An early W124 Mercedes-Benz 280E with black license plates, seen at a small car repair area in north Beijing in 2016, not far from where I found a Volvo 960 sedan. The good Mercedes was in dire need of a good cleanup bit in a great overall shape, fitted with the ultra cool wheel covers that were especially designed for the W124.
The famous black license plates were issued to foreign owned companies from the 1980’s to the mid 00’s. These companies could buy a car locally or import one. There were no limits on the number of cars or on price or on 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 own black-license plate program. This 280 has 京A·04086, so that’s an oldie.
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.
The interior looked fantastic, almost as new! With the original beige leather and dark brown wood. Even the wood panels in the doors looked good.
The text next to the lever was in German, indicating this car was originally sold in a German-speaking country before it was shipped to China.
The 280E was powered by a 2.8 liter six-in-line with an output of 190hp and 270nm, good for a 220 kilometers per hour top speed. Gearbox was a 4-speed automatic, sending horses to the rear wheels.
Sticker on the window. Pikeur is a German brand specializing in equestrian clothing. The company still exists. Perhaps the first owner of this Mercedes represented Pikeur in China. Or maybe he just liked to ride a horse. We’ll probably never know.
The 280E badge in Mercedes-Benz’ typical classic font.
The Mercedes looked like it was still in use at the time, even though it was dusty. It was well maintained inside and out. Sadly, today, the engine no longer complies with Beijing’s strict emissions standards, so many of these older vehicles are either sold off to smaller cities or scrapped.
Hopefully this W124 was just special enough for a collector to snap it up and hide it somewhere safe.