WHICH ONE TO GO FOR
In Germany the S-Class range started with a 'poverty' 280S - the straight six on carburettors - but this was felt to be too austere for British tastes and all our S-Class models - 280/350/450 - were fuel-injected by Bosch.
Similarly in its home market the long-wheelbase body shell was available across the range but in the UK it was only available with the 450 cars. 280 and 350 cars could be had with manual transmission in Germany but all UK models were three-speed automatics.
A good example of any of these cars is something to cherish but for the cognoscenti the really collectable W116 S-Class is the 450SEL 6.9. Launched in 1975 it was a belated replacement for the 300SEL 6.3 of the earlier S-Class series and used a bigger version of the monstrous M100 V8 engine that had been originally designed for the 600 flagship.
280bhp gave it an instant advantage over lesser 450 variants but the real news concerned its torque, 405lb ft - enough to set the tyres alight from a stand still and leave behind just about any saloon car on the road up to a 140mph-plus top speed. In search of a better ride and more refinement Mercedes gave this ultimate S-Class Hydro-pneumatic suspension, Citroen-style nitrogen-filled spheres with adjustable ride height. Other 6.9 specialities included dry-sump lubrication for a lower bonnet line, a limited slip diff and vented disc brakes. Where other S-Class models might appear a little plain internally the 6.9 owner wanted for nothing: air conditioning, electric windows and velour trim were standard.
The launch of the car had been delayed by the fuel crisis and it didn't appear in the UK until 1977, priced at £22,000. 7380 6.9's were built in an eight-year S-Class production run of over 300,000 cars. 287 450SEL 6.9 models were sold on the British market. Probably the most famous owner was former F1 world champion James Hunt who had two.
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