The iconic Mercedes model actually built by Porsche

When Mercedes-Benz discovered the performance version of the iconic W124 E Class wouldn’t fit down its production line, it turned to a neighbour to complete the job.

It’s hard to imagine Mercedes-Benz without AMG. But, as intrinsically linked as those three letters are with the three-pointed star, AMG was for much of its history a privately-owned workshop owned by Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher.

Aufrecht (the ‘A’ in AMG) and Melcher (the ‘M’) started the idea of a Mercedes skunkworks in the former’s house in the town of Grossaspach (the ‘G’ completing the triumvirate of letters) in the 1960s, taking showroom Mercedes-Benz cars and turning them into performance monsters.

It wasn’t until 1999 that Mercedes-Benz, seeing the success and mystique surrounding those three letters on the bootlip of their cars, bought a controlling interest in the performance workshop. By 2005, the German manufacturer took over the remaining shares to assume 100 per cent ownership of the AMG performance sub-brand, now known as Mercedes-AMG.

That’s not to say Mercedes didn’t build high-performance models of its range prior to taking ownership of AMG. It just went about it in a different way.

One of the finest examples is the W124 generation Mercedes-Benz 500E, in production from 1991-94.

Powered by Merc’s stonking 5.0-litre V8 making 240kW and 480Nm, the 500E could complete the dash from 0-100km/h in 6.1 seconds along the way to a top speed of 260km/h. Not bad for a luxury sedan tipping the scales at over 1700kg.

But, the story behind the 500 E’s production isn’t as simple as cramming a V8 under the long snout of a regular E Class, because this particular variant in the W124 line-up was actually built by Porsche.

Huh?

Yep, when Mercedes wanted to create a hot rod luxury saloon, it turned to its Stuttgart neighbour Porsche to engineer and build the car.

Thanks to its wider and lower body, the 500 E was too big for the W124’s production line. Rather than retool its plant and equipment for what would ostensibly be a low-volume variant, Mercedes contracted the development and build to Porsche.

Porsche, then in the throes of an internal financial crisis, was only too happy to accept the commission and set about developing and strengthening the W124 chassis in order to accommodate the 5.0-litre V8 lifted from Merc’s 500 SL roadster

The process was a complicated one and started with Mercedes delivering the requisite chassis and body parts to Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant. On completion, the finished rolling shells were returned to Mercedes’ Sindelfingen factory for painting before being sent back to Porsche once more for the engine installation and final assembly. Each car was then returned to Sindelfingen for final inspection.

Each car was built by hand and all up the process took 18 days, each 500 E completing the round-trip between Sindelfingen and Zuffenhausen twice.

Distinguishing the 500 E from its tamer W124 brethren is no easy task. A lower front lip and widened wheel arches to accommodate a wider wheel track (by 38mm) are the most obvious distinctions while the Porsche tuned suspension, utilising Bilstein shock absorbers meant the bahn-stormer sat 23mm lower than regular E Classes of the time. A set of 16-inch alloys, against the regular W124’s 15s, completed the performance look.

Porsche built just over 10,000 of the 500 E between 1991 and ’94. With a price of DM134,520 ($AU110,861) when new in 1991, the 500 E commanded a hefty premium over regular W124 models in Europe.

Today, good examples of the Porsche-built Mercedes have held their value and are much sought after, with a 1992 model selling just last week in the US for $US67,200 ($AU101,000).

The final word belongs to one of the two men on Porsche’s prototype team back in the day.

Michael Mönig, who still works for Porsche today, said of the car he helped develop: “Plenty of power, but without being ostentatious, both dynamic and luxurious at the same time. The 500 E is not a showy vehicle. It represents pure understatement, and catches the eye only at second glance.

“I only have good memories of the vehicle because I was given a lot of responsibility back then as a young engineer. The 500 E was and still is my favourite project.”

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