UPDATE – After receiving a few questions about the year, Ernie double checked the car’s title and it turns out it’s a 1990! Sorry for the confusion.
Reader Ernie M has tasked us with finding new homes for a few of his cars. He has a small collection, with a very interesting mix of cars. The first one up is this 1990 Mercedes 420SEL and boy is it a beauty! Being a W126 S-Class means this was the top of the rung for Mercedes luxury, with every bell and whistle you could ever dream of and with plenty of power to move it all along at Autobahn speeds. This one is a 79k mile survivor that is in amazing shape throughout. So, if you’ve been dreaming of owning a V8 powered Merc, you can find it in Milford, Connecticut and you can bid on this no reserve example below!
Even by today’s standards, this thing is posh. It might be a bit dated, but that just makes it cooler in my book. Heck, it still retains its original cassette player, radar detector and hookup for an ’80s mobile phone! The interior looks to be in amazing shape throughout and everything is said to be in good working order.
Several engines were available in the S-Class, ranging from one of several inline sixes up to the 5.6 liter V8. This 4.2 liter V8 might not have all the grunt of the 5.6, but it has plenty of power to get you down the road nicely and it won’t drink quite as much fuel. With a zero to sixty time that’s under 9-seconds, it will keep up with modern traffic. Things appear to be clean under the hood and it’s said to run well. If you’ve never experienced one of these Mercedes V8s, you really need to!
Ernie has a bin full of paperwork for the car dating back to when it was purchased new, he even has all the payment booklets for the original loan. With a vehicle like this, the more documentation, the better! While they aren’t the most expensive car to repair, finding a well maintained low mileage example like this will save you lots of money down the road. With 79k miles on the dial, it should have lots of life ahead of it as long as you keep up on the maintenance.
This Mercedes really is a beautiful car and would be a pleasure to cruise around in. You don’t find many of these in this nice of original condition, there are lots of them out there riding on custom rims with new sound systems installed. Given its condition and originality, hopefully, the next owner will maintain and enjoy it as is! If you have any specific questions, please leave them in the comments below or email us at mail@barnfinds.com and we will make sure to get you an answer. So, if you win this no reserve auction, what will you be doing with it?
Do you have a Classic Car that you’d like to auction off? Get more information on listing it here!
- Location: Milford, Connecticut
- Mileage: 79,398
- Title Status: Clean
Bid On This Auction
phh bid $5,300.00 2020-02-28 12:14:17
larker47 bid $5,200.00 2020-02-28 12:14:01- phh bid $5,100.00 2020-02-28 12:08:29
- larker47 bid $5,000.00 2020-02-28 12:07:43
- phh bid $4,800.00 2020-02-28 12:07:14
- larker47 bid $4,700.00 2020-02-28 12:06:02
- phh bid $4,600.00 2020-02-28 12:01:06
- larker47 bid $4,500.00 2020-02-28 12:00:41
- phh bid $4,400.00 2020-02-28 11:57:48
COR828 bid $4,300.00 2020-02-28 11:56:39- phh bid $4,200.00 2020-02-28 11:49:52
neffer bid $4,000.00 2020-02-28 11:10:44- phh bid $3,900.00 2020-02-28 10:16:57
- COR828 bid $3,800.00 2020-02-28 10:00:24
Skyhawk86 bid $3,700.00 2020-02-28 09:50:20- COR828 bid $3,600.00 2020-02-28 09:38:20
- phh bid $3,500.00 2020-02-28 09:36:29
- COR828 bid $3,400.00 2020-02-28 08:35:25
- Skyhawk86 bid $3,000.00 2020-02-28 07:47:01
Steve3n bid $2,900.00 2020-02-28 07:26:37
accessbuilders bid $2,800.00 2020-02-28 04:32:52- COR828 bid $2,650.00 2020-02-27 17:02:39
- accessbuilders bid $2,500.00 2020-02-27 15:51:34
AUTOMANRUSS bid $2,300.00 2020-02-27 11:34:13- COR828 bid $2,200.00 2020-02-26 18:23:36
- AUTOMANRUSS bid $2,100.00 2020-02-25 09:32:13
Scottygiannini bid $2,000.00 2020-02-25 08:38:26
J.cook bid $1,900.00 2020-02-25 00:19:26- Scottygiannini bid $1,800.00 2020-02-24 11:08:52
- larker47 bid $1,700.00 2020-02-24 10:02:40
- Scottygiannini bid $1,600.00 2020-02-24 06:01:21
091448H bid $1,500.00 2020-02-23 19:42:21- Scottygiannini bid $1,400.00 2020-02-23 09:58:57
Jbweatherstein bid $1,300.00 2020-02-22 09:18:57
shane0319 bid $1,200.00 2020-02-21 16:53:12- Scottygiannini bid $1,050.00 2020-02-21 14:20:58
Nosduh89 bid $950.00 2020-02-21 14:02:08
CPeters83 bid $550.00 2020-02-21 13:13:35- Nosduh89 bid $400.00 2020-02-21 12:58:26
- CPeters83 bid $200.00 2020-02-21 12:45:23
Does the AC work? Yes, that’s a serious question, my daughter needs a car and I can’t imagine anything safer short of an armored car!
I just heard from Ernie that the AC does work! All of the electronics work as well.
Amen! My daughter will be driving an APC when she gets her license.
Is this an 86?
The seat pleats and passenger airbag makes me think it might be newer.
In all likelihood this example is a 1991. There are several reasons why I came to this conclusion.
1) On 1986 and 1987, the steering wheel cover says simply “SRS.” From 1988 to 1991, the cover said “SRS AIRBAG.”
2) 1986 through 1989 cars say “Becker Grand Prix Electronic” on the stereo face. In 1990 and 1991, the faceplate says “Mercedes-Benz.”
3) This car has a passenger-side airbag. Only offered as an option in 1991.
I owned a 560SEL from 1986 with exactly this color and interior, and it had just a few thousand miles less than 400K and it drove like a new car and looked like a new car. About ever 120K miles it will need a valve job but they are still making parts for this series as they are so highly prized world wide. This is a much smaller car than you might think but I agree with Mr. Balmer that this is the safest car outside of an armored car.
Of note some of the features are the heated seats and reclining rear seating. The side mounted rear lighting for passengers. If you are a mob enforcer the trunk can hold at least two bodies of normal sized people. The quality of materials is amazing. As per the cooling system it is the series just after this one that is such a problem and why that series is almost not worth buying because of so many failures of the cooling system that costs as much as the car is worth to fix.
I really loved mine and only sold it because it was involved in a wreck where the road collapsed below me as I was doing about 80MPH. Came very close to rolling the car but blew out three tires, damaged the rear suspension, transmission and power shaft. The car was drivable but you could tell it was not long for this world. I needed something else as this was my daily driver. But I do miss this car and the elegance it had both inside and outside.
I wish that I didn’t have a 100 mile daily commute. I would drive something like this daily.
What a car!
My aunt bought one in 1990 a 560 SEL the same color! It was so smooth as well as lots of take off power from the big V-8. I inherited it after she passed on and I still have it till now 2020. I find that these “Mafia staff” cars were quite thirsty-560 SEL type and on mine I had to rebuild the trans every 150KMiles. Mine is on it’s second rebuild. Luckily the trans was easier to rebuild than the 7 series BMW that I also own! I wished that this car was closer to me or else I would have consider buying it. These “oldies” has the solid THUMP when you close the doors not like today’s and they seemed to be smoother than today’s also. Also today’s Mercedes don’t make them like they used to either, thanks the cheaper LEXUS. I guess the old “the Best od Nothing” doesn’t apply anymore?
What does the registration say for year of manufacture? Is there a registration for the car?
I wonder what happened to the wood on the dash, everything else inside looks new???
Is it possible to get the VIN of the vehicle?
The car has an actual title one owner date of manufacturing is 9 of 89
Is any routine maintenance, such as tires, battery, etc. required. Also, is any maintenance on the engine, transmission, suspension, etc. needed?
There’s a whole milk crate full of receipts maintenance records books everything you need
Things are heating up now! Good luck guys.
Looks like we have some new bidders in the mix!
Sold for $5,300 to phh!!! Well bought!