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
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...
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
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.
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.
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