Mercedes-Benz W116

The Mercedes-Benz W116 is a series of flagship luxury sedans produced from September 1972 until 1980. Its cars were the first Mercedes-Benz models officially called S-Class, although some earlier sedans had unofficially carried the letter S for special class, the German Sonderklasse. It was selected European Car of the Year in 1974. It used the same engineering as the W114 and W115 on a larger separate platform, with independent suspension and disc brakes on all four wheels, and it was the first Mercedes-Benz sedan with the corporate styling theme that lasted until the W140 was discontinued in 1997. The design was finalized in December 1969 and was Friedrich Geiger's last for the company. It was presented in September 1972 with the 280 S, 280 SE and 350 SE, and a long-wheelbase 280 SEL was added after the 1973 oil crisis.