The 280 CE Coupé belongs to the 123 series – the most frequently built Mercedes-Benz model to date. It belongs to the upper middle class, today called E-Class at Mercedes-Benz. The dignified Mercedes W-123 coupés were perfectly formed witnesses of their time. Today, the W123 is a popular classic – modern without being modernistic, classic without looking old-fashioned.

In the seventies and eighties, it was impossible to imagine the everyday street scene without the Mercedes W123 series. In addition to private individuals, the regular clientele included cab drivers, who appreciated the comfort, reliability and durability of the most successful model series to date. However, there are no longer many of them in our latitudes, as many have been exported and are now working abroad as cabs or limousines.

The C 123 series made its debut as the successor to the /8 coupé at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1977 – a good year after the premiere of the sedan. In formal terms, the coupé was as harmoniously balanced as a Mercedes had to be: between the coolly designed, cathedral-like and angular-looking 8 coupés and the coherently designed but slightly too ascetic successor 124, the coupés of the W 123 series represented the most mature variant: clear Mercedes heritage, from the classic radiator between resolutely glaring light units to the rear with the delicate but clearly recognizable bearing edges, still somewhat reminiscent of the W 111. The W-123 coupe does everything right. Its shape looks the way evening gowns sound at intermission in the theater: It just rustles a little here and there. Of course, the inner values have to deliver what the outer impression promises. A turn of the ignition key gives us instant certainty: In the C 123, the developers have worked together, not against each other.”