Here and there in some threads I read that Mercedeses are increasingly looking very similar. Well, this has been a feature for all post war Benzes,
Take the prewar 170 that continued after the war and compare with the 220. Same shape just a longer bonnet.
Then came the 180 and the 220, 220 S, 219 and 220 SE. You had to look very good to spot the difference.
In 1961 the famous rear winged ("heckflossen")S-class was introduced, while the smaller but outwardly almost identical 190 came a year later. This version also incorporated the 300 series, which was built in very limited numbers and in two shapes during the fifties. The role of the 300 was taken over by the 600, which only saw one model run.
In 1969 the wings disappeared in the new S-class, which actually was one of the most elegant S-classes ever. The new small mercedes followed in 1970.
This process continued up to now, and a similar story could be written on the various coupe and cabrio derivatives. Today has become rather difficult to identify at first glance a C an E and an S class. The above shows that this has been a marketing gimmick applied by Mercedes for ages whether we like it or not. If you interpret this in a negative way you could say that when you have seen one, you have seen them all. Positively speaking you can say that even the cheapest (least expensive) Mercedes makes you a visible part of the Benz family.
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