On 2/8/06, Hendrik Riessen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I could argue that only since > the class system was truly introduce in 94 can a big merc be called an S > class.
I know the term "S-class" was commonplace (or at least became commonplace) sometime during the lifetime of the 126, though I don't have any handy way of proving it---it's just something I remember from '80s car magazines. The rest of the letter-based class system was definitely an invention of the Mercedes marketing department for the 1994 model year, though. I snicker whenever anyone refers to a 123 as an E-class. (Although that's not as bad as when people refer to a "300" or "500" Mercedes, etc., as if that means anything without the letters. Isn't eBay's category system still set up that way---as if the numbers indicated a chassis like they do with BMWs?) Alex Chamberlain '87 300D Turbo