[W126 Coupe] 560SEC figures & survival rate for Germany

[Ronny 560sec]

That is exactly the way I feel being the second type.
I will be soon 76 and this car will survive me. But I hope to enjoy it for at least another 10 years.

Ronny
1987 560 SEC

From: joe chiappinelli 
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 6:27 AM
To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists 
Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] 560SEC figures & survival rate for Germany

Denis,

There are two types of buyers for older cars. First, there are those looking for an inexpensive means of daily transportation as an alternative to buying new. They are basically looking for an appliance that is cheap to own and operate. In this market, i would agree the 126 would not command a high price because, as you say, they are expensive to own and operate. Economy and performance can be had elsewhere at a lower price. These are practical buyers.

The second type of buyer is one who is very specific about what he (she) wants. This person does not look at a car as an appliance. They are driven by any number of factors such as style, uniqueness, performance, even loyalty to a certain marque. To these buyers, gas mileage is unimportant and the cost of upkeep is rationalized away. These are emotional buyers.

The 126 coupe will have appeal to this second class of buyers. There are no other cars I can think of that were produced in the 80's that had the combination of style, performance, luxury, safety, quality, comfort, panache, durability, and reputation that these cars had. They are not the collectible muscle cars of the 60's nor the British roadsters of the same era. They are not the uber collectible Italian supercars either. However, they were the best of their breed and, unlike the aforementioned vehicles, they are cars that can be driven safely and reliably by today's standards even today. In my opinion, it is only their relative newness that has prices depressed. This, of course will change with time.

Regards, 
J.Chip




On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 4:03 AM, LESPERANCE Denis <denis.lesperance at fime.com> wrote:

  Hi fellows,



  I think that I can explain the attrition rate. There are several factors for Europe :



  They get scrapped because they do not resell well. The car is hit by high taxes at purchase time due to its engine size (I paid close to 1200USD TAX when I licensed mine).



  Their performance and fuel consumption are NOT great by 2011 standards : there are plenty of new, faster german cars that do so using half the fuel.



  C126 parts are expensive (ask me how I know) even outside the stealer circuit …



  So it boils down to a sellability issue these days. I've seen 560 SECs sell for under 2500USD in France. These are bought by punks that drive the hell out of their newly acquired "pimpmobile", don't maintain them adn eventually scrap them.



  The C126, even with 5.6 litre engine, does not sell (resell) well at all. The same goes for any big -engined , as-guzzling car of 20+ years (BMW 750, Jaguar XJ12, common Bentley or Rolls …)



  My 2.2 euro cts worth ;-)



  Denis
  Villejust, France (just south of Paris)



  De : mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com [mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com] De la part de joe chiappinelli
  Envoyé : dimanche 27 novembre 2011 21:32
  À : Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists
  Objet : Re: [W126 Coupe] 560SEC figures & survival rate for Germany



  Gerry,

  Very interesting. To what, do you suppose, is the explanation for the 30% drop in numbers from 2007 to 2008? Most of the years show a consistent 4-7% attrition rate. In any case, it looks like a 70% drop in vehicles from the peak in 1992 to 2010. If you assume an additional 4% attrition for 2011 and apply this total (74%) to the US market, an estimated 770 1991 models would still be registered. Now apply my 29% figure for those having less than 100k miles and you arrive at some 223 examples remaining with the potential to reach collectible status.

  Disclaimer: enjoying a quiet Sunday with a Martini and some football on the tube so my math may be suspect.

  J.Chip



  On Sun, Nov 27, 2011 at 10:43 AM, Gerry Van Zandt <gerryvz at me.com> wrote:

  Joe,



  Some additional information from a third source -- the official quarterly magazine of the Mercedes-Benz Interessengemeinschaft (MBIG), which is the largest and most authoritative MB club in Germany.



  This morning I came across the 560SEC figures for Germany (this is all model years of the coupe) that are registered in that country, in the MBIG Magazine "Ponton Kurier."  The 2011 figures should be out in the next month or two….probably the next quarterly issue of the magazine.  I will update them when I receive that issue.



  All figures from 2003 to the present are of January 1 of that given year, registered cars.

  All figures shown from 1986-2004 are of July 1 of that given year, registered cars.



  2010:  1427 cars

  2009:  1482

  2008:  1551

  2007:  2217

  2006:  2382

  2005:  2525

  2004:  2718

  2003:  2894

  2002:  3127

  2001:  3282

  1998:  3726

  1996:  4192

  1994:  4515

  1992:  4771

  1990:  4630

  1986:  444



  TOTAL 560SEC PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE, 1986-1991:  28929



  GERMAN PRODUCTION:  7882 (** from MBIG sources)

  USA PRODUCTION:  10,625 (** from SL Market Letter sources)



  Notice the growth in registered cars between 1990 and 1992.  That pretty much confirms my previous point of the Benzworld data being incorrect with regard to 84.5% of total 1991 production of SECs going to the US market, simply because the registered number of cars increased for the German market between those two years by 141 cars.



  Let's draw a few conclusions from the data:



    a.. 27.25 percent of all 560SEC production was retained for the German market.  This is addition to the 10,625 cars (36.75 percent of all SEC production) that went to the US market from 1986-1991.  So between the US and German markets, 64 percent of all SEC production went to those two countries. 
    b.. I have attached a graph that shows this information in a curve.  This may be useful information for you as general data to also help extrapolate and refine your own data model for the US cars in estimating the survivor erosion rate and number of survivors as a total percentage of production slated for the country.  You can also find this graph at the following URL: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10675111/SECGermany.jpg 


  Hope all of this information helps.



  Cheers,

  Gerry








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