe she'll look into it. Then again- everything is relative, as I've just demonstrated here.