With the coupe and cabriolet gone (rather replaced by the CLE), the current generation of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is only available in two body styles, saloon and estate, but its grandfather, the Mercedes-Benz W124 had a much broader catalogue.
In addition to the sedan, station wagon, coupe and cabrio, it was sold in a long-wheelbase version with six doors and eight seats. It was called Mercedes-Benz E-Class Pullman and it was sold all over the world, including Spain.
Another version of the range that was sold at any Mercedes-Benz dealership
In Spain, minivans became popular in the 1990s and seven-seat SUVs much later. Until then, large families did not have it so easy when looking for a car because there were few options with many seats. One of them was the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
You might think we’re referring to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class with a family body (Estate), a car that could have up to seven seats, with the last two seats located in the trunk and arranged in the opposite direction to the direction of travel, like many other station wagons of that time, but no: there was another version equipped with eight seats.
This is the Mercedes-Benz E-Class “Long”, “Limousine” or “Pullman”, a variant that was known internally by the code V124, while the rest of the E-Class were W124. The brand with the star put this model on sale in 1985 and marketed 2,362 units Worldwide.
It could be purchased at any Mercedes dealership, also in Spain, because it was part of the firm’s catalogue, but it was a co-production between Mercedes-Benz and the German specialist Binza company specialized in manufacturing special models based on Mercedes cars, from limousines to ambulances.
This type of collaboration was the order of the day at Mercedes at that time, in fact, the most powerful Mercedes-Benz W124, the 500 E (later renamed E 500) was born with the help of Porsche and was manufactured at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant.
The 500 E’s approach was radically different from that of the E-Class Limousine, however. The latter offered enormous interior space thanks to its 800mm longer wheelbase than the conventional E-Class. Its wheelbase reached 3600 mm, enough to configure its interior with three rows of seats, with two seats in the front, three in the middle row and three in the rear row.
As the V124 measured 5.54 meters long (the W124 is content with 4.74 metres in length), the boot was not compromised and was as large as that of the W124 sedan. This means that it had a capacity of 520 litres, so it could carry the luggage of all the occupants.
The tuner Schulz went further and wanted the trunk to be even larger, so he built a Mercedes-Benz V124 Estate with a station wagon body, so it had seven doors, what is not clear is whether this model could have had another two seats in the trunk, like the standard W124 Estate.
On a mechanical level, Mercedes-Benz offered the E-Class Limousine with three enginesone petrol and two diesels. The first was the E 260 and used a 2.6-litre straight-six engine that developed 170 hp; the diesels were the 300 D, a 3.0-litre naturally aspirated straight-six with 113 hp, and the E 250 Diesel, which used a 2.5-litre turbocharged straight-five that produced 126 hp.
Schulz’s Mercedes Benz V124 “Estate”.
All three were very tough blocks, like everything in that E-Class; you only have to see the number of units that are still in circulation today, almost 30 years after production of this generation of the German model ended.
As only a few units of the Limousine were made, despite being produced between 1986 and 1995, it is not so easy to see one, but it is not impossible. Many of those sold were used as taxis and many others ended up in hotels for transfers, especially in certain countries, such as Portugal or Palestine, but some units also reached Spain.
Take the “long” way home
The W 124 also came as a six-doors-limousine (internal called V 124) and has been sold 2.362 times.#MBclassic #V124 pic.twitter.com/1GflIuCDDh— Mercedes-Benz Museum (@MB_Museum) September 26, 2018
Several decades later, the Mercedes E-Class is only offered in two body styles: a four-door saloon and a five-door station wagon (Estate). Its grandfather, the W124, was officially sold in four-door saloon, five-door station wagon (Estate), two-door Coupé, two-door Cabriolet and six-door Limousine body styles.
There was also an extended wheelbase E-Class, like the Pullman, but with four doors and two rows of seats. Incidentally, both predecessors of the W124, known internally as W123like his successor, the W210had a variant with a six-door body and eight seats.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
