A beautiful Mercedes-Benz 280E was spotted in China in the Wangjing District in northeast Beijing in 2015. The Benz was in perfect shape, with paint almost factory fresh and fitted with the original wheel covers. It also has very early 川A license plates.
The interior is near-perfect with slightly worn black leather seats. The wood is still very good and the radio cassette player is original, but the steering wheel cover is after-market. The 280E was powered by a 2.8-liter six-in-line with an output of 190hp and 270nm, good for a 220-kilometer-per-hour top speed.
The W124 ‘E-class’ was made from 1985 until 1996, the 280E sedan was only manufactured in the 1993 and 1994 model years, making it a rather rare car. The W124 was never officially exported to China but the Chinese government bought at least a few hundred vehicles for use by high-level officials and state-owned companies. Some of these cars ended up in private hands later on.
This particular car, however, likely isn’t one of those, as it has very early 川A·00933 black license plates.
Black license plates were issued to foreign-owned companies from the 1980s to the mid-00s. These companies could buy a car locally or import one. There were no limits on the number of cars on price or engine type. The numbering started at A·00001, and then up. So the lower the number the older the car. Each province and municipality had its black-license plate program. The plate on this 280E is from Sichuan Province (四川省), with the sequence 川A·00933, so that’s a very early one. Sichuan is about 1800 kilometers by road from Beijing. Must have been a great ride in this great old Benz.