Topic: German car configurator. See what your W116 would have cost in the day!

[BCDC]

This was an interesting exercise. Even though it says W123 on the header, you can option your exact W116 as delivered. Bit of fun. Enjoy.

http://www.w123-hannover.de/html/npr_startseite.html?fbclid=IwAR1DnW3tzYeb9gfatn08O7TTAcwuDkLYtcN_4DlL7gERhoBkNSNqz5jUBPQ

[Type17]

Very interesting - my W116 ('76 350SE, with electric windows, central locking and tinted glass only) would have cost DEM38,674 (about €19,775 / US$23,000 / STG£18,000 / AU$32,400) including 11% VAT / sales tax.


For comparison, the average house price in the UK in 1976 was £11,520...

[ptashek]

That site has been my go to for many years, and is a fantastic price/options reference for several models over the years.

My favourite feature is you can export and save the exact list for your own car. Mine's here:

http://www.w123-hannover.de/export/1356307934_PL25_450_SE_W116.html

[BCDC]

Thank you. It's good fun isn't it. Mine came to 35,588 DM and using the AUD converter from German Mark it was $29,785.04. I'm not sure how accurate this is from the time in 1978 but that was quite a lot of money back then. According to the internet that's $164,852.43 in 2020. A new S series Merc now is around $400,000. I'd say mine is pretty good value and much more classic than the new ones.

[floyd111]

I saw that the SSK 500 started at 22000,- pre-war German Mark..and upwards.
Imagine having that kind of money to spend, right after the Wall Street crash.

[Mick74]

This is very informative, and another thing to bore innocent bystanders senseless with!

I had to guess at the radio fitted, but figured that it would be reasonable to have a radio cassette. Why spend DM84k and pinch on the audio?
In 1979, we had Irish pounds, or the punt IR£, before the Euro. The car would have been IR£41,500. The average price of a house in Ireland was IR£20,000. Today, the average price of a house is 280,000 Euros (IR£220,500). In hindsight, the 2 houses would have been marginally the better investment.

http://www.w123-hannover.de/export/1608717721_PL25_450_SEL_6_9_W116.html