History: Olivier Boulay recalls coupe design

As a product from the early 1990s, development of the 140 was largely completed by 1991, which was 33 years ago. Even the young engineers at that time have now retired, as for those experienced people at that time, many have left us forever. What are the left 140 history can be saved? Olivier Boulay was one of the youngest designers involved in the design of the 140, he still remembers many things.

Before posting our conversation with Professor Boulay, we first want to clarify the meaning of the title. In the 1990s, any Mercedes was the joint work of hundreds of employees. Although the patents belonged to only a few major contributors, everyone contributed to a greater or lesser extent. Should we give all the credit to Bruno Sacco? He won’t agree to it. We cannot list all designers, and there is no need to rank everyone’s contributions. What we hope most is that every true historical story be passed down.

Boulay is a special case among Mercedes-Benz designers. Although he is considered one of the key designers of the C 140, he did not appear in official publicity as he had left Mercedes-Benz Design Division by the time the coupe was launched in 1992. Compared with the sedan, Mercedes has put a lot of effort into emphasizing its design efforts in the coupe’s announcement, which includes a lot of additional media information. Thanks to these press materials from 1992, we were able to analyze the design evolution and those inspiration of the coupe, and Boulay’s influence in it.

The photo above was published in 1992, it may have been taken earlier, Michael Mauer (seated) and Hans-Harald Hanson (standing) are discussing some renderings in studio. There are 17 renderings in the photo, at least 6 of which are by Olivier Boulay, you can check them up close in the following article. Considering that Boulay had left the design studio at this time (probably long time ago, he lefr in 1989), but his paintings are still everywhere there, we have reason to believe that Boulay did have a profound influence on the design of the coupe.

Another densely rendering photo also contributes to the above point. There are 11 paintings in total, at least 5 of which were contributed by Boulay. As I mentioned, there are many different designers involved in each Mercedes, whose inspirations are mixed together to produce the work. To be fair, everyone involved deserves credit, but for the winners of the drafts in each stages, their ideas are decisive for the realization of the product. Mercedes’ design decisions are like a carefully pruned tree, many secondary branches and leaves will be cut to refocus the effort on the trunk, but the right branches are always there. So there is always that “right branch”, the designer who came up with the important inspiration.

How did you joined Mercedes-Benz and Daimler AG? During your carrer before that, which projects were you involved?

I was working at Porsche AG in Weissach as Car Designer and as an Architect (did the new cafeteria, library, management offices there), when coming back home one day from work, I found a letter from Mercedes-Benz Design Department asking me for an interview.
I accepted by curiosity although I was quite happy at Porsche where I was developing a great number of projects under the leadership of Anatole Lapine (the Chief Designer) and Richard Soderberg, my direct design boss.
The interview with Mercedes-Benz took place at Sindelfingen where the company’s design facilities were established.
I met at first Prof Galitzendörfer, number two after Bruno Sacco, head of Mercedes-Benz Design division, and Peter Pfeiffer, the number three whose qualification was to supervise model’s development.
The interview went quite well. Prof Galitzendörfer was very impressed by my portfolio. Then came the discussion about financial compensation. I came up with a number that apparently was a too high for Prof Galitzendörfer and Peter Pfeiffer. We must say that people from Stuttgart region are well known for being stingy when it comes to money…
Never mind, I went back to Porsche where I was developing the Porsche 993.
One month after this interview at Mercedes-Benz, I attended the Torino Motor Show where I met Bruno Sacco. I thanked him for giving me the opportunity to work for Mercedes-Benz, but I had to tell him that it didn’t work because I was apparently too expensive.
Bruno Sacco who was not aware of that asked me to come to his office for a second interview with him only.
He was again very impressed by my portfolio and then we talked money. I gave my expectations, and Bruno gave me his “compromised” number. We did the deal.
January 1987 I was entering Mercedes-Benz division as the third French car designer after Paul Bracq and Gérard Cardiet, a very shy person but fantastic car designer and modeler as well.

During your first period in Mercedes-Benz from 1987-1989, what projects were you involved?

When I entered Mercedes-Benz Design department, I was part of the exterior designers’ group. At the time, the Design department was still established in the old Bau 80, right above the modelling studio.
I was immediately assigned the C 140 Coupe project. I was of course not alone and as it is always the case, several proposals were made by several designers. We had regular design reviews with our directors and it came up that my design proposals were very much praised by Bruno Sacco and Prof Galitzendörfer who was finally very happy that I joined Mercedes-Benz.
Prof Gallitzendörfer, Director of Design under Bruno Sacco and Peter Pfeiffer, Director of the modelling division were coming every morning to review all designers’ work. As I just joined the company coming from Porsche, they had a particular interest in the various proposals I was developing for the C 140.
I was not only busy with the C 140 Coupe project, but also with the W 140 S Class V 12, and the new C Class (W 202). This explains how I was looking for a “design link” between these cars that would reflect the brand design philosophy at the time and express what we used to call “family feeling”.

Editor’s note: Professor Boulay showed us one of the most original sketches of the coupe, it looks simple, it is his style. It is worth mentioning that Boulay is not only a auto designer, but also an architectural designer before that. He can get inspiration in various places, such as the most original MAYBACH (BR 240) depicted on napkin in a restaurant. The sketch paints a picture of the prospect that the coupe should set a new style across the whole Mercedes family, especially the headlights. The whole style is very sporty, it is creative without being unrealistic. Although the styling proportions of the production car have changed a lot, it could be argued that most of the inspiration from that sketch ended up in the production.\

Editor’s note: seems the early C 140 had some inspirations from the C 124. Note that the C 124 was released at Genf 1987 in March 1987 and it was influential in the new family design at the time.

Editor’s note: The April 1987 rendering still had a 124-style trunk lid, but had been given new triangular taillights.

Editor’s note: two 202 C-class renderings by Boulay from March 1988. The design task of 202 and C 140 were almost assigned to the team at the same time, so they should be regarded as the same series, the styling of 202 and C 140 have mutual influence.

We would like to know how the design team works. For example, how does a design generated and selected? What’s the contribution of Bruno Sacco and others?

Boulay: I was very quickly given the responsibility to develop a full-size model based on one of my proposal. This was quite a challenge as I was still very new in the organization, and not so much aware of the hierarchy. If as designers we were free to make our own 1/5 models, however we had to respect a precise hierarchy within the full-size modelling department. It was effectively not so easy to impose your ideas to the chief modeler, Mr. Schneider who had the tendency to take young designers as unexperimented “Mickeys”!

But, step by step, I managed to get what I wanted, probably because I was also joking with the modelers, and they liked that a lot. They probably saw that I was serious in my work but not considering myself as a super star. In other words, we had respect for each other.
To the contrary to Porsche where only one full-size clay model was made for a new model, Mercedes-Benz could make up to eight full-size models before a final choice. This was very impressive and quite new for me.

The full-size models were not using dynoc (a silver film that covers the clay model), but were painted each time before a review with the top management in the “Coupole”, a large presentation hall at the time nearby the design center.
There were previews between Bruno Sacco, Prof Galitzendörfer, Peter Pfeiffer, and other Directors of different departments, especially engineering.
Then there were reviews with the Mercedes-Benz Board members, our top design management and design section managers, but where designers themselves rarely assisted. Here you could feel how strong and important was the hierarchy at Mercedes-Benz. These reviews with the Board sounded like top secret meetings. We, designers, were always “chasing” what was decided, and this was quite a “gymnastic”!

Editor’s note: the advance exterior design of C 140 started from 1986, before Boulay joind the project, there were already two proposals became 1:1 model, C 140-1 nad C 140-2. Their styles are close to the later R 129, which seems a bit dull.

The coupe body has a fold all the way on side panels, while sedan eventually didn’t come out with it. Why is that?

The W 140 S Class was the largest S Class ever built by Mercedes-Benz. Its size was effectively much bigger than its predecessor, the W 126. Its styling was also very clean. There was no fold all the way on side panels to the contrary of the C 140 Coupé. The intention was I guess to express modernity, simplicity, purity, but it also made the car a bit heavy looking.
When the W 140 was about to be launched, there were some serious concerns among the Board members, because it was exactly at the time the wall in Berlin felt down. The reunion of the East Germany with the West enhanced a particular social climate in Germany which was not in line with a certain “industrial arrogance” from West Germany. The W 140 S Class became therefore a kind of symbol of this arrogance, and it certainly explains why its sales were not so successful in Europe, when however, they were in USA and Asia.
I personally designed the C 140 S Class Coupé without any fold along the side in order to stay in line with the W 140 S Class. Since the W 140 S Class was already under criticism for its heaviness, I guess that the fold was adopted on the C 140 Coupé to lighten its body.
I left Mercedes-Benz in June 1989 to join Subaru FHI in Japan. At the time, the design of the C 140 was frozen and the car was introduced in January 1992 at the Detroit Motor Show.

You mentioned the W 140 V12, and it seems that the V12 sedan was once an independent project, but it never came to fruition. what happened?

The W 140 S Class was already well advanced in its development. Its chosen design theme was coming from Harald Leschke who became later on the head of the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Division.
As for the W 140 S Class V 12, it was obvious for me that this car needed to position itself clearly above the normal S Class W 140.
Therefore, I proposed to enrich the tail lights, the front grill, the side windows with the “lamellas” before the C pillar, and some other chromed details here and there. Some of these proposed details were not realized probably because of cost issues.
Retrospectively speaking, they should have been done to create a substantial trim level differentiation between the normal S Class and the S Class V 12.

Editor’s note: As early as December 1986, the sedan’s exterior design had been frozen, here these February 1988 renderings hint that the design division still wanted to change the V12 with some accessories back then. By the way, does Boulay’s V12 exclusive design look familiar to later AMG deisgn? This includes fog lights on the front bumper, rectangular muffler tips, rims more than 18 inchs and lower trim with extra lines.

Why is your rendering chosen? What’s in your mind when you designing the coupe?

The rendering I did for this car named “Miami Vice” ,this is actually the chosen drawing to make the C 140. The rendering is made on a velum paper, using both sides, pastel chokes, color pencils and magic markers.
For me, the C 140 was the “flag ship” of the company, as much as the W 140 was. The C 140 had to reflect a subtile mixe of modern and classic design, and souveraignty.
As we can see on my renderings, I was already planning to have the same kind of rear tail lights concept which we could find later on on the W 202. The reason was to have an harmony between the front headlights and the rear tail lights in terms of design concept.
Although my proposal for the C 140 was chosen, Peter Pfeiffer “imposed” his own tale lights design which we have nowadays…
The W 140 didn’t have any “zic line” (molding line running from the front fender to the rear fender) on its body side. In order to keep a “family feeling” with the W 140, I proposed to keep the very sleek side body panels without any “zic line”. Finally, it was decided to have one probably to enhance the elegance of the car.
I remember spending quite bit of time at the wind tunnel. The aerodynamic was effectively a high priority at the time, and we managed to reach a Cx of 0,29 a very good result for such a car.

Editor’s note: Bruno Sacco has already elaborated on his thoughts on the coupe in <C 140, Sacco’s pride>. The focus of the discussion at that time was how to create the most independent appearance in the limited changeable areas of the 140 sedan (mainly the radiator grille and headlight). Boulay proposed this lower headlight, and another version that was taller, see the 1:1 model C 140-3. The later C 140-4 adopted a headlight scheme similar to Boulay’s and remained in mass production until 1992.

Is there any design element you prefer didnt’t come true?

Boulay: While I was developing the C 140 Coupé, I was designing the new C Class (W 202). Again, a great number of models had been made. After several reviews, the management board was not satisfied with the current styling proposals, judging them too conservative. I came up with the triangular tail lights which I thought gave a more modern and fresher aspect to the car. It had also the advantage to simplify the rear fender stamping, therefore cost savings.
I remember a “nervous” Bruno Sacco coming with Prof Galitzendörfer and Peter Pfeiffer to our design studio where our design proposals were displayed on presentation walls.
Bruno Sacco went straight to my renderings and said: “I want this as a full-size model by Monday!”
I had then to work the entire weekend with the modelers at full speed! The model was presented to the board on Monday, and was immediately approved!
Since the C 140 Coupé had front head lights overlapping the front hood and front fenders, I thought that the triangular tail lights theme would be the perfect match for that car in terms of styling language. However, Peter Pfeiffer who was in charge to supervise the models’ development and who was not a designer managed anyhow to impose a more classic solution with tail lights surrounded by metal sheet.
I still think that this solution is not the best one because lacking harmony in terms of features themes.
Anyway, the theme of the triangular tail lights was adopted on several Mercedes-Benz such as the SLK, E Class etc. and was also “copied” by several other automotive brands later on.
My major concern was the wheel size which I found too small for was such a car (16 inches). Although I was regularly complaining about it, I was still a young designer and not always listen by engineers… I was probably right since once the car released, this was the first criticism the car got from the press and the public. Some of C 140 buyers bought the 18 inches AMG alu wheels to “rectify” this problem and as far I remember, Brruno Sacco did the same on his turquoise blue C 140 company car…

Editor’s note: Obviously, the C 140-5 after the C 140-4 has not changed much except for the taillights. However, Boulay’s archives show that he had also devoted to the C 140-6 in November and December 1987, and these rendered facial designs that completely overturned the C 140 3-5, but were completely unrealized.

Design-Team

At the end, there is a relatively comprehensive group photo of the designers. Front left to rihgt: Joseph Gallitzendörfer, Johann Tomforde, Peter Pfeiffer, Hans JooB, Bruno Sacco, Murat Günak, Dieter Futschik, Karl-Heinz Bauer, Anton Reichel, Hans-Harald Hanson, Andreas Langenbeck, Harald Leschke, Gerhard Honet.

This photo was taken in 1991, and Olivier Boulay is no longer in the team. Also missing is Michael Mauer, who worked at Mercedes-Benz until 2000 but has appeared several times in press photos of the C 140 design. In fact, these photos can be considered a set of pose in 1991, which is not that reference. For example, in the photo below, Michael Mauer is painting, but the painting in his hands seems to be in the style of Hans-Harald Hanson.

In the picture below, which appeared at the beginning of the article, you can now identify the rendering on the table that Michael Mauer and Hans-Harald Hanson was discussing is the C 140-6 from Olivier Boulay.

However, Michael Mauer did participate in the design of the C 140 and was absent from the group photo. So this picture is definitely incomplete. The group photo is posted simply to give as many contributor names as possible without any exclusivity.

All history are based on limited information, please email me if you have doubts about the veracity of this article. If you want to quote the content of this article, please contact me in advance, please do not use my text for any commercial purposes.