31.03.2023At the time of its appearance, it was the most powerful production car from Mercedes Benz by Minichamps

When it first appeared in 1987, the 297 hp, which the Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC delivered was something special. In October 1981, the C126 series was presented. The SEC in the model name of the vehicle, which we want to present in our blog post today, stands for S-Class injection coupe. A striking detail of the Mercedes coupe is the missing B-pillar, which had to be compensated for by strengthening the A-pillars and the roof frame structure. The C126 also set new standards in terms of safety standards. From 1981, the first pyrotechnical airbag was available as an optional accessory for an extra charge of DM 1,525.50 (former German currency). From 1988, this airbag even moved in on the passenger side. The diesel developed for the American market was also the first diesel with a particle filter. The well-known label Minichamps has produced the beefy coupe, which redefined some standards of its time, exclusively for ck-modelcars and modelissimo. The model in scale 1:43 is made in the usual Minichamps quality, is anthracite grey metallic in color and limited to 500 pieces. If you want to have this piece of German automotive history in your collection, you should grab it quickly.

Despite the many technical innovations, Mercedes kept it rather spartan with the standard equipment at the time of market launch. In addition to the standard power steering, there was therefore a lavish list of optional extras, which even made such things as central locking, a right-hand exterior mirror or electric windows to extra charge accessories. Today, the vehicles with rather few equipment are therefore also referred to as "accountant version" or similar among enthusiasts. Instead, other things were designed very innovatively. The available “heating system” in conjunction with the optional air conditioning corresponds in principle to today's automatic air conditioning, which regulates the temperature in the passenger compartment without the driver having to intervene. If you brought your car to a workshop, you could hand the “workshop key” provided to the staff on site. This opened all the locks on the car except for the trunk and glove box. The subject of individualisation, which is now part of day-to-day business in the luxury class, has already found its way into the C126. Customers could also select extras for the cars that were not included in the list of accessories and then be charged at cost. This makes it almost impossible for collectors today to determine at first glance which extras are retrofitted and which are originally installed. In order to be able to determine this clearly, you can still look at the "data card" of the vehicle at Mercedes and use it to determine the delivery status. The basic price of the 560 SEC was 155,700 DM at the end of the construction period. With a total of 28,929 vehicles originally built, the Mercedes Benz 560 SEC has now become a rather rare classic car, and its price is constantly increasing.

If the performance of the standard 560 SEC was not enough for you, you could give your vehicle to the then independent Mercedes tuner AMG in the tranquil town of Affalterbach for post-processing. The 5.6 liter V8 was then bored out there to 6.0 liters and received a power increase that helped it to 350 hp. Visually, the AMG signature could be seen on the 17-inch rims and a few wide components. The AMG version was only made 50 times. If you wanted one of these, you had to pay a whopping 270,000 DM, but in return you got an exclusive coupé that was ahead of its time.