MERCEDES-BENZ W124 SERIES 1984–1997

Brian Long. Published 2021 by Veloce, which provided the review copy ISBN 978-1-787117-14-3

This Mercedes-benz W124 sold around 2,750,000 units during its long life, and ended up being known as the E-series, which came between the ‘C’ and ‘S’ models. It was replaced by the W210 after 13 years, during which time specification changes and upgrades were incrementally modest but constant. Starting with a very brief history of the marque, and a nod to the model’s predecessors — ‘Ponton’ and ‘Fintail’ — the book covers the creation of the W124, its development, and the introduction of variants including station wagons, coupés, cabriolets, and even a six-door ‘Lang’ version.

The marketing of the car in various markets, including Australia and the USA, is also covered, along with road tests, pricing and options, and more. Side bars deal with aspects such as the involvement of AMG in ‘enhanced’-specification versions and the sale of partly built-up cars to be bodied as hearses.

At one stage, more than 30 models of W124 were available on the German market. One of the things that always surprises me on looking at what was a prestige marque is the length of the list of extra price options 30–40 years ago, most of which would be expected as standard on the most basic car for sale nowadays. If you wanted a mobile phone installed in your W124, the price in the first year it was available was two-thirds of the cost of an entrylevel model!

Running to 176 large pages, with hundreds of photos, technical drawings, brochures, and advertising material, author Long has done the W124 justice in this detailed but never dull book on the model.