[W126 Coupe] M1991 560 SEC value chart

[Gerry Van Zandt]

It's definitely a noble undertaking.  Since 2003 I have been doing similar as you, but tracking the 1991-1994 500E/E500 of which 1,505 were brought into the US for the 1992-1994 model years. It's truly a labor of love.  I actually have detailed (sale) modification/pictorial records on about one-half of the cars sold in the US, and complete MB data card information on all cars that were made and sold worldwide.

I don't track price trends as closely as you do -- I have mainly been concerned with documenting the sales history, modifications and tracking all of the cars in terms of their fate.  So when cars are totaled/rebuilt or crushed, I try to document all of this for posterity.  Someday I will make my considerable database (totalling about 6GB of information) of information available to 500E owners online, but I am not prepared to do this yet.  

In some cases there are privacy concerns among some owners too (although I don't divulge any private information, owner names, etc. without explicit permission) but I have had folks actually demand that I not post a VIN number of their car. Which is quite laughable considering ALL 500E VIN numbers are easily & publicly readable by looking at the dashboard plate !!  I guess there's a fear that a VIN could be used for identity or vehicle theft purposes.

My best estimation is that out of the 1,505 500E/E500s imported into the US, about 60% still survive in drivable form.  The numbers are dropping quite rapidly by the year though as cars get totalled out.  Just in the past month I've documented three cars that have been wrecked/totalled and sold at insurance auction !!

There is no question that the SEC will be collectable (much as the W111 and W112 3.5-liter coupes have reached collector status, and are now pushing $150K for the very best original and restored examples) in the future.  Mileage is often an important factor in collectability, but a properly restored high-mileage vehicle can also have great value too.

The AMG models of course will very likely command even more value than the run of the mill SECs, as they do even now.  The main problem I see with the AMG models is the overall lack of documentation with them. Some of the cars do have records, and of course this will innoculate them against market doubt.  But I see more than a few owners of "pedestrian" SECs who are buying up (or reproducing) AMG parts and installing them on their cars, and in some cases actually representing these cars as AMG, quasi-AMG or near-AMG models (or selling them as such) and this leads to future owners making the leap and accepting it as Gospel that it was a factory/original AMG car when perhaps it wasn't.  Of course this issue isn't limited to AMG models  -- so many other marques have had similar issues and it's particularly rampant in the American muscle car market.

Out of the 2138 1991 cars that were produced, you are probably lucky if 25-30% of them still exist in runnable condition, if that.  Unfortunately I think it's going to be 10-15 more years before the cars really start to see some strong appreciation in value though, but they will definitely increase in value.  But there is no question that the 1991 cars are most desirable because they are:

a) the last production that benefitted from all of the running changes
b) the most powerful cars (5.6 liter motor)
c) in general probably lowest miles overall becuase they are youngest


>From a collectability standpoint with the W111/112 coupes, the earlier, smaller-engined and less optioned coupes (the 250s and 280s) tend to be much less valuable than the 3.5 V-8s.  The air-suspended (W112/300SE) cars also tend to be more desirable/valuable.  The W126 coupes will follow this same pattern with collectors -- the 380s and 420s will never be as desirable as the 560s, and of course the factory non-catalyzed 300HP coupes (non-US) will be most desirable save for the AMG models.


Good to see some general corroboration between the SLML data and what you are seeing.  Pricing information is really tough and that's why I haven't delved further into this -- hard to obtain and corroborate, so I admire you for it!!

I always wondered where Olson got his data from because he tracks SO MANY collectable MBs and he'd have to have such a network of feelers out to get his hands on the data, that I always felt it was nigh impossible. So good to know he goes to the CPI.  Makes total sense.

Happy Turkey Day!

Cheers,
Gerry



On Nov 23, 2011, at 11:15 AM, mbcoupes-request at mbcoupes.com wrote:


> 

> Gerry,

> 

> Thanks for the feedback. I am very much aware of the SL Market Letter and

> consider it an excellent publication. The thing I like best is that he uses

> SOLD prices only. However, my interest is to focus on only the 2,138 1991

> models with 2 goals in mind. One is to determine and track value, the other

> is to determine how many of the 2,138 have survived. The SL Market

> publication, as i recall, doesn't provide that level of detail nor other

> details such as mileage, location and color combinations which do influence

> value. Because so many of the 126 coupes were made, I think the only ones

> that have a chance of reaching true collector status will be the very best

> of the low mileage, original condition 1991 models along with the AMG

> versions. Interesting to note however is that the average (unweighted)

> price of the April-September 2010 models you provided is $10,300 which

> comes pretty close to the average price in my database of 1991 models which

> is $10,316.

> 


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