The marketing of the W 140 happened to overlap with another great era: that of graphic editing technology. This was between spliced film with tweezers and Photoshop came to PCs. On the one hand, the 90s meant that the update cycles of cars became shorter and more frequent. On the other hand, the development of graphic editing technology made it possible to produce new photos without a camera.
It is worth noting that the photos that are edited are usually those of the marketing department, which are mostly used in sales brochures, as opposed to those of the press department. This is considered a different genre by MB140.SCHOOL, and we also introduced it in <Photoreception: Three classic genre of 140 photography>. Press photos are taken by the press department themselves and are rarely edited too much. Marketing department photos are produced by professional agencies, tend to have more aesthetic value, and are fewer in number. Since the North American market gets its own sales materials, we’ll introduce the European and North American versions of the car separately by model year. As for the Japanese versions, they mostly just borrow photos from the European ones. This topic will become a series published as part of Photoreception.
The second case of the series is the facelift sedan sales brochure, which has lots of variants. Due to the significant changes compared to the pre-facelift, it was no problem to take new photos for the facelift. However, the marketing department had become less generous with the S-Klasse entering middle age by this time, and their photos were taken together with the press department, also using the same fleet. Some of these photos from early 1994 would be patched up and used until the end of W 140 production.. We’ll look at each perspective in the brochures and compare them between versions to see how they evolve. There’s a lot to ponder as you search for differences, i.e. what they changed, forgot to change, or changed by mistake. I will provide some comments below each version, enjoy.
Evolution of the S 320, S-LU 7048’s front.
02-1994, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU license plate S LP 7345, Parktronic sensors. But still older side mirrors. Theoretically, the MY1997 receive bumper with similar body color, but it seems that nothing changed here because the difference is not obvious. The same goes for rims.
Evolution of the S 320, S-LU 7048’s front 45°
02-1994, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU license plate S LP 7345, Parktronic sensors. But still older side mirrors. Theoretically, the MY1997 receive bumper with similar body color, but it seems that nothing changed here because the difference is not obvious. The same goes for rims.
Evolution of the S 320, S-LU 7048’s profile.
02-1994, original version with 8-Loch.
06-1994, with 15-Loch. Not technical update, just for variety.
03-1995, elimination of parking aid, a minor change.
05-1996, with upcoming new 6-Loch, for family program brochure only. Theoretically, the MY1997 receive bumper with similar body color, but it seems that nothing changed here because the difference is not obvious.
07-1996, MY1997. They changed mind about the rim. Subtle Parktronic sensor and lower color change. Extra fender turn signal is not standard for MY1997.
Evolution of the S 600, S-LU 7049’s left front 45°.
02-1994, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. Subtle lower color change. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997. New EU style license plate. It lacks of Parktronic as it was standard, and no new rim. This is a sloppy edit.
Evolution of the S 600, S-LU 7049’s right front 45°.
06-1994, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU style license plate. Subtle Parktronic sensors. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997. Still obosolete 8-Loch. Also, the new version is squashed. This photo with obsolete wheels was used until end of production.
Evolution of the S 600, S-LU 7049’s rear 45°.
02-1994, original version.
03-1995, elimination of parking aid, added Parktronic sensors.
07-1996, MY1997. New taillights, new EU style license plate. Single tune lower paint. Third brake light. But obosolete 8-Loch. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997. This photo with obsolete wheels was used until end of production.
Evolution of the S 600, S-LU 7049’s rear.
02-1994, original version.
06-1994, the building on the right in the back is cropped.
03-1995, elimination of parking aid, added Parktronic sensors.
07-1996, MY1997. New taillights, new EU style license plate. Third brake light.
Evolution of the S 350 TURBODIESEL, S-LU 7050’s profile.
06-1994, original version.
03-1995, elimination of parking aid, a minor change.
07-1996, MY1997. New 6-Loch and taillight. Subtle Parktronic sensor. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997.
S-LW 8572 and S-LW 8825 were two new actresss from 03-1995 and were the last cars to appear in the life cycle of the W 140. After this, all photos in the later brochures were edited from photos taken before.
Evolution of the S , S-LW 8572’s left 45°.
03-1995, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU style license plate, Parktronic, and new 6-Loch. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997.
Evolution of the S , S-LW 857 left top view.
03-1995, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU style license plate, Parktronic, but obosolete 8-Loch. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997.
Evolution of the S , S-LW 8572’s left top view.
09-1995, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU style license plate but S LU 7049 that used for the earlier S 600. Obosolete 8-Loch. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997.
Evolution of the S , S-LW 8825’s right left 45°.
03-1995, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New EU style license plate, and new 6-Loch. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997.
Evolution of the S , S-LW 8825’s profile.
03-1995, original version.
07-1996, MY1997. New taillight, new 6-Loch. Extra fender turn signals were not standard for MY1997.
Unlike many W 140 enthusiasts today who are concerned about whether their boot lid name plate is positioned correctly, the marketing departments back then didn’t even care whether their name plate was level.