Mercedes S-Class Coupé C140: Coping with Trauma

Mercedes S Class Coupe C140
trauma management

Mercedes S Class Coupe C140

© press-inform – the press office

30 years ago, Mercedes countered all royal thoughts from Munich with the coupe version of the S-Class. The luxury two-door was also available with a befitting twelve-cylinder engine and, from the point of view of the star brand, put the rankings back in order. From this year, the luxury two-door can be driven with an H license plate.

The Munich surprise coup caught those responsible at Mercedes on the wrong foot. And that’s right. When the Munich company launched their flagship of the E32 series as a 750i with a fine twelve-cylinder engine in 1987 and the 8 Series coupé with the identical V12 engine in 1989, the tree burned in the group headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. One itself had not planned an engine with twelve pots for the new S-Class. A consequence of the oil crisis. Hectic activity set in, one crisis meeting followed the next and it was clear that a convincing counterattack had to be put in place. Said and done. The famous and timeless S-Class W126 was followed in 1991 by the W140 series, of course with a befitting 12 fender as the S600. The Swabians responded to the fleet-footed elegance of the BMW 7 Series E32 and coupé brother E31 with the power of the S-Class W140, which was nicknamed “Trutzburg” for good reason.

In the 1990s, the solvent captains of industry also wanted to ostentatiously display a sporty lightness to the outside world. Young, dynamic and agile were the attributes that were preached at management seminars. This was also reflected in the cars. With the 8-series coupé of the E31 series, BMW opted for an elegant Gran Turismo; Mercedes countered with the coupe of the S-Class with the internal code C140. Technically a newer car than the basis of the BMW 8 Series, which was initially the E31, which was slowly approaching the end of its life cycle. Later, BMW equipped its coupe with engines from the newer 7 Series E38. For Mercedes, the task was different. The coupe of the W126 series had set the trend, but the management’s requirement was that the coupe had to set itself apart more clearly from the sedan in terms of style than was previously the case.

For the two-door S-Class W140, designer Bruno Sacco sat down at the drawing board and gave the coupé, which was to bear the designation SEC, flowing shapes, less cabinet wall aerodynamics and thus a visually subtle lightness, which is mainly due to the lack of a B- pillar showed. The C140 series celebrated its premiere at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit from January 11 to 19, 1992. This means that the luxury coupé is now considered a classic car and can carry an H license plate. The marketing machine was already running at full speed 30 years ago: “The new SEC coupés offer very little resistance to the wind, but the uniformity of style all the more. Because whoever holds a technological leadership role must also be a role model in terms of design,” the sales brochure announced. The verbal drumbeat happened for good reason: With a princely price of 220,020 DM, the top model 600 SEC was the most expensive automobile produced in Germany in February 1992.

This also completed the management of the twelve-cylinder trauma initiated by BMW. Because the Mercedes 600 SEC got the six-liter V12 with 290 kW / 394 hp from the S-Class. Much more drive luxury was not possible at that time. But the second premiere version, the 500 SEC (S-class injection engine coupé) with a V8 engine with 235 kW / 320 hp, was anything but underpowered. Two years later there was a second V8 with 205 kW / 279 hp in the 420 SEC. Compared to the sedan, the wheelbase was a good six centimeters shorter and that’s why the coupe moved around corners more nimbly than the flagship S-Class.

But that doesn’t change the fact that luxury was also right at the top of the specification for the coupé. Fast around corners, yes, but please as comfortably as possible, was the premise. So the SEC models had a chassis with a double wishbone front axle that was decoupled from the body and a multi-link rear axle with improved wheel location, which precisely contributed to the driving dynamics. When it came to luxury, the engineers used the S-Class: the coupé also had double-glazed windows and seat belts, which were handed over by a friendly gripping arm. There are also fine details such as electric seat adjustment (with memory function on request) and, for those times, advanced automatic zone air conditioning.

The flood of technology was far from over. As is usual with Mercedes, the latest innovations only made their way into the top models: In May 1995 there was a new five-speed automatic transmission with a slip-controlled torque converter lock-up clutch and electronic control. The benefits of the new transmission went beyond smooth gear changes. The compact design saved weight and significantly reduced the number of components. An optimized control unit also noticeably reduced fuel consumption. What was even more important: The “Electronic Driving Stability Program” (ESP) was standard on the S 600 Coupé from the same point in time.

As you can see from this sentence, the designation of the coupé changed over the course of the production period up to 1998. In June 1993, the SEC became the S-Class Coupé. From 1996, the abbreviation CL was emblazoned on the trunk lid. In six years, 26,022 C140 rolled off the assembly line at the Sindelfingen plant. A third of them were the 600 top model with the V12 engine.

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