TIL - Needless Complexity Edition

"wbizarre - OEM fetishist" (wbizarre) 03/20/2019 at 17:01 • Filed to: None

1

12

Do ing some W140 research for no reason in particular, and noticed that some of the early cars had what looked like 2 additional antenna caps at the rear. They come out when you engage reverse gears, and were meant to be visual guides to make it easier to see the corners of the big Merc. They were only around for a couple of years, and were replaced by the electronic parking sensors we know today.

This is a very Germanic example of incredible attention and complexity lavished on something seemingly trivial. I mean, is it really that much easier to see the rear corner of the car with these 2" antennae ? Doesn’t matter. You’re driving an S-Class. You are powerful. When you make a move, the world moves out of the way for you .

Ash78, voting early and often > wbizarre - OEM fetishist 03/20/2019 at 17:16

1

I believe these are (were?) pretty common in JDM luxobarges. Sort of like curb feelers for American iron, in a sense.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > wbizarre - OEM fetishist 03/20/2019 at 17:16

0

Parking poles. I think that some Sylvias had light up ones. 

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > wbizarre - OEM fetishist 03/20/2019 at 17:21

0

After having to park a W126 lately, I understand why any help would be welcome when driving such a big sedan.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > wbizarre - OEM fetishist 03/20/2019 at 17:34

0

I can’t tell if they were actually intended for any purpose whatsoever , but the little trim keel doodads on my Galaxie’s front fenders are very helpful to keep track of the corners - no retracting, though.

404 - User No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 03/20/2019 at 18:06

0

But on JDM cars they were usually fixed and not retractable . And usually they are lit and on the front rather.

The two dots above the front cornering lights.

daender > 404 - User No Longer Available 03/20/2019 at 18:11

0

Huh, I didn’t know there were fixed variants!

404 - User No Longer Available > daender 03/20/2019 at 18:11

0

TIL

Deltyn drives a meh car > wbizarre - OEM fetishist 03/20/2019 at 19:15

0

Ch ris Harris mentioned these on the w140 on the last episode of top gear. What a coincidence

Deltyn drives a meh car > Deltyn drives a meh car 03/20/2019 at 19:18

0

He also went  on to mention that something like a billion dollars went into the R&D for these things.

wbizarre - OEM fetishist > Deltyn drives a meh car 03/20/2019 at 19:26

0

Nice, is that the one where he painted it like the Red Pig? I only saw a youtube clip of that, and went craigslist surfing for W140's. They are... very available.

ranwhenparked > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 03/20/2019 at 19:45

0

They were a popular accessory on Figaros, too. Though, why you would need that much help parking something this size is beyond me, it was probably more for the style.

Deltyn drives a meh car > wbizarre - OEM fetishist 03/20/2019 at 20:47

0

that's the one