On a cold and snowy day in late December 2019 I drove into Hebei Province, to the east of the Chinese capital Beijing. I was looking for a shop with all sorts of cool cars. Sadly, that shop was closed and gone. This happens all the time in China so I walked around the area. Just a little further down the road I found a fantastic collection of 1990’s Mercedes-Benz cars, all painted in the same shade of black.
The collection stood on the pavement in front of a bunch on car repair shops, most of which appeared to be just as abandoned as the cars. I asked around and folks at one of the shops told me the cars once belonged to another shop that had since closed down. Some of the cars had notices on the window from the local government, asking the owner to remove the vehicles, if not, they would be towed away. I am not sure if the cars are still in the same place but I bet they are long gone. This is the location in Baidu.
There were nine cars in the collection, and ten if I count in a minibus. They were all very dirty and dusty with deflated tires, some were still worth saving and others were lost. Most were modified to a degree with after-market exhaust pipes, body kits, and wheels. The vast majority of these cars was never officially sold in China. So truly a special collection.
The area was old-school China with a dark gray sky and lots of air pollution. And there was a nice power plant a block away! In Beijing, we are used to clean skies nowadays, but you only need to drive a few hours to understand where the all the dirt went to.
To the cars! Starting with this W124 E-Class sedan. The W124 sedan was made from 1984 until 1995 with a late facelift in 1993. The car in the collection is a post-facelift example.
It seemed largely original apart for the darkened windows and the black grille. Sadly there were no engine badges on the vehicle so I can’t be sure what is under the bonnet.
The twin-pipe tip is an after marker accessory.
This is a very racy W210 Mercedes-Benz 190E, possibly a rather rare 190E 2.5-16. It has the correct bumpers but the side skirts are missing, and the wheels are modern AMG-style stuff. It also has darkened windows and bonnet-locks.
The interior was untouched! The beige leather seats were in a surprisingly good shape.
The exhaust pipe tip is a modern addition again but the wing seems original. The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16, if it is indeed the real thing, was a performance version of the 190. Power came from a 201 hp 2.5-liter 16-valve M102 engine developed by Coshworth.
Next comes another W124 E-Class sedan, this one with black license plates. It is a 230E model, powered by a 2.3 liter four with 136 hp.
The interior was in a very bad shape. No wonder, with the windows open! But it was cool to see a manual gearbox in a sedan like this. I think 99% of the W123’s I have seen in China had an automatic ‘box.
Next up is this beautiful W124 300 CE coupe, the only one I ever met in China. The coupe was made from 1987 until 1996, with a facelift in 1993. The one we have here is a pre-facelift car.
The 190E in the foreground. The 300 CE model was powered by a 3.0 liter six-in-line with an output of 188 hp and 260 Nm. It was probably the second-best preserved car in the collection and looked very much savable.
The interior was fine, with black leather seats and lots of wood that looked very good. Even the steering wheel has wood trim on bottom and top. Sadly, the audio unit was missing.
The mirror on the left had broken off, and the left rear light was damaged too. Perhaps it got hit by the next car:
A big W140 Mercedes-Benz S600. The car was in a very bad shape with lots of body damage and missing parts. The W140 was made from 1991 until 1998 with an update in 1995. This is a post-update car.
Snow on the window and ice on the bumper. Winter liked this S600. Power came from a 6.0 liter V12 engine with 402 hp and 580 Nm, incredible numbers in period, especially for such an enormous car.
On the right the the S600 stood another post-update W140 with blue 黑A license plates from Heilongjiang Province. It has a hefty body kit and strangely small wheels.
The body kit is interesting. The front looks like a period kit from Wald, but the rear seems a typical Chinese affair. No engine badges so not sure what powers this mighty sedan with tiny tires.
Now this a a very special one. It is yet again a W124 E-Class, but fitted with an AMG body kit and super wide tires with AMG alloys. The grille is painted black again and the windows were darkened. AMG made various body kits for the W124 in period and there are many imitations around as well.
It had AMG Edition badges on the front fender. These badges are not period original but much more modern.
The interior is almost certain recently modified, definitely not in period. It looks cool, however, with a black-red leather theme all over the place. The floor mats and seats stand out in coolness. The radio is a modern unit too but it doesn’t look out of place.
AMG badge on the back. License plates are of faraway Guangxi Province. The ‘500’ in the plate is intriguing, likely referring to the Mercedes-Benz 500E, but that one wasn’t an AMG model.
Best ass on the far left.
Lots of snowy ice around this pretty R129 Mercedes-Benz SL500, the best-preserved car of the collection. Note the small license plate area, an indication that this Merc’ was originally sold to North America. Chinese plate is of Guangdong Province.
The R129 SL was made from 1989 until 2001 with various updates over the years. Our car is a 1995-1997 example, complete with the optional Xenon headlights.
The interior was in an almost perfect condition. Beautiful beige leather seats and dark brown wood. The radio cassette player is original, and it even has the cassette storage compartment in the center tunnel. That’s a real 1990’s vibe!
AMG wheels look great but they are a bit newer than the car. The SL500 model was powered by a 5.0 liter V8 engine with an output of 302 hp and 460 Nm. I really like that nobody touched the antenna!
The final car was by far the worst of the collection; a severely damaged W124 300E. Almost too sad… It looked like it had been in a heavy crash of some sort, with the the front and front window partially gone. Perhaps it was scrapped for parts…
The 300 E model was powered by the same engine as the 300 CE above; a 3.0 liter six-in-line with an output of 188 hp and 260 Nm.
Not sure what to make of this. Perhaps an SL roadster or a later SLK. Wheels looked modern. There was something off at the back, perhaps it was a project car, a sedan turned into a pickup truck. The cover was pretty tight so I couldn’t see more.
An now really the last car, parked a little further down the road: a Mercedes-Benz TN 410 minibus. I discussed this car in more detail in an earlier post.
And those were all the cars of this collection. Let me know if you know anything else about these rare machines. I am especially curious about that AMG-style W124.