synchronictyii

Does anyone know what the letters in mercedes naming system stand for? I know that G stands for glavendavagon (all-terrian vehicle), but I don't know what the others ones are for. Could anyone who knows please tell me? Thanks.

Lynn

G is for Gelandewagen. I think SL means Sports Licht.

jrct9454

As a 35 year MB owner, I guess I can take this one on. Keep in mind that a lot of this has "evolved" over the years, so is a combination of tradition and marketing hype in the naming conventions:

S is the big sedan, has always been, and stands for nothing except possibly "Super".

SL means "Sports Licht", from the days when an SL actually WAS relatively light in weight [certainly not true for the past 30 years].

SLK means "Sports Licht Kurz", which in German roughly translated means "SL Short"...appropriately enough.

C is the "Compact" sedan

CL means "Coupe Licht", which is applied to the S-Class based coupes, and which are anything but light. [ !!! ...see comments on SL above. ]

CLK means "Coupe Licht Kurz", and of course is the coupe based on the shorter C chassis [see SLK above].

E means "Executive", an informal designation in Europe for the class in which this car competes [mid-to-largish sedans that can be configured from taxi up to full lux]. There also is a convoluted history of how the midsize car got this designation, and is rooted in the old distinction between cars with carbureted engines and cars with injection [Einspritz], but that is too long a story for this post. [Think 280 vs 280E in the 123 chassis, for example].

ML is strictly a "made-up" name that Marketing picked. The L was supposed to stand for "Luxury", but the M has no special meaning.

G you already know about...

A was simply a made-up designation that correctly implies that the car is a "couple of sizes" smaller than the C; ironically, the front-drive, over-under chassis gives it interior room that actually rivals an E.

What have I forgotten?

Lynn

V class vans.

Mike T.

E in the olden days stood for Einspritzer - or Injection (fuel).

Bobdole

how about the A-class

jrct9454

The A class simply was picked because it was smaller than the C.

And yes, thanks for the reminder - V for Van, of course.

Of all these, we are getting a version of the V built here by the Freightliner division that MB owns...it's already for sale; no MB badge, though...they thought it it harm the "brand image" in North America. What a hoot. Fully a third of the business everywhere else is trucks and buses, but somehow Americans are not supposed to know that.

We will also get the next generation A class when it is redesigned, probably in very late '04 or early '05. Eventually this car will also get either a hybrid drivetrain or fuel cells, as well as whatever is the largest gasoline engine available when it is released initially. No doubt this will stir a press feeding frenzy about "brand image", as well. All baloney, of course - nothing wrong with the A right now that a new interior and a better ride wouldn't cure.

Lynn

Freightliner is building the larger Sprinter series of vans. I have read that DCX intends to replace the full size Dodge Ram vans with the V. I don't see how they will keep market share with a van that is much smaller and grossly underpowered compared to the full sized Ford and Chevy vans. Maybe the rumor really shoud be that the Ram van will be replace by the Sprinter.

I have heard that the A-class will not be sold in the US as an MB, model, but will be sold as a Dodge, or possibly Mitsubishi. I have even heard that DCX could resurect on of the defunct Chrysler or even AMC brand names it now owns for the A-class. These are just rumors, of course.

Mike T.

Excellent, the new AMC Pacer-A 170. I like it.

Hey, but why stop there? Take all of those poor-person Mercedes in the C Series into the new AMC group too: the Gremlin C 230 K, the Matador C 240, the Eagle D/L C 4MATIC, the Ambassador C 320, the Javelin C 32...

Where would it stop?

Lynn

Hudson Hornet?

CitronC230K_03

in pre '94 MB cars the:
E was for Einspritzer or fuel injection (i.e 300E, 560 SEL) also generally specified a gasoline buring engine in the later years
C was coupe (i.e 300CD, 300CE, 560SEC, 450SLC etc)
D was Diesel (i.e 300D, 300SD etc)
SL was and is Sports Licht (300SL, 500SL etc)
K is Kurtz for short (i.e. SSK)
sedan is Super from back in the early 1900's (i.e SSK, 560SEL)
T, dont remember translation i think its touristic or something means wagon (i.e. 300TE, 300TD)
L as in (300SEL, 560SEL is for long wheel base)


numbers generally designate engine displacement but are many times different (i.e. 450SEL 6.9, 190E 2.3, 190D 2.2, 300E 2.8, the list could go one forever). i remember reading the 190 class was not changed because of confunsion between a 190E 2.6 and a 260E, or 190E 2.3 and a 230E etc.) the C240 were not change because of popularity and MB didnt wanna loose buyers by dropping the old C240 with a new C260.

also the reason they use numbers is because keeping a common designation for a common car worldwide when a name in one country could mean a totally different thing in another language.

lars

Wait till Autospies hears about this. Upcoming models include the 170 AMX, (a smaller, all wheel drive SUV), the 320 SST (a super sports wagon with a stirrup shifter), the 240 DL (a long wheelbase diesel) ....

trench

I assume you meant the defunct Plymouth brand name, not Chrysler.

Cheers, BT

SoCal240/6

Hmm, that's interesting. MB will definately sell the A-Class in the US, they announced that at this year's Paris auto show. But, I didn't see exactly what they said when they made the announcement - i.e. any clues as to how it will be badged.

I would not be surprised if it were badged as something other than a MB. A Dodge or something.

I used to work in a building that housed one of MB's US offices. Was kind of interesting because in our parking structure, I'd often see interesting MBs. Saw the C class well before it was formally introduced in the US. A bunch of "experimental" MBs (flexible fuels, etc.).

I also saw an A-Class one day, got to sit in it and check it out. I have no idea about how they drive, but I was pretty surprised at how low-level the interior is. There is absolutely no effort made at all to make it anything but a very entry level, inexpensive car.