How The Mercedes S-Class Defined Forward-Thinking Luxury

0 Comments | 23 Nov 2023

One of the most interesting aspects of luxury motoring is that it is much easier to define via absence. Most people can intuitively define what is not luxurious, but because of how broad the luxury motoring world is, there is no clear defining line.

Luxury can be defined through the sheer comfort of the passenger experience, it can be defined through being comfortable for the drivers themselves, or it can be defined through technological advances and features.

However, whilst the rest of the chauffeur-driven car world has shifted and adjusted to meet changing trends and changes, one constant has always been the Mercedes S-Class.

Short for “Sonderklasse” (“special class” in German), the S-Class has since 1972 been the company’s flagship luxury saloon car, and often the very first vehicle that comes to mind when anyone thinks of the distinctive three-pointed star.

The three-pointed star is important, as the three aspects that make up various definitions of luxury motoring are all found in the S-Class, with a legendary reputation for comfort, safety, speed and effortless control.

However, one of the biggest distinctive elements that has created the legend of the S-Class is its forward-thinking development. Whenever there is a new S-Class generation, many of its most innovative features end up becoming standard features in cars well over a decade later.

The W116, the first car to be called an S-Class in 1972 was the first car with a turbocharged diesel engine, one of the first to be fitted with anti-lock brakes and one of the first to be fitted with an airbag on the driver’s side, something that became the standard for the range by 1980.

The second generation, the W126 in 1980, featured cruise control, heated seats, traction control and pre-tensioned seat belts years and in some cases decades before the rest of the automotive industry.

The W140 in 1991 had self-closing doors and boot lid, electric windows and electronic stability control. The W220 in 1998 had a central navigation console during a time when this was seen as borderline science-fiction, four-wheel drive and air suspension.