W126 S Class Carat Duchatalet – The Best of the Best

We’ve all done it. We’ve all been looking for something, only to find something else that we have completely forgotten about. You could be looking through the kitchen cupboards for salt, only to find that delicious packet of Angel Delight you forgot you bought. You might be looking for the 10mm socket in the garage, only to find that handy pair of snips that, again, you had forgotten you bought. Imagine though, if you will, doing that on a much larger scale. Say, on the scale of an entire car. Yes, this car. This absolutely magnificent 1984 W126 Carat Cullinan 500SEL. We’re sure you’re looking at it, confident that you’d never be able to forget about such a machine, but the reality is that this car was indeed forgotten after it was parked in an underground car park in Paris way back in 2001. Madness, but also, what a story.

Don’t read that and think this car has been neglected though, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. To offer some perspective, it would be worth mentioning that this car was bought by a royal family in 1984 and was built to their exacting and financially uninhibited specification. A normal W126 ‘floor model’ simply wouldn’t have cut the mustard.

This was in part because, as royals, they wanted something special. But also, the mid-1980s were a time during which the world of automotive customisation was at its most vibrant. Various companies were offering customers the ability to customise cars to an unprecedented level. However, out of all those companies, there was only one that did such an outstanding job, Mercedes-Benz actually approved. That company was, and still is, Carat Duchatalet.

Today, Carat Duchatalet still deals in the luxury, but makes most of its revenue by armouring cars to the hilt so that dignitaries around the world are safe and sound should a member of society’s darker side decide to start taking pot-shots at them. 

Back in 1984 though, when the W126 you’re looking at here was new, Carat Duchatalet’s bread and butter was made by pouring more luxury over the already luxurious. This particular car was referred to as a ‘total build’ car, meaning it was first built by Mercedes-Benz before being shipped directly to Carat Duchatalet to be stripped down and built again.

The royal owners made sure the starting blocks for Carat Duchatalet were all there. This 500SEL (SEL has a slightly longer wheelbase than the standard SE) came with hydropneumatics suspension, automatic climate control and electrically adjustable rear seats along with all the other electric toys that came with the SEL as standard. This was a flagship car, so ABS, power steering, electric windows and sunroof, cruise control and electric front seats were all present and correct. Though, to paraphrase Shania Twain, this didn’t impress Carat Duchatalet much, who stripped the car down to a rolling shell on arrival.

From there, the W126 was fitted with some new visual enhancements such as a Duchatalet boy-kit including SEC (coupe) rear boot trim and a complete repaint in metallic black, which was the crowning hue after some 48 layers were applied. The paint on this thing is so clear, so deep, you want to dive into it. But don’t, because you’ll just hurt your head. It’s a car.

The standard SEL alloys were removed and replaced with the drop dead gorgeous 16-inch Ronal Centra Type 31 alloys and then the whole thing was put back together and given a damn good polish. But that’s not where the story ends. As beautiful as that paint is, it’s nothing compared to the luxuries that await inside.

Everything, and we do mean everything from the steering column shroud to the headlining, has been covered in stretched-out cow. Well, fifteen cows to be precise. The door cards, the dash, the consoles, the pillar trims, it’s all leather and it’s all exquisitely done. The attention to detail is nothing short of staggering. The seats have been completely re-styled, too, and have a definite French feel about them, with their new roll and seam design. There are ash trays in there from a Rolls Royce, the glorious three-section Pioneer stereo is edged with gold, the sheepskin rugs are nicer than anything you’d find in a Grade 1 listed country estate and the rear seats are gifted with electrically operated walnut, extending picnic tables. It is exquisite.

The royal family that specified this car also loved it. Yes, it was ultimately forgotten, and we’ll get to that in a bit, but let’s not gloss over the fact that this 1984 car was in use until 2001. It was so good, so wonderful, so comfortable that for seventeen years the original owners were happily chauffeured around in it. Until of course, they weren’t any more.

In 2001, the W126 was parked with care in a secure, high-end, underground car park in Paris, just off Rue Des Belles Feuilles in the 16th Arrondissement. Little did it know it would spend the best part of two decades in that very spot. It had only covered a mere 34,000 miles.

It was only recently, when surviving members of that royal family were taking stock, that the W126 was remembered. The family’s accountant, looking through the financial outgoings, questioned why they were paying for a parking space in Paris. It was only when he himself went to the parking garage that he understood. There, thick with dust and with long since deflated suspension, sat the W126.

The car was bought and brought back to the UK by the current vendor, namely Edward Hall in Oxfordshire. Not wishing to risk damage, Edward himself went over to Paris with a truck, a trailer and a colleague and rescued the forlorn Mercedes-Benz. Despite the dust and suspension issues, the car was in remarkably good condition. But then, we are talking about a private car park in Paris, not an NCP just outside Rotherham.

Once back in Oxfordshire, Edward’s team set about bringing the old W126 back to life. The interior needed to breathe a bit, and the leather needed a feed and a clean, but it was overall in perfect condition. As was the paint bar a couple of minor imperfections which have since been removed. The engine was given a service from top to bottom. The tyres were replaced, the brakes were recommissioned and the suspension was given a complete overhaul. It was a long and trying six-months given the complexities of the W126, but Edward Hall’s team were the people for the job. This car, and this is a credit to them, doesn’t look restored or refreshed. It looks like a survivor. A car that has been cared for from 1984 until now. Those seventeen years in subterranean Paris have left no evidence.

Now, this car serves as a wonderful time capsule, a vibrant and brave reminder of how bespoke cars were crafted in the 1980s. These cars simply didn’t survive, be they from Carat Duchatalet or any one of the other bespoke companies. The upkeep was ultimately too prohibitive for owners beyond the cash-laden first names on the logbook. And that’s why this 500SEL is amazing. It’s ‘as is’, perfect 1984 specification, it’s a look into the world of the super wealthy from the decade of excess. It’s wonderful. But more than being a tangible page from the automotive history books, it’s also a wonderful, refined, brilliantly engineered car. And it can be yours for a hair under £45,000. It could, if you look after it without complaint or caution, be the last car you ever need, whilst also being the finest.