This week’s Prime Find is a fairly new car by our standards, being – just – a 1990’s car, but since 30 years is generally deemed to be the age at which a car qualifies as a classic, this big Mercedes coupé qualifies as such, and the model itself goes back to 1981, which is hard to believe…
The model from which it was derived was introduced in 1979, that being the W126 S-class saloon and while the SEC was effectively a successor to the R107 SLC, this was the first time Mercedes developed a coupé from an S-class saloon, which has long been the pinnacle of every Mercedes model range – unless you count the Maybach, and while these super-luxury limousines were themselves based on an S-class, they weren’t marketed as Mercedes until 2014.
When the W126 was launched, it was after a six-year development programme that focused as much on safety and fuel efficiency as it did on luxury, combining a more aerodynamic shape than its predecessor with the use of lighter alloy metals and polyurethane materials. Two years after the appearance of the W126 saloon, Mercedes launched the coupé version, the C126, a full-sized two-door coupé that set new standards of comfort, with long, clean pillarless lines designed by Bruno Sacco.
The C126 range utilised two engines – a 3.8-litre V8 for the logically-branded 380 SEC, and a 5-litre V8 in the 500SEC – the smaller 2.8-litre six used in the base saloon did not see service in the coupé.
While Mercedes had placed great store in fuel efficient design – the C126 had a drag co-efficient of just 0.34 – and light weight as part of their Energy Concept programme, these were still big cars, being over 16 feet (4.9m) long and weighing 1,585kg at the kerb, or very nearly 3,500lbs. Nevertheless, performance was strong, with the 380SEC able to reach a maximum speed of 130mph or 210kmh, and the 500SEC 143mph or 230kmh, so these big coupés were no slouches.
They were beautifully appointed, and one of the details which epitomised the way Mercedes-Benz designed and built their cars was the way in which the seat belts were offered to the driver and front seat passenger. With such big doors, the B-pillar on which the seatbelts were mounted was a long way back, so to make things easier, once the doors were closed and the ignition switched on, a robot arm slid forward to shoulder level and presented the seatbelt to the occupant – very subtle, and very clever.
Buyers in the market for big coupés such as the SEC had other options, all – as you would expect at this level –very fine cars; I’m thinking of the BMW 6-series, Jaguar XJS and the Porsche 928, each with their distinctive virtues, but for me the SEC may well be the most complete, especially if you want to take adult passengers any distance.
The SEC’s main rivals
Motor Sport magazine tested a 500SEC in March 1982 and had nothing but good things to say about it, describing it as “superbly engineered and tastefully presented”, praising it’s interior, refinement and overall combination of performance, comfort, fuel efficiency and styling. Minor reservations were expressed about the size of the steering wheel – a perennial criticism of Mercedes Benz cars – and the lightness of the power-steering, but that was about as much fault as they could find. They summed the car up as ”an excellent, outstanding machine” and “in terms of constructional integrity, superb finish and all-round value, it must rank very close to the best that money can buy” – glowing words.
In 1985, the SEC was given a facelift alongside the saloon, with the most significant change being the introduction of bigger, more powerful V8 engines in the shape of 4.2 and 5.6-litre units. Power outputs were lifted from 200bhp to 210bhp and later, 230bhp in the case of the 420SEC over the 380, with output for the 500SEC rising to 242bhp and the 560SEC boasting 300bhp. The impact of these bigger and more powerful engines was top speeds of 135mph and 155mph for the 420 and 560 respectively, making these Mercedes even better at transporting four adults – yes, there was more than enough room – and their bags across long distances at speed, superb Grand Tourers, in fact.
Mercedes ceased production of the C126 in 1991, after producing 74,060 examples, and nowadays they can be bought for remarkably little money considering how expensive they were when new. Of these, 30,184 were 500’s, 28,929 were 560’s, 11,267 examples of the 380 and the 420 was the rarest of the quartet, with just 3,680 sold, and it’s one of these that is our Prime Find.
Of course, they are very expensive to run and spares are not cheap, but superb build quality means there are still a good few around and as our Prime Find for this weekend shows, good examples can be bought for well within our theoretical £20,000 budget.
Our car comes up for auction with Manor Park Classics on Wednesday December 7th at their Cheshire location, and the auctioneers proclaim it to be “the best they have ever driven”, though that could just be the best of two, of course. First registered in February 1990 – so a facelift model – and finished in Diamond Blue (a colour that suits this large car well) with a grey leather interior and the usual wood veneer finishes on fascia and doors, the car presents exceptionally well both inside and out – after all, it has had £14,000 spent on it just two years ago.
It’s not a trailer queen, having covered 116,000 miles in its 32 years, but that’s still only a bit more than 3,600 miles a year. The current owner has had the car since 2003, and clearly looked after it.
As a facelift model, this SEC is equipped with heated and powered front seats, driver’s airbag, sunroof, climate control and more. It’s supplied with it’s original handbook and sales brochure, two sets of keys, and MOT’s going back to 1997, and presumably, a record of the restoration work done a couple of years back. Only 76 420 SEC’s are believed to still be on UK roads, according to howmanyleft.com, with another 348 of the rest of the SEC variants, so not a common shape to see but not that rare either, which may in part, together with the running costs, explain why the estimate is just £11,000 to £13,000 – this is a serious amount of car for the money; if it’s as good as the auctioneers claim, I would think it should pass the higher estimate.
As is our usual practice, we have borrowed a few photographs from the auctioneers’ website, and you can see the full lot entry here. Also as usual, should this stylish and elegant Grand Touring machine appeal, we recommend you arrange prior inspection before raising your bidding paddle if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk