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Lovert Mafukure
A few weeks ago I wrote an article on a timeless classic being the Mercedes Benz W124. I had an opportunity to drive one which just happens to be on sale, I experienced for myself why they said it’s an engineering masterpiece.
This particular model is a station wagon 3 litre diesel and its got a manual transmission with five forward gears. The weirdest part is that its a left hand drive, I’ve never driven a left hand drive before . . . until now!
This is the model that was engineered at a time when Mercedes Benz was prioritising engineering over financial targets.
Autozine reckons it is the best-engineered car of all time because it was durable and reliable than most cars of its era. Most critics however, argue that as much as it was durable it was not reliable but it’s debatable since by design, Mercedes Benz isn’t really a DIY car like our faithful Toyotas. This Mercedes Benz feels like it still has years to go. The engine starts with the first crank, it still runs without effort, it cruises effortlessly and the body work is still in its original state.
If money was nothing and passion was everything, we’d have more of these cars driving on our roads. Here’s a car that’s arguably the last one of the strongest Mercs made to last over a complete mile. That is why you still find them today driving like they were made yesterday. This car is still looking newer than most cars today. I bet now, it’s a mix of a careful owner and a well engineered vehicle.
The variations available for this model were the sedan, the station wagon, the two-door cabriolet and the mighty 500E. This model is the station wagon diesel with most of the original wooden panels on the dashboard. It still has the original radio which still works like a charm. Every dial on the instrument cluster still work as they are supposed to except for the fuel level gauge which has arthritis, it jitters a lot.
Cars naturally suffer from aerodynamic drag like any other object that has to go against natural forces like air and water. The W124 was and still is a large car but its aerodynamic design was well thought out and it has a very low drag coefficient for a large car. Coefficient of drag is used to quantify the resistance an object faces in movement, so that means as cars experience drag, the rate at which they experience that drag depends on their aerodynamic nature . . . and this car is fluid on the road, it does 140km/hr without breaking a sweat. It sits on its original size tyres 195/65 R15.
The styling of the W124 was modern and veered off from its predecessors’ design, enlarging the lights and the grill which as per custom was attached to the long bonnet. The driver cockpit seems somewhat small or maybe I’m just too much of a giant but the sitting position brings the steering wheel right to your lap. The seats are bulky and quite comfortable though.
This first E class was also the first Mercedes Benz to roll off the assembly line with the 4MATIC system. 4MATIC is Mercedes Benz’s clever All-Wheel Drive system. While most car manufacturers pride themselves with simple four wheel drive system where power is distributed to all 4 wheels equally, Mercedes Benz went further to prove why the name Mercedes Benz will always be a name that exudes power and eloquence in all automotive language by coming up with a system that distributes power to all wheels accordingly.
That means, if one wheel begins to slip, power goes to other three wheels to balance up the equation and grip whatever surface you find yourself on. The 4MATIC has been a joy even to this day. On this model however it was reserved for the Station wagon turbo diesel version. This particular wagon does not however have 4matic because it’s not the 300D turbo, its the non-turbo version — how sad.
The flagship of this 124 model was the monstrous 500E, the beast. Jointly developed the Mercedes Benz and Porsche, it was supposed to give the BMW M5 a good run for its money. It would have, but BMW was already a mile ahead with the 5 series M5 having been launched in the late eighties. The 500E was heavy weighing in just a little shy of two tonnes. The weight wasn’t a problem for the 300hp engine. It was a 32 valve V8 5litre engine driven by a 4 speed automatic gearbox and still did 0-100 in around 6seconds. It was impressive for its time.
I have not heard if ever there was a manual option for this one and I am not sure if ever there was a 500E is Zimbabwe, I’m still searching for one, which would be a joy.
This Diesel wagon does not disappoint, you can feel it has loads of power with every stroke of that 6 cylinder engine.
The manual 5 speed gearbox still changes smoothly, it feels like its fit enough for a drive to Cairo. The interior is fabric and still in original state. There is space for Africa in this car, it is indeed a touring car. Somehow, I think it true that indeed the W124 is the last of the great Mercedes Benzes.
Until next time, keep the classic wheels spinning.
Give us feedback if you have similar classics in your garage.
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