There is an eponymous title track in the 1971 Bond film Diamonds Are Forever sung in a soprano tone by Shirley Bassey. And it is the perfect song to describe some of the classic vehicles I drove around Stuttgart, Germany, last week. One of them was the legendary Mercedes-Benz W123, the internal company code for the classic Mercedes-Benz cars from the 1980s and, in a manner of speaking, the ancestor of the E-Class sedan.
If you were to ask someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s to draw a car, let alone a Mercedes-Benz, it would most likely look like this. Large rectangular headlights, bright orange indicator lights, and the classic ‘three-box’ shape without any concession to aerodynamics.
Anyway, outside the Mercedes-Benz Museum on a summer morning in Stuttgart was a line-up of classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Some special old S-Class sedans were there, including the W116, W126, W140, and W123.
And why did the W123 remind me of that song? Because it lasted forever and ever and ever, as Bassey sang. These were, quite literally, indestructible. There are examples that some of these cars have done over 2 million km as taxis in Europe. The 240D from 1981 that I drove only had around 72 horsepower and a basic four-speed manual gearbox. It wasn’t what one would call engaging or enthusiastic, but it worked and worked well, and was supremely comfortable.
But here is the thing, I wasn’t actually in Germany to drive these old legends, I was there to drive Mercedes-Benz’ latest and greatest, the GLC 400. This battery-electric vehicle features a host of new technologies and the carmaker is hoping that this vehicle, along with the CLA I drove a few months ago, can give Mercedes’ electrification strategy a fillip, including in India.
The GLC electric is being introduced in India within just six months of its launch in Europe, and this new EV will also be assembled by Mercedes-Benz at their Indian facilities at Chakan outside Pune, with several parts and components coming from domestic suppliers.
Bigger and powerful
The electric GLC 400 wears the same badge as the GLC 300 petrol or the 220d diesel, but it sits on a completely new platform. You can tell them apart fairly easily from the front, given the 940 backlit squares on the grille, which light up in interesting patterns. But when you step back, even the casual observer can notice that the electric version feels bigger in every respect. And it is. While India does not get the long-wheelbase Chinese model, the electric GLC 400’s wheelbase (distance between the axles) is 84 mm longer than that of the petrol variant, and the car is overall 142 mm longer. Almost all of that extra space is dedicated for rear-seat passengers and the boot. The SUV is also slightly wider, which actually makes a big difference for rear seat passengers.
The new GLC gets a total of 360 kW of power from its twin motors, one on each axle, making it quite quick. That is close to 490 horsepower in old money and allows this SUV to get from 0-100 kmph in just 4.3 seconds. Unfortunately, the traffic in and around Stuttgart didn’t allow me to really give it ‘full beans’ on the unrestricted Autobahn. But I managed a modest 165-170 kmph, although you know that the GLC can do more. And when I moved off the highways and onto the twisty roads bordering the Schwarzwald, I realised the car was well balanced too.
Indeed, the day after I drove the GLC 400, I was hosted at the truly impressive Mercedes-Benz global testing facilities at Immendingen, a few hours from Stuttgart. There I could experience at least some of the immense work that went into developing the new SUV, and every other modern Mercedes-Benz. The time in the light tunnel, for example, where you could see how modern headlights are designed and tested, was fascinating. But that could be a story for another column.
Now, coming back to the GLC 400, it was as far as modern electric vehicles go, an absolutely fantastic vehicle. It is loaded to the gills with technology — like the absolutely seamless 39-inch display, the ‘skylight’ panoramic roof with unique designs, and an even more evolved ambient lighting system that dances to the music playing through the superb Burmester audio system.
And all of this is run on the new MB.OS operating system, developed largely by thousands of engineers sitting in Bengaluru. I wrote about the fact that every Mercedes-Benz today has a piece of India inside in a column a few years ago. And I noticed that my words were used by Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius when he addressed the SIAM conference a couple of weeks ago.
Also read: India wants more cars, buses, 2-wheelers. Manufacturers are struggling to catch up
Cars without a soul?
But why did I start this column with the W123 instead of the GLC? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hanker for the past. Cars today, mainly electric vehicles, are better and crucially safer than they’ve ever been, and all while being more efficient and powerful. But they lack something. It is difficult to find the right adjectives, ‘feel’ might be the best I can do.
There is no ‘throttle’ on an electric vehicle right? Pressing the accelerator is pretty much like turning the speed knob for a ceiling fan. You are adjusting a resistor after all. The lack of drama, the vibrations transferred to your spine through the right foot on the accelerator pedal, and the lack of sound, in particular, just feels weird. Not wrong, but weird.
I’m more used to it now than I was a few years ago, and given the situation in the Middle East, I’m ever more convinced about the need for electric vehicles. But yes, we are giving up something. So, I’m glad Mercedes-Benz Classic keeps vehicles such as the W123 in running order, because we should never forget that vehicles once also had a soul.
Kushan Mitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. He tweets @kushanmitra. Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)