Impression: Norev’s 1/18 CL 600

Car models as a subculture of cars certainly deserve to be mentioned. It turns out that they are not only a miniature replica that satisfies the collector’s desire, but also helps to enhance the understanding of the actual car. I have been collecting car models for the past twenty years or so, and it occurred to me to write some reviews for some of them. I want to start with the most recent decent model, which is the 1/18 CL 600 launched by Norev in 2020.

Since Norev launched sedan in 2010, 140 has been silent in the 1/18 field for a long time, and Norev just repeated it in different colors. Suddenly in 2019, there were three C 140 models, they were from KK, CULT and Norev. I hope I will have time to introduce KK and CULT products in the future, but at this moment I want to focus on Norev, which is the most superior of the three and has some tangible stories to tell.

On January 11, 2020, I found two just-released 1/18 CLs on an internet store, they are Mercedes dealer editions, the colors appear to be 348 Pearl Blue and 512 Almandine Red. I was very excited, finally there is a decent coupe model. Meanwhile I was curious because they haven’t appeared on any other channel yet. I ordered both and then the store owner contacted me. I was told the models weren’t ready yet, but he would place the order right away —— he introduced himself as a parts purchasing employee at the Mercedes dealer who ordered dealer models and retailed them at a discount price for profit. I believe at that time he was the only one doing this kind of business in the country because he always had some exclusive items, such as this pair of CL.

Norev is pretty much the designated manufacturer of Mercedes 1/18 dealer models, I can guess that this pair of CL’s are from Norev. When Norev made a dealer version for Mercedes-Benz, of course they have their own. Five days later, on January 16, 2020, I saw the Norev version went on sale, in 744 Brilliant Silver, I ordered that one too. I mentioned accurate dates that you might think I’m being overly sensitive to even care about the date of the models I purchased. I would like to point out that our wedding was held on January 18th. After wedding, guests from Wuhan looked sad. They asked us where they could buy masks, as they got calls from Wuhan, there was a serious epidemic and all the masks on the market had been sold out. We took them to buy hundreds of masks, then they went back in a rush. As you may have guessed, that was the day COIVD was officially exposed and spreading rapidly. Soon we stuck at home, the silver one delivered before the storm but dealer models are not that lucky.

One month later, on February 16th, the dealer model shop owner contacted me —— we live in the same city, sine at that time all shipping services had been shut down due to COVID, he offered to deliver the goods to me in person, we agreed to do it at my old apartment address, where my models are stacked. I took out the Almandine Red one and started admiring the details. In order to get back to my wife as soon as possible, I didn’t stay with the models for too long. I just put it on the terrace with the sedan of the same color and took a photo.

Do you know? All car models require a lot of real car information for reference. In the past, it might just be photos, but now 3D scanning is also common. But regardless of the method, you need the right reference object. Authenticity, which I define as synonymous with correctness. For models, this means that you need an example with the same details as the car that came off the production line as a reference so that you can fully replicate the correct details. Think about it, only 23,525 C 140s were produced, after more than 20 years, not many survive and even fewer still maintain factory specs. So when a model maker actually works with an automaker – making dealer models for them, at least in Mercedes’ case, it helps with the authenticity of the model. Mercedes keeps some almost mint cars in museums, some of which you can’t get anywhere else in the world.

So early on when I first laid eyes on the model I received, a question came to my mind, who’s the one? There’s certainly reason to believe that Norev, as usual, is referencing collections in museum, but the latter is still a question worth exploring. Since Norev copied the A432120 that was handed over to the museum from the factory in August 1998 when manufacturing the sedan in 2010, I take it for granted that this time they will choose the A432046 that was handed over at same time, which was a 1998 CL 500.

The dealer packaging simply says CL 600, but there’s no V12 badge on the model’s C-pillar. I thought it was A432046, but swapped a V12 like the earlier sedan model did (Norev swapped M119 and M120 onto the 1998 S 320) , so my first thing was to open the engine compartment to confirm.

It is not that easy to get the VIN of a real car through a model. First, color itself may not be referential. This Brilliant Silver, or Pearl Blue and Almandine Red, which can be made in any color. Only those solid physical features help, but the buttons on the dashboard are blurry and I couldn’t make out its options. Until I opened the trunk and saw a very unique detail, the fan of the refrigerator appeared, which means that this model equipped with 308 cooling compartment in center rear backrest. This option is missing from the A432046 data cards, Norev is replicating another coupe!

I started looking in the archives for Daimler-related cars with options for cooling boxes, and it looked like there were no 1998 CL 600s ordered by Daimler that fit this criteria. Until I caught a glimpse of a set of photos of CL 600, A424093 that had participated in a media photo shoot, all its details matched this model. This set of photos was taken in 2006 when the C 216 was launched, A424093 got a few shots as part of a family tradition. What is surprising is that not only is this car not the CL 500 that the museum received from the factory, it was not even ordered by Daimler, but for a client in Stuttgart. In other words, it is a used car acquired by Daimler, probably not long before the shooting.

Maybe they acquired this car temporarily because of color requirements. Although its data card color is 339 Violane Metallic, plant texts show its color to be 026 Designo Ocean Blue. In the family portrait, the recent two generations of coupes are dark blue. This may be the reason for the absence of A432046 in 197 Obsidian Black. Chiristian from mb-w140.de once asked me to take a closer look at this car. It even had parking scratches on the rear left rim, which is obviously not mint. I assumed the car was disposed of after shooting was completed, as it also didn’t appear again after 2006. Now, apparently it still sits somewhere in the museum warehouse, having the honor of being made into a Norev model.

Back to the model. Although Norev did not choose the mint A432046, which has been in museum storage for a long time, is not bad. It has been stored at least since 2006, when it was only 8 years old. I don’t see any modifications in the photos or on the model that don’t match factory condition – relatively speaking. At least they didn’t replicate the correct tires. In the 2006 photo, A424093 used Pirelli P Zero, while the model’s tires were obviously of a different pattern, meaning the museum had replaced it after 2006. This is good news and great evidence that it still belongs in a museum. You could have said that Norev made the model using a lot of old photos of A424093 from over a decade ago, but it has new tires. However, I immediately searched for the mainstream 255/45 R18 in Europe in 2020, and found no tires with the same tread pattern as the model.

With an almost completely realistic base, you can feel confident in your model. Subjectively speaking, I think Norev’s restoration on the coupe has made a leap compared to the sedan. At least it does not have serious disproportion on the outside. Regarding the authenticity of the model, if the real car is “1”, then you may make a “0.9”, and there is nothing wrong with that. But without a real car, you might be making an “i”! That looks similar to 1, but is completely different logically. Due to cost and scale limitations, I can even accept a rough “0.1”, but cannot accept a very refined “i”! Many model makers make this mistake, in fact there are very few real models of 140, because Most of these models were made many years after the car was discontinued. Not only could the manufacturer not find a real car, they didn’t even bother to find one, instead they chose to piece together a model by downloading pictures of different cars from internet.

Even today, when alloy model manufacturing technology is very mature, there are still many compromises. In the example below, the APS (Auto-Pilot-System) CD-RO[M was forced to move downwards to make room for the trunk hinges. But this does not affect the authenticity of the model, you still get an incredible level of detail.

I received the Obsidian Black version from Norev shortly thereafter, which looks very similar to the A432046 thanks to the absence of the V12 badge. As of now, a model in the same color as A424093 has not been produced, and perhaps never will. So next I’m going to do some comparisons with the limited 2006 photos using a model with Obsidian Black paint and Mushroom interior. I don’t think Norev needs too much praise. All the previous discussions have expressed this point. Even so it’s still lacking, not least the V12 badge, which makes it impossible to believe it’s a V12 until you unbox it. At the same time, there are no PTS (Parktronic) sensors in the front and rear bumpers, which has been standard since MY1997. The trim color of the air intake grille should be the “titanium” specially emphasized by MB’s marketing department, rather than regular chrome.

Compared to the accurate exterior, Norev is not ideal for interior processing. They don’t mess up the configuration, but they mess up the shape. For example, the model has an arc-shaped instrument panel, the steering wheel logo is not centered enough, and many areas lack a three-dimensional feel. There is a lever on the right side of the steering column, which is for 813 Linguatronic. Compared with the real car, the model lacks the fire extinguisher under the driver’s seat.

Like many model car manufacturers, Mercedes and Norev want to extend the product’s year-by-year applicability as much as possible. So although A424093 is undoubtedly MY1998, the packaging of these models says 1996-1998, which will increase the number of potential buyers. Of course if you have a MY1996 C 140 and think this car is the same as yours you are deceived, the facelift is from MY1997. Strictly speaking, this model cycle only applies to MY1998, or even just a part of MY1998, due to the existence of several iconic equipment, they are:

1. The antenna located on the rear roof means APS-III, the third generation Auto-Pilot-System launched in January 1998.
2. The joystick located on the right side of the steering column means Linguatronic, which is the voice control system launched in MY1998.
3. The light-colored wood trim inside is KastanieHolz, which is the standard wood veneer for coupe launched since MY1998.

It is obvious that Norev was completely wrong in calling these models 1997 CL 600. For promotional purposes, MB and Norev will also increase color availability. In the previous example, MB released 348 Pearl Blue and 512 Almandine Red, which are technically fictitious.

1. Since MY1996-MY1998, Pearl Blue has disappeared from the price list, unless specifically requested. Historically, no C 140 was produced in Pearl Blue in MY1998.
2. Since MY1996-MY1997, Almandine Red also requires special requirements. But by MY1998, Almandine Red was completely unavailable. The mainstream red color of this period was 587 Ruby Red.

Since this pair of models comes from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection, Classic Center is responsible for them. Apparently, the true history of the C 140 could not interest its manufacturers, who wanted the color they wanted, ignoring its authenticity. Talking about authenticity, in the past, number plates of dealer’s model would be assigned some meaning, sometimes using historically authentic plates. In this case, the license plate is S-EC 600 in EU style. The “S-EC” series was used for the C 140 at the Cap Ferat press event in early 1992, but did not reach the “600”, roughly from “S-EC 413” to “S-EC 424”. After that, all license plates were re-arranged according to the Stuttgart number release sequence, from “S-KH” to “S-NK”. So, the S-EC 600 is just a fictional number, which is also interesting because they made it for the CL 600.

The last version of this model was released in 2021 and it is rather interesting. Although not given any emphasis, the model strongly hints Bruno Sacco’s personal car. In August 1996, he custom-built a 1997 CL 500, it looks like 888 Beryll Green which was once offered on the price list, this is actually a special paint PF 724 supplied by Bollig & Kemper GmbH & Co KG. Apparently, Sacco liked the car and had his own preferred color. The car was acquired by the museum in the early 2000s but was never publicly displayed, we don’t know if it is still around today. It would be interesting to know if MB Classic provided Norev with samples of the special paint, it looks like the model is closer to the Beryll Green.

Since the model replicates the exterior and interior colors, we can certainly assume that this is a reference to the Sacco’s car. Sadly the model is MY1998 and the one Sacco had is MY1997 so it’s not a perfect conversion.

Norev has not launched any new versions since 2021, and Sacco’s cars are still on sale. This is sad, I believe if they gave this model some story when marketing it it would benefit both sales and history of the car. The C 140 itself is not that popular either for car enthusiasts or model collectors, but it meant a lot to Bruno Sacco. By the way, after being hidden for 20 years, A432046, the vanished museum-collected C 140 finally appeared at the March 2019 event <The Pioneers of Mercedes Safety Technology> ! Right after I began to worry about the fate of it… A video from fünfkommasechs shows its odometer reading in around 2940 km. We still don’t know why it didn’t become Norev model , but it’s good to know it’s still safe and sound.

What we know for sure is that even though the model itself was great, it was not a commercial success. Two dealer models from 2020 are still available at accessories.mercedes-benz.com today, which means we won’t be seeing new colors anytime soon. Likewise, due to overproduction of facelift models, we may never see a pre-facelift from Norev.

list of Norev 1/18 CL 600 so far: