By October 1972, the Daimler Saloons were all based on the Jaguar XJ.  The old 420 based Sovereign had finished production in 1969, and the DS420 limo had a separate price list.  That car had a broad appeal, finding buyers from Royalty to funeral homes.  This price list is for the UK market.

The Jaguar Price list of the same period also offered the E-Type which never had a Daimler version.  An E-Type 2+2 was similar in price to a Double-Six.

In terms of the XJ based saloons, the range overlapped significantly.  The main difference was that the short wheelbase XJs (2.8 and 4.2) could be ordered with a manual transmission and no overdrive.  While most Daimlers were automatic, overdrive was standard for manual.   In addition, the Vanden Plas was not offered on the XJ12 LWB, although one car was made for the Queen Mother.

Generally the Daimler versions were very slightly more expensive than the equivalent Jaguar.   Where the models were the same, the Daimler was 3-4% more expensive than the Jaguar. Looking at the price list, the Double-Six looks to be incredible value, just under 15% more expensive than a 4.2 SWB.

The Vanden Plas on the other hand, looks significantly more expensive, at over 40% more than the Double-Six.  However, if you normalize the two models, and add all the options standard on the Vanden Plas to the Double-Six, then the difference is 13.65%, or £525.21.   That actually seems pretty good value for a coach-built interior.   The difference between a 4.2 SWB and a 4.2 LWB is 9.7%, and those two cars are basically identical.   

The options list on these cars was quite extensive.  The options with the * were standard on the Vanden Plas, which is basically everything except for the chrome wheels.   Air conditioning was a pretty expensive option, which is why it was rarely seen in the UK market.

Features like a sunroof or central locking were never offered by the factory on a Series 1 XJ.  Dealers would fit a webasto sunroof if requested.

My Double-Six Vanden Plas was produced in January 1973, so the first owner would have used this price list to order the car.   It was a very expensive car, but compared to A Mercedes-Benz or Bentley, quite well priced.

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As a result, Mercedes were able to charge premium prices for their offerings.    This was before the introduction of fringe benefits tax in Australia, so many of these cars were purchased as company cars with big tax benefits.

To put the prices below into perspective, at the same time AV Jennings were advertising a new three bedroom home that could be built on your block for only $29,950.   This was about the same price as a 230E before sales tax.

The 1982 range was quite small given how successful Mercedes-Benz were at the time.   The highly successful 230E had been able to effectively replace the 230, 250 and 240D in the line up.   They were also only offering three S class models.   I suspect there was a bit of complacency in this line up.  The grey market was thriving with private imports of the 500SE/SEL and SL models happening in big numbers during this time.

It wouldn’t be long before the lineup would be much expanded with the successful W201 190 series, and the expanded range of the W124 and second generation W126.   In the short term, the 380SE would also soon join the range.    For April 1982 though, you could only get the the V8 in the long wheelbase or the SL.   In addition, there was no manual transmission at all in the line up.   It would take the W201 to add this back.

The next 9-10 years would see significant price inflation.   Compare this to the 1991 price list.

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Unlike in later years, nearly the whole range was offered in 1969.   It was only have the ADR regime became stricter in the mid 60s that Mercedes-Benz started to limit the vehicles they offered in Australia.   This was probably due to the cost of compliance.

The only models missing off the list were the 200 and 200D W115 models, and the 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet, which would be sold in later years.   The entry level W115 cars were probably considered too slow and really for the taxi market.  Mercedes were not a supplier of Taxis in Australia.   Locally built cars dominated the Taxi market.

One thing that jumps out to me is how much more expensive the 280SEL is over the standard 280SE.  No wonder they didn’t sell many of them.   While cars like the W109 were much more expensive than the W108, you at least got major differences to show for it.   The 280SEL was a simple stretch of the 280SE.   From what I gather, the body shells were modified manually, which might explain the higher price.

It is also interesting how much of the range was offered with the choice of an automatic or manual transmission.   It is extremely rare to find a manual transmission car from this era, outside the SLs.   Even the SLs are mostly automatic.   It was only the M100 cars that were not offered with a manual.

For other Australian price lists, please see November 1966 and July 1991.

YORKSTAR MOTORS PTY. LTD.

PRICE LIST

EFFECTIVE 1st DECEMBER, 1969

MERCEDES-BENZ PASSENGER CARS

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Below is a Mercedes-Benz Australia price list from July 1991.     There are a couple of interesting things that can be seen from this list.    Firstly, the 190E 1.8 which is still quite expensive.  It was replaced by the Australia only 180E that slotted in below a luxury car tax threshold making it an attractive proposition.

The second is how expensive the high end models were at the time.    I was driving my 560SEL the other day and trying to work out what the extra $50,000 got you on top of a 420SEL.    In the end I came up with the following for 1987:

• A more powerful engine (180 vs 150KW)
• Power reclining rear seat as standard.
• Limited slip diff as standard.
• Fanfare horn.
• Cigar lighters in the rear.
• Becker CD player (vs Becker Cassette player).
• Memory electric seats for driver and passenger as standard,
• 260km/h speedometer.
• Dual snorkel air cleaner.
• Anti-squat/Anti-dive suspension.

The 420SEL as sold in Australia had most things as standard including self leveling rear suspension, sunroof, leather, alloy wheels, leather steering wheel, power seats and so on.  A fair number of the features above could also be optioned on a 420.   While in today’s used market the small extra premium to own the 560SEL makes a lot of sense, that $50,000 would have bought you an apartment in Sydney.      One can only presume that most of that $50,000 was pure profit for Mercedes-Benz.

In 1991, you could buy a new large (1100+m2) block of land in Western Sydney (Penrith) for $60,000 or a house and land package for $99,950.   The same house and land would now cost around $1m.

Looking at the tax alone on a 560SEC – it is almost enough to buy a 190E 1.8 pre-tax!    The combined original price of my three W126 cars was over half a million dollars back then and 30 years later they were worth pennies on the dollar.

The other big change since 1991 is that nobody leases a luxury car at 16% anymore.

Comparing to today, the price for a 2020 500SL is $292,500.     An S560L is $309,900.    An E300 is $129,600.    These examples show how much cheaper in real terms the cars are today.    The Mercedes-Benz Australia price list from 1991 is certainly an eye-opener.

The models sold in Australia were all highly optioned, as evidenced in the original spec sheets (pictured below).   This was one way Mercedes-Benz Australia justified the high prices as compared to other countries.   Local rules also meant Australian models could be quite different to those sold in the rest of the world.

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These prices are for the standard car, so most buyers would have selected at least some options, further increasing the price.    The price list covers the W110, W111 and W108 Saloon cars.  The Automatic transmission was an expensive option, close to 10% of the price of the car.

Mercedes Benz Passenger Car Price List
Saloon Range
25th November, 1966

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