The measure of good car design should perhaps be how well a car looks when parked in the most unflattering location and under the most unflattering lighting. Such a test can only be conducted in an underground parking lot. Well, the W124-series coupe aces it.
I’ll confess something, though: I only recently came to appreciate the design of the W124. Perhaps it’s because I’m a child of the 1990s and I initially became acquainted with the car when it was at the very end of its life, but I always found it rather starchy in appearance.
Had I been born in, say, 1980, I might have developed a very different perspective and appreciated the W124 for being both modern and aerodynamic in appearance and yet recognizably a Mercedes. Ok, so I’m still not really sold on the imposing Mercedes-Benz grilles of the 1980s but I can appreciate the neatly integrated rear window, the clean lines, and the prestigious appearance of the W124. It’s elegant, it looks expensive, and its interior is one of the finest of its time. Funnily enough, I find the wagon to be the most alluring. Something about the design says so authoritatively, “Rich people drive me”, more so than any other wagon that comes to mind.
Mazda sure had a thing for pretty compacts with very small V6s. North Americans will be familiar with the MX-3 but those of us in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe were triply blessed.
There was the Mazda Xedos 6 compact executive sedan (bottom right), also known as the Mazda Eunos 500, which was available with the MX-3’s 1.8 V6 as well as a 2.0 V6. Mazda also offered the 2.0 V6 in the related Lantis, varyingly sold as the 323F and 323 Astina, which was available in both a gorgeous hardtop sedan body (bottom left) and a wedgy hatchback (top).
Perhaps because of the availability of the slinky 323 Astina here in Australia, I didn’t pay much attention to the less practical Mazda Eunos 30X, as the MX-3 was known. Eunos was a quasi-sub brand here in Australia, sold out of the same showrooms as regular Mazdas and largely overlapping with the regular range. Mazda’s planned Amati luxury brand had been aborted but the 500 and 800 (aka the Mazda Millenia) had been developed for it so they had to go somewhere, and therefore Mazda made a half-hearted effort at establishing the Eunos marque here. Interestingly, the MX-3 was lumped in with them here in Australia but didn’t receive the “Xedos” nameplate in Europe as the 500 and 800 had.
Speaking of strange regional names, the first-generation Honda/Acura Integra was sold here in two guises under two different brands: the three-door hatchback was known as the Honda Integra, while the five-door was sold as the Rover 416i. This helped reduce overlap in the local Honda lineup which was already brimming with a multitude of desirable compacts. Actually, it would have made more sense if the Integra had been the five-door as the Civic, Prelude and Accord weren’t available in such a body style.
Fat chance finding a 416i around, though, as Rovers – even the fake ones – sold poorly here in the 1980s. Integras are rare enough and sadly this is the only first-generation model I’ve seen in years. Even worse, every time I’ve seen it, it has either been night time or the car was in a parking lot.
The Rover 416i may have been merely masquerading as a British car but the Jaguar XJ was the real deal. The Series III of 1979 was a rather extensive visual refresh and yet it didn’t dilute the lithe proportions and elegant lines of the XJ.
While there were new, larger bumpers for the Series III refresh, the basic shape of the rear was retained. They even did a different take on the “glaring” taillights that creeped me out as a child.
Jaguar continued to recycle the same design cues of the XJ well into the 21st century. While I liked the previous-generation XJ and its heritage-inspired styling, it lacked the slinkiness that had made past XJs like the Series III so alluring and so different from their rivals.
Yes, the real test of a car’s visual appeal must be how good it looks in unflattering lighting. The Series III XJ passes with flying colors.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1984 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas – The Cat That Saved Jaguar
Curbside Classic: 1989 Acura Integra LS – A Hot Hatch For The Civic Minded
Curbside Classic: Mercedes W124 (1985-1996 E-Class) The Best Car Of The Past Thirty Years
Most of your pictures aren’t loading for me.
We’re still having intermittent technical issues. Dave is on this one; I think it’s fixed now, for the moment.
Gotcha. Everything seems okay now.
It could be me, but most of the images don’t appear to be linked right now.
Had I been born in, say, 1980, I might have developed a very different perspective and appreciated the W124 for being both modern and aerodynamic in appearance and yet recognizably a Mercedes.
To properly appreciate the W124, it would have been better to be born in about 1970-1974, because it can only be fully appreciated in the context of its arrival in 1984, when everything else (except the Audi 100/5000) was square and boxy and fussy.
You would have only been four in 1984 if born in 1980, but perhaps your awareness of automotive design was exceptional at that age. 🙂
The reality is that the W124’s front end styling was by far its weakest part, and a disappointment. Mercedes had been debating internally about ditching the traditional radiator shell since the early 60s, and by this time, it was long overdue. At least on the coupe; this would have been the perfect car to make that transition on. But they chickened out, once again. I would have loved the coupe, but the front end just looks cheap and not worthy.
I agree that the wagon is very attractive. But then I’d miss the sedan’s rear window/C pillar and its butt, which were its best features. I’ve had that internal debate for decades.
Paul, just for you there was a 560 SEC style conversion, not overly popular but available. Maybe you could live with the later style 124 grille?
KJ in Oz
Paul, I had a 1995 E320 Coupe (last year for the model) of which Mercedes-Benz ditched the traditional “radiator shell” for a more integrated grill. IMO it was an improvement.
As for the statement all W124s made about their owners, when my then 3 year old daughter first sat in the car she said “I like this car, Daddy. I feels rich!” Perceptive girl but, alas, we are not “rich.”
For the longest time, I never really cared for the series 3 XJ. For some reason, I couldn’t just get excited about it. Now though, I think it’s one of the best designs that Jaguar ever made. If I were to partake in something ambitious, I might consider owning one of these or a V12 XJS at some point in my life.
Although, what is that color its in? it looks like either dark blue or dark grey, but it seems to be a blend between both depending on the angle.
The 124 has grown even more and more attractive to me over the years, though I’d always wanted one. I especially like the coupe but when it was new (MY 1988) the purchase of one was out of the question.
The appeal of the 124 has grown for two reasons. One – I’ve learned what a finely engineered car it was. Two – now that I know what followed from Mercedes, it is clear that this one was the best and subsequent Mercedes pale in comparison.
The one found by William is from MY ’88 through ’92. The 124 coupe was the Mercedes that introduced the two tone scheme, next used on the 129 in ’90. Both cars are Bruno Sacco designs. This one suffers from the wrong concept that after market chrome trim around the fenders is appealing.
Was going to say that about the chrome trim. And there’s something about that wheel arch shape that seems ‘not quite right’ – or maybe it’s because of the chrome trim.
Seems like it was actually the W126 (also designed by Bruno Sacco) that introduced the two-tone scheme. Good call on the horrible chrome!
Great parking garage finds! I’d still be happy driving a M-B C124 coupe any day! Still a true hardtop coupe!
+1
Those early Integras were great cars, but are quite uncommon now. I recall that I wrote one up several years ago but am not sure I have seen once since.
I do like those Jaguars, even if they are not the most beautiful of the breed. It was a very successful update of what a Jag was supposed to look like.
As another child of the 90s, the W124 never did much for me either, but I never really have grown to appreciate it as much as I had grown to appreciate old Mercedes. For me the W124 broke no aesthetic ground that wasn’t broken by the W201,which I’m also not a fan of, or the W126, which I am quite a fan of. I probably just don’t like aerodynamic design, but I never liked the small trapezoidal wheel openings(which are highlighted by the hideous chrome lips on this one), the flat plain wheels, or the abundance of plastics, the two tone cladding on these later ones looks incredibly dated now and pretentious when new, and the distinctive diagonally chopped taillights look odd and unfinished. Now I will say I grew to appreciate the W124 under the skin, and it legitimately was the last great Mercedes, but I’d still rather own its predecessor or a W126 today.
The 2 door hardtop is a rare sight, but that’s another case where I’d leave it in the dust in favor of a W126 SEC, given the choice. The proportions actually favor the 4 door, and the classic grill strikes me as an odd choice given the W126 coupe got the sportier SL style grille.
My Grandma had this generation ‘Acura’ Integra in this exact color when I was a kid, parked along side with my grandpa’s red first gen Legend. It was special to me because it was the first car I got to operate popup headlights on and study how they worked. I greatly admire this period in Honda’s history, which was a much harder earned appreciation from me, as a kid who only liked old American cars.
The later W124’s have a slightly different grille wherein it is a bit smaller and ringed by part of the hood in body color. A little more “modern” than the early ones such as the one pictured here where the grille is sort of hanging from the top of the hood, to put it crudely.
You are on to something with the wagons, if I am not mistaken, the E-Class wagon line (as opposed to the sedan) is consistently the one model in the range whose owners have a higher net worth and/or income than the average buyer of their other lines.
I always liked the 124’s- especially the wagon. Back in the early 90’s, the neighbor across the street got his first really big promotion. The first thing he did is buy his wife a Black 300CE, the second thing he did was put a “For Sale” sign in front of the house. And I realized… the Coupe was something you bought your wife. Or is that stereotyping too much?
Some more 124 coupe comments:
The 124 is thin – about two inches narrower than the preceding 123. Looking at 124s in person, I think the proportions look best on the coupe. They are four inches shorter. The sedan seems, to my eyes, just a bit too long. Because the 124 is so narrow, I think the shorter coupe looks just right.
As for the traditional grille, I prefer that too. There were decades when only a Mercedes had the logo/badge up there. Having driven and owned them, there is just some satisfying thing in driving one and seeing the star out front. It may be silly or pretentious, but somehow that grille star just reinforces a driver’s confidence that he is driving a superior, safe and special car. Then every LTD, Reliant K or Grand Prix sported a sprung bangle out there too and . . . . .
Even the successor (sort of) mid-size coupe (’98 CLK) kept the faux radiator grille and star.
I can understand many of the W124 comments here. The thinness, tacky placky, the W201-ness, the plainness, the square wheels. “Starchy” is a great word, William. Quite a few of these things struck me at 16 or so when they were new, but they also looked serious and considered and even after all these years, expensive and modern.
Curious to ponder how much one’s aesthetic perception is affected by circumstance. New, these were very expensive. Despite that grille and impression of squareness, the Cd was near as low as the radical Audi 100. It was 10 years in development. The brand had an unchallenged reputation for ultra-quality, for safety, and an assumption that Mercedes (of those years) only did things in or on cars for an engineering reason. The reviews raved. I wonder if a lesser brand had released the shape I’d just think now “Oh, look, one of those briefly interesting Renault 21’s.”?
I too like the wagon best. It does exude a cool disinterest in obvious wealth (“Oh, the dog’s car?”). The coupe works least, and paradoxically, the convertible most: perhaps the soft roof softens it. It is definitely the last link to the Engineered Like No Other Car era.
A good friend had a no-options 300E sedan bought new in perhaps ’87. So it had the unpainted bumpers, but also the plastic wheel covers, and non-metallic beige paint, all garnished by the hugest of those awful chrome wheelarch eyebrows ever seen. Now THAT combination tested the W124 aesthetic.
Mazda was very oversaturated in Japan on nearly all ends during the era of choices you show here in this lineup, and none was worse than the compact-mid sized offerings. They all were closely related. The Eunos 500? Elegant luxury, yet within the lower tax bracket. Mazda Lantis? I’m the sporty one! Capella customers? Yep, us too. But what if the Eunos isn’t prestigious enough? Try a wide body Mazda Cronos sedan then. What if you want a wide body hatch? ɛ̃fini MS-6 would suit you well. But if either of those aren’t sporty enough? Try the Autozam Clef! But wait, a bespoke wide body lux sedan is your thing? Have an ɛ̃fini MS-8.
There is no confusion to me why this whole idea fell onto Mazda’s face, and fast…
To map it out, it went like this in their ascending hierarchy, for the most part. Keep in mind it’s all the same basic platform and most drivetrains;
(Narrow body, tax compliant):
Mazda Capella (sedan)
Mazda Lantis (sedan/hatch)
Eunos 500 (sedan)
(Wide body, extra tax fees):
Autozam Clef (sedan)
Mazda Chronos / ɛ̃fini MS-6 (sedan/hatch)
ɛ̃fini MS-8 (sedan)
I worked with a guy who bought a Eunos 30X. Not a short guy, it was very funny watching him climb into his ride.
Nice catch William, haven’t seen one of those Eunoses in a long while.
I remain in awe of your JDM knowledge, cjiguy. How did you come to be so knowledgeable about that market?
Thanks William. Honestly, I’ve just always liked Japanese cars. My Dad’s 240Z got me started down that path I guess. The internet age, along with a big collection of JDM brochures hasn’t hurt ?
Partial CC-effect, I saw a W124 wagon (T124?) the other day and pondered how good they still look. Nice post William.