I’ll be mesmerized as I read about a beautiful brochure. Perhaps reason will remind me that these charming vehicles have been specially beautified and professionally photographed for promoting purpose. But today there is an exception, I will see a 1/1 model in the first SEC brochure.
On January 1, 1992, press photos of the new SEC are unveiled to the public. The new 500 SEC and 600 SEC will soon meet the world at the Detroit Auto Show. Until then, there has been little more than a lot of speculation from auto magazines, apart from a brochure for internal use in Mercedes-Benz. This 27-page brochure mainly contain the parts of SEC that are different from the sedan. The text is fairly formal, as is the release to the press and consumers, except that all photos are of a 1/1 model, not the actual car.
Why is this brochure worth a closer look? First, it’s unusual for Mercedes to use photos of model car extensively in any press material, but it’s not the first time either. The launch of the R 129 was accompanied by a red 1/1 model. As for the C 140, what is more noteworthy about this model is the difference between it and the series-production car, not only in terms of craftsmanship, but also in fundamental design. And an invisible question: why use a model, not even a prototype?
Many of the photos in this brochure are exclusive so far, Mercedes-Benz hasn’t uploaded exterior photos of this model to its digital archive yet. Of course, they offer plenty of interior photos. Therefore, there will be two types of photos in this article, high quality photos from the Mercedes-Benz archive. Blurry, desaturated ones from this brochure. When there is overlap between the two, I attach the better version. As for the reason why exterior photos of this model haven’t been released yet, maybe they didn’t think it was necessary because the actual car was later photographed.
The cover of the brochure is an artistic photo in the style of Stuad Studio. In this photo, which is small in actual size, it may not be enough to tell the difference between it and the actual car. Staud has taken photos of the 140 sedan and AMG 600 SEL from this angle, but complete photo of the SEC have yet to be released. Regardless, when it’s zoomed in, you can realize it’s a mockup by the lack of detail in the fog lights.
Front photo. Looks very similar to the actual car, especially because of the realistic looking headlights. Although not a real functional headlight, it also has optical lenses and chrome reflectors. However, the fog lights on the bumper look plain, there don’t appear to be reflectors inside, and the lenses aren’t actual optical textures. You have to look carefully to find the difference between it and the actual car. For example, the grille on the bumper is not breathable, there is no removable cover on both sides, and there is no shade above the front windshield. By the way, the turn signals appear completely transparent here due to the lack of orange PY15W bulbs.
The rear looks more realistic than the front. Of course on this model they didn’t bother making the parking aid or radio antenna on rear fender. The number plate might tell us the truth, BB-DE 410 is only for the design department. See how Gordon Wagner explains it here. Although this plate looks like it even has an Hauptuntersuchung sticker. Unfortunately the photo from the brochure doesn’t have enough resolution to discern the expiration month of the sticker, so we might be able to deduce the date the photo was taken.
A huge front 45 degree. Thanks to the tilt, it is now possible to see inside the radiator grille. It has a couple of thick pillars instead of the auxiliary fans it should be. A series of design photos released in 1992 show how this radiator grille was made of wood. The yellow marker in the headlight lenses are somewhat deceptive.
Is this a US car? Its license plate frame is not US-spec. More likely, the lights with yellow markers were reviewed first, either because the SEC debuted in Detroit rather than Geneva, or because it was more market-oriented. The C 140 was the first Mercedes to switch from orange to clear turn signals, but according to federal regulations, yellow markers must still be reserved for North American version. As for the fog lights, here’s a better shot of what it might be.
Side view. Although the model looks like an actual car, most parts are not, its body is made of wood and any real car parts would be difficult to attach. Probably the only parts from the actual car in this photo are the wheels and the V12 badge. Untinted glass makes it look less realistic, but definitely good for photography.
From exterior details to interiors, the Mercedes Benz Archives offer the best quality photos, which are identical to the press photos distributed in 1992. The exterior photos later taken in southern Spain with the actual vehicle, they replace the model photos taken in-house at the Staud Studio. The photos are copyrighted from 1991, and you can find the complete collection in the press photo archive of the mb140 school.
The model’s two doors open, though the hood and trunk don’t. The model was not originally intended for press photos, but for a final board approval. To that end, the model was designed to be as realistic and user-friendly as possible, with board members getting inside to experience the interior design and materials. The body is mostly made of wood, it has no combustion engine, but it’s movable. An electric motor is installed for slow speeds so it can be driven around the hall so board members can see it in motion.
Do you see the interior that can be seen through the crack between the windshelds? Don’t be too picky, this is enough to satisfy the most powerful people in Daimler. The model cannot replicate every part, so you can use your imagination to better understand the concept that the model wants to express.
The overall dashboard. There are many details that are different from series-production car. The first thing is of course the steering wheel. The two holes below the rearview mirror are also strange. Note that the exterior background in this photo is somewhat pink, not from the same set as the previous exterior photos. This SEC model was photographed at least twice, the first time with a blue background and the second time with a pink background. Some of the photos with pink backgrounds replaced the photos with blue backgrounds taken at the same angle, and some of the photos with blue backgrounds were not replaced.
This is the steering wheel that the SEC was originally going to have. There is no wood, but there is perforated leather and double stitching on the airbag, the pattern is also different from the sedan. None of these elements later went into production on any Mercedes. The headlight height adjustment knob seems to come from the stereo. The gear markings on the speedometer do not belong to the 4-speed M120. The SEC and sedan share many parts inside, but the interior of this model is still full of handmade parts. There is no doubt that this model was made before the sedan went into production.
When the details of blue background photo is different from the pink background photo, I will post the blue photo first and then compare it with the pink photo. This center console was released with other blue photos, and almost all parts are handmade.
1) The top buttons are model parts, and the style is different from the series-production parts.
2) No central locking switch between the activated carbon filter and the hazard light switch, because the central locking switch was originally to be placed on the driver’s door, just like the early sedan.
3) The parking heater display and AC control module are also model parts, the AC temperature is printed, and the icons are also different from series-production parts.
4) The radio seems to be BECKER MEXICO 860 series with compact disc, which was never used on the 140, the last Mercedes model used such head unit was the 129.
5) The wood panel of the ashtray is made of several pieces of different veneer, which is inconsistent with the surrounding grain.
6) The switchs for seat heating are model parts, and the left and right are installed in opposite way.
7) The wooden shift gate is from the 5-speed of the M104, not the 4-speed 722.3 that the V12 should have.
8) There are several interesting switches in a row on the lower part that have never appeared on the 140.
This is an updated pink background photo, many details have been corrected with production parts, including all switches and panels. The central locking switch is now placed between the activated carbon filter and the hazard lights switch, the sedan has adopted this design since A086004, which was about June 1992. However, these photos were taken in 1991, so they decided to move the switch early on. The radio head unit is still not corrected, maybe they still didn’t plan to install a CD-changer in the trunk at this time. The error is still there, although the shape of the shift gate is now a 4-speed version, the gear indicator is for 6-cylinder model. On V8 and V12 models, there should be a “B” to the left of the “2”. To be fair, they redecorated the model with production sedan parts before reshooting to make it more realistic.
On the door panel in the blue background photo there is the central locking switch which frankly is not very convenient as it blocks the seat adjustment somewhat. Look at those speaker covers, they are just some fabric covers.
Revised model with pink background. Notice the problem? The central locking switch appears twice on both the door panel and the center console. Therefore, the door panel has not been revised together with the center console when the photos shot again. This is also an irrefutable proof: there is only one such model.
The SEC had individually designed seats, a design that was later abused by the sedan. On this model, the seats are also two-tone, but in a different way than later. The back panel is the same dark grey as the upper part of the interior. Although these seats are also models, they can be electrically adjusted like the actual car to allow the board members to experience different driving positions. The exposed wires in the lower left corner give it away.
On the revised model, the two-tone seats remained but were dropped in the production model. This revised model already had the production-type multi-contour seat switches.
Overview of the rear seats. The seat belts on both sides weren’t installed properly, were being pressed under the backrest. The left and right seat belt buckles are different. Notice a slightly detail: the window switches appear on both the center console and side panel. Since this is an original model with a blue background, the model should not have been revised to make the mistake of having duplicate switches. Is the switch on the side panel used to control the front windows? Maybe.
In the revised model, the seat belts have been pulled out and the seat belt buckles have been unified. The window switch and the wood panel on the rear side panel have disappeared. Look carefully at the front armrest, it is still a model part.
Close-up of other immature parts, rearview mirror and infrared detector. The rearview mirror doesn’t even have a mirror. That’s all the information that has been released so far, but there are of course many more details to come beyond the photos. A series of design photos released in 1992 show the model’s build process.
There’s also a build footage for the SEC in the design movie below.
Why were large-scale model photos used in the press release of the SEC? In fact, the set of photos with pink background also includes exterior photos of an actual car, with license plate S-LA 3088. This exterior photo also appeared in the press kit for the Detroit Auto Show. So the earliest press photo set consisted of the exterior of the actual car and the interior of 1/1 model. Based on the Abgasuntersuchung sticker on S-LA 3088, it can be inferred that its registration date was December 1991.
It was quite tight as there was only 1 month or less to shoot. But since they had the actual car in Staud Studio, why didn’t they shoot the interior of the actual car? There is also an internal letter from the press department dated December 6, 1991 to certain the dates.
Dear colleague,
The Mercedes-Benz 500 SEC/600 SEC coupés will be presented to the public for the first time at the Detroit Motor Show, USA, which opens its doors at the beginning of January 1992. So far, only spy shots of unfinished prototypes have been circulating in the media, or photos in which the vehicles have been brought into the presumed optical series state using scanner technology.
We would like to put an end to the game of hide and seek with the enclosed first official photo of the new model series.”
With kind regards, Mercedes-Benz Press Department
That is, the set of photos was ready by December 6, which was rapid. One fact about the SEC that is not widely known is that the production of the SEC was much later than that of the sedan. The series production of the sedan started almost at the same time as the world premiere, but the production of the SEC was delayed by 9 months and did not series start until October 1992. Therefore, in December 1991, there may still be a lot of parts missing from the interior. They finally had to use the design model.
The new SEC received final approval on July 26, 1988. This model should have appeared there, so many of the original details in the blue background photos are no later than 1988. In late 1991, in order to quickly take photos of the interior, the interior of this model was updated with sedan parts. We have to thank the SEC approval model for leaking out in this way, the sedan also had such a model, but it never came out. Today, these models may have been cruelly recycled, and these precious impacts are worth collecting and savoring forever.
All investigations 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.