Must admit I agree with the last statement "When I think of Merc this is what I think of." I still struggle to think of Mercedes when I see an A class.

I've never associated these with Diana. I associate Diana with not wearing a seatbelt.

In 1991/2 I had a Saturday job in the local Merc showroom. They had one of the first 600 SEL's in the UK in stock. If the Space Shuttle had been parked in there I wouldn't have been as mesmerized, this car was on a different planet back then. Proper proper thing.

My grandad has a W140 S320. Amazing car. One of the best cars I’ve ever ridden in. Not many W140’s left now.

Great vid, thanks for posting, have one of these, best car ever. I sold my 2014 W222 as it had too many issues which Mercedes could not resolve. Bought a 1992 600 SEL 57k FMBSH , fixed the common problems myself, now cruising in style with zero depreciation. My third W140, I have never had a car that rides as smooth.

The african dictator special. Lol

Sad little fact of the Diana accident is that had the occupants been wearing seat belts they would have all survived the crash.

W140 is by far the best, it's a beast and there is no replacement for the breed. The 600SEL is awesome but I always thought the S320 was just about right in size, power and economy. It's the boss when it's in black with a beige interior. A true gem that filled my childhood and as an adult it still demands respect after all these years.

This and 560 SEC ultimate benz for me. Love it.

2021 who still want this dream?

W140..the last of the real Mercedes.The modern S-Class is good but still can't beat the w140 in terms of build quality and over engineering.

Mercedes engineers should have 2 portraits on the walls of their offices in Stuttgart from now to eternity: one of the W140 and one of Bruno Sacco leaning on a W140.

This car forms part of my earliest memories. My grandpa had one of these in the early to late 90's...colossal car then and now- one of my favourites

Love this! I’ve just bought an old 90’s SL500 and love that era

I had a W123 estate and for a time my parents had a W124 estate. Like this car, the last generations of the great Mercedes Benz. They are much missed.

Remember these more for Diana dying in one,but then if she was wearing a seat belt she would still be here

Thanks for watching?? Thank YOU so much for bringing this video up. Cheers!!!

I've only just found your channel and I love how you describe cars from a very subjective standpoint. I feel you state the facts as facts and the certain quirks as opinions, which most other youtubers do not. Keep up the good work!

Funny what time can do. When the W220 first came out, I remember seeing the Quentin Wilson test drive and thinking, wow, that's in a completely different world to the W140. I still think much the same today, only for completely different reasons.

The small town you drove through was where I was brought up as a kid for 20 years, instantly recognisable even at speed thanks!!!

My dad had one while I was growing up in the 90s. Amazing car. We miss it very much; unfortunately had to sell it due to mechanical problems. Thanks Jay, for providing yet another great video!

Not many sedans will ever be raising in value. But I think this one will. It's somewhat iconic car and while the S has always set the standard for "the best car in the world"-competition, none of W140 successors quite captured the hype and magic what was surrounded this model when it came out. BMW made the V12 before this which was a big deal back then. I think Jaguar had already dumped the V12 at this point. And nobody really took BMW seriously before the 750i. And when the W140 came out it just CRUSHED the competition. This was so much better car, so advanced and when you go to one of these you'll see the absolutely SUPERB build quality. This is one mighty car and I might just buy one of these in the future. Great review again.

You said it perfectly. Mercedes will never be spending that kind of money to build a car again, and that's too bad because in 92' it was the definitive leader of all automobiles. As in the best possible car you can buy (not for the corners, but as a sedan? There were none better). It's studded with tech that may or may not have trickled down to the average car today, but it had a whole lot of first to brag about. Basically, if you ever woke up the dictator of a country, it wasn't a questionnaire of what car to buy, but rather a question of what colors and options your W140 would feature. Big, bold, and to these eyes still beautiful.

Today I saw an identical car to this parked up in Harrogate. 600SEL

When young had a new one which gave 14mpg, at the time it was fast in a straight line and up hill it could take most other cars on the road. The merc garages replaced, without me requesting, free of charge the rubbers around all the door and the gearbox because they did not like the tolerances. It did not start once, I was in France, the Mercedes garage sent 2 mechanics from their garage to fix it, times gone by were different to now I think. If I ever went into any Merc garage anywhere in the Europe with the 600 it was magiced away immediately and valeted.

I just bought one, it's only 3.2 cc but boy the quality is evident. It's my dream drive to own one, you are definitely right, they don't make such car anymore today. So in essence i'm owning a true classic and enjoyed every minute of it. The mileage is 299000 kilometres is just nothing, the m104 is bulletproof. Very well made this merc of that era.

Mercedes changed for the worse in my opinion. One of my favourites is the 300CE-24 with a manual gearbox of course.

thanks for this - looks a great car and enjoyed seeing local roads. Got lent a 190 and c36 a few years ago and loved them but had a A class as work hire car last week and it was rubbish, preferred the usual i30 hire car.

I agree with these models being the last of the "proper" Mercedes. Up to around the mid nineties Mercedes, from the 190 up to the S-Class, were always beautifully engineered machines. Many years ago I bought two, in the space of a couple of months, and although they were both in need of a lot of work and pretty rusty, the doors still sounded and felt like bank vaults when closed. Not only that, but the first one I bought, a 1970 280SE, had been sat in a yard for 2.5 years with the boot lid and bonnet left open. I trailered it home, bought a new battery for it, spent about half an hour stripping and cleaning the electric fuel pump, pulled the fuel line off at the injector pump to get rid of the stale fuel in the lines and tank, then once it was back on, turned on the ignition to get some fresh fuel in, then cranked it over for the first time. I couldn't believe it, but it just about fired straight up, then just settled into a steady idle. I'd always known Mercedes were well engineered, but this made me respect them even more. Especially when this particular car had obviously had a hard life and had been more or less abandoned for the last 2-3 years, yet, apart from a siezed fuel pump, it started after the first couple of turns of the crank. Although after many years of building cars of questionable quality during the late nineties through to the noughties, Mercedes seem to have pulled it together recently, but I still don't think they're anywhere close to where they once were. There is obviously a lot more competition in the luxury car market these day's, whereas back in their heyday, they more or less stood alone, and in terms of engineering excellence, no one could touch them.

I have a 93 S500 tucked away. It's an awesome tank and incredibly well built.

The Houses He Drove By Are SOOOO Beautiful, And The Clean Sidewalks! + SEL = Satisfaction...aaaaahh

Pretty good road test and commentary ! Have had mine since it was just a few months old; an ex M/B executive turned his into the dealership in Naples FL when it was around 5 months old. I was parts shopping on the 'right day' and it didn't last an hour on the floor at a very good discount off full retail. I must say it likes the premium fuel, but is a bullet proof car as I maintain it with fervor. A '97 model it is now going on 27 years old since it was created in Sindelfingen; A truly MAGNIFICENT piece of quality

You look good driving it, maybe you have found a soul mate :)

Absolutely brilliant review. Many thanks.

I feel obliged to say thanks for yet another superb and thoroughly entertaining, well presented video, so thanks.

I had one of these (1992 600SEL) 20 odd years ago and kept it for 3 years. I was still working at the time so wasn't concerned about the single figure MPG. Reliable although expensive to service, supremely comfortable. Only once warm, acceleration was impressive, there are those who claim it's still accelerating hard at 120MPH! You have to sit behind or in front of a V12 some time in your life.

IF Princess Diana had been wearing a seatbelt, she would most certainly have survived the accident. I had a 400SEL and it was a truly special car.

Hi JayEmm. I've just discovered you. I like your presentation style and content and have subscribed. Got to love these old petrol-swilling barges!

Huge v-12 fan here.....and the MB v-12 was probably the best v-12 ever produced.....Sorry Lamborghini but I said best not most powerful.

Nearly bought the r129 sl600 but went with the sl60 amg 6l v8 its mad and drinks like a fish

Great video. Spot on about the largess of modern cars....that particular (Merc in the video)was SUPPOSED to be LARGE. that was its role. The modern 911’s are killing me! They’ve become MASSIVE! I guess I’m a Luddite, but I prefer the size of the older aircooled versions, they’re the right size for a sports car; the V-12 Merc is the correct size for what it is. 😉

My 1997 C230 has many of the same styling cues and legendary build quality of the era. The w202 succeeded the beloved 190's and the lusty 2.3 Cossy was amalgamated and homogenized into the stout M111. At over 230,000 miles, I believe value has been had with this mine. This V12 you are showcasing did what it did better than anyone at the time - a different time - and the golden era of all builders from 1990/1995 and post OBD 1996-2003.

Great and very original classic review, nice job

I recall that it was even so large that the France railroad had to order wider carriages in order to make the car fit on their auto trains.

It’s not Zonda engined. It’s Zonda that has the Mercedes AMG engine

Give me the Mercedes S450 SE 6.9L .

I watched the whole video til the end 🌟 the narrator's voice is so soothing and clear💓... Good job ..subscribed 👍🏻

And the 7.3 AMG Engine from the SL r129 is used the Zonda.

My 93 500 SEL is the ship I'm going down with.it will out last me though. The V8s make a wonderful sound, too.

Love this!

Floyd Mayweather still owns his W140 S600.

Really good review Jay.

I feel like most S70 and S73 models have somehow all made their way to Russia

My absolute dream car. Not this one, the 600 is just president tier and a bit unnecesarry but a 500 would be spot on. In the last 3 years their values are shooting up, especially late 95-98 S500 models. A few years ago some african and middle eastern chaps came through europe and swooped up the good affordable ones, one day i opened autoscout to look at W140s and there were less than a hundred of them, all cost upwards of 20k€ and only early low km S600L's. Right now a late 420/500 costs at least 10k€, thats for rust free cars. With >250k km and 5 owners. Rust is another major issue with these. I couldnt afford one back when they sold for reasonable money, now i can only dream about it. Im jelous at americans, they can buy these cars for almost nothing.

Most comments made here come from people that don t have a clue about the W140 lineup, less about the the M120 v12 engine. All Mercedes lovers rave about them but they really have no idea what these cars cost to maintain, because they are old and they do break occasionally. It is the small bits that break and they cost a lot of cash( remember the v12 cost up to 150k $ back in 1991!) After owning a w140 S600 coupe for some time ( I loved it, don t get me wrong) I can make some valid observations: - they were expensive new, very well built cars but, contrary to common belief, they were built on a budget - Mercedes pioneered new materials in the W140 that failed miserably : biodegradable wiring looms insulation made from soy beans that failed within 3 to 4 years, corrected after 1995. This led to massive electrical problems in those cars prior to '95. - coupes had massive double glazed windows, and engineers supported them on tiny plastic bushing guides that broke very early. Typically Mercedes you cannot buy the separately, only comlplete mechanism assembly for about 1600$ each! For 4 small cheap plastic bushings.

my boss from work has a S600L 6.0 V12 with under 100.000 km/s on it, bought it new, still looks like a brand new car, he still has it, and drives it occasionally. But that he still has it after 20 years is very special to me. Now he has a newer S class, Wich is not quitte the old one, but still a great car.

Loved my CL 600 ~ Remember now taking her out for some exercise in the evening in the Dorset countryside and the 1998 machine gulping fuel like an alcoholic enjoying a liquid breakfast. Made of granite and capable of surviving a missile attack ! Loved it.

Strangley enough, it does seem to suit you very well. Though if it was yours, you would have to do a LPG conversion to keep your bank manager happy.

L is the Long chassis , a few inches longer than the classic S class of the time . It even had an option which was ... Orthopedic seats . It's kinda hard to find this model in good or perfect condition

Mate I did hit the nice button ( No 553 ). Thanks for your video. But as you mentioned ,a few times ,it's a very big car, but all we got was a couple of side shots of it as it went along some country lane. A shot of it somewhere with a walk around would perhaps help us in accepting what you say is a large car. But then again it may have been a very cold day, so all is forgiven.

my friend had the s500 amg and i fell in love with it

In Nov 22 I’m not sure fuel prices are still dropped! What a thing these where in 1992 I was 22 and could but dream.

Just to ad some info ..... . 2020 is almost here . Every time i take mine out for a Sunday spin , standing at red traffic lights ,behind me i occasionally notice Flashes ,Not from speed or red light cams but from other motorists that just take a picture of my 600 . Took me a while to figure that out . Ok she might be black with beige interior big wheels & black windows but hey, not bad for a 92 600SEL that is almost 30 years old now , drives like new & is in immaculate condition inside - out & engine compartment which is cleaner then my wifes kitchen.

A friend had a w140 S500. got rid of it recently, but damn that was a great car

Great video. The Mercedes star is begging for some Autosol metal polish though; it’s a satisfying job so, go treat yourself. Best wishes, love the channel.

My strongest memory of this car was watching a local farmer blasting over the in the field behind my home and thinking what the %^&*!. A wonderful piece of automotive engineering but never a thing of beauty. I would however quiet like a blast down an autobahn if someone else was covering the cost. Good watch.

Всем владельцам Mercedes здоровья и благополучия ! 👍😎 Были W201,W140, теперь W124, 86 г "рождения".

Wow, I love these cars. Big by American standards too! Great video.

It is a normal full-size car, it is not the largest sedan made in that era. But the build quality and materials are wonderful in those. And the design is soo cool!

I know this video is 2 years old but I noticed that the car has an NI reg which I think is pretty cool

what an amazing car that is!

Had three of these including the CL600 and loved them. But the biodegradable wiring loom was a rather major annoyance. Lovely to drive long distance though.

Oh I love your shirt! Suits the flamboyance of the car.

A walk around the car would have been nice too. I like - and I think it was available on these - the rear parking aids: a stalk rasing at the end of the boot to indicatethe end of the car.

love old mercs, great vid

The V12 is great, the biodegradable wiring harness that is probably unreplaceable today is less so.

Good luck filling that up each time, what with the crazy high petrol prices in the U.K after 2/3 full tanks you'd of spend the same as what the car was actually worth in petrol lol

Wonderful review. I am won over. So sad to know that the S class will never be an S class again.

That would make a fenomenal daily driver! Those S classes were the last ones made to last.

The W140 is the last big S-class but it's the first "non-classic" Mercedes thanks to the dozens of electrical equipment, look at the W124 or W201, they have electrical equipment: ABS, fuel injection, seats, seat heaters, and maybe sun roof, airbag.. Also the biodegradable wiring harness on W140 (and 1993-> W124) which fails due heat from the engine

someone near me has one of these. unfortunately he doesn't seem to treat it well. not only do they park a first gen porche cayenne (the minger), but they park it with the number plate touching the number plate of the Merc

Fairly nice road that. I go down it on my way too uni

All my respects, nice video

And to think Jeremy Clarkson has a Mercedes 600 Grosser. He called it a dictator car. I got to ride in the predecessor to this car, as the owner was a friend of the family. I love this car except I'd want a different color. I completely agree with your sentiment. Thanks.

Love it , Id buy it in protest of Electric cars that are comming in waves to your nearest dealer ... 👍👍👍👍✌

i owned one of the same year and model but it was a dark blue one wich looked so nice' i have never driven a car that drove so smooth and quiet as the w140 600 SEL. i now drive a w124 also dark blue because the v12 was a bit to expensive to run in Netherlands that i sold it for €15.000 ibought it a year before for only €8.500

In 1990’s Moscow this was the signature gangster wagon.

The host is a quite enormous specimen of a human being

Now this is what I'm talking about!

You forgot to mention the backup antennas, I believe it’s still the only series model which had that on board. Before backup radars, cameras etc...

I have a W210 E55 estate car, it's a great AMG engine wrapped in a rusty tin can full of delicate gadgets, the accountants finally beat the engineers into submission at the end of the 80's which was a shame, my old '72 280ce had a throttle linkage made from girders and horsehair insulation stuffed into it everywhere for example.

Love that tank,I drive the new e350 which is actually a 2.0 with electric hybrid and it’s nice to look at but to drive it is not so good especially as I’m a car guy,I love however the drive home in me old bmw,I don’t have a computer to stop my arse end slipping and that is because I know how to drive lol

I love these in this color. So much better than silver, black, or white.

Gonna have this as my run about i reckon.

First of all I'd like to apologise. You've been in my recommendations for a few days and the name of your channel made me write it off as another "Seen through glass" let me throw my money in your face channel. I almost blocked it. Then I folded and watched. What a great video. Thank you. New subscriber here. Hope when I binge watch everything you've made, I still feel the same.

You mentioned the steering having no feel to it, at the end of the 80's I drove my boss's 190E and I had never before or have since driven a car with absolutely no feel to the steering like that car, maybe it was to do with the Mercedes of that era

I just did a quick internet search and only found a couple for sale in the States.

Beautiful

How come you only have 27K subs? You speak in such a way that it's calm yet not boring. You're very knowledgable and your video and audio are amazing! Thank you for uploading! I've liked and subscribed. All the best :)

My dream car!