My Cure for Badge Anxiety

[PHK]

I've been told that the "500E" badge (pre-facelift) is NLA. That means that anyone with a little dental floss can claim one as a souvenir. And, in a sense, the badge is harder to replace than the car.

This is my cure. A llittle SpaceTape on the back of the badge secures if from sliding around. I like (i) the security it provides and (ii) the 'clean tail' anonymity that results.

 

[TimL]

@PHK is your car pearl gray?

 

[PHK]

@PHK is your car pearl gray?

Yes, it is.

 

[TimL]

Yes, it is.

Beautiful! Love that color on the 036!

 

[PHK]

Interesting, I hope, anecdote about the color: when I bought mine, all cars on the showroom floor were this same colour, whether a C-, E-, or S-Class model. Furthermore, other 500Es in London dealers all seemed to be the same. And car magazines at the time were reviewing the same M-B press car which was in Pearl Grey which led me to think that would be the signature colour for 500Es. I see now that, in fact, it is a minority colour especially in North America. It may have been a new colour for M-B at the time; I would have to defer to more expert M-B historians. And, at the time, there were only 14 colour options for the 500E compared to the 39 of the Forum data base.

The reason seems to be ‘marketing’ as a result of UK licensing rules at the time. Then, all car 'license plates’, or 'registration numbers' as they are called in the UK, began with an alphabet letter for each car-selling year. For example, my car was what was called a 'J-Reg' car, meaning that it was first licensed for the road between August 1, 1991, and July 31, 1992. Thus, a car licensed on July 31 was slightly less valuable than a car licensed on August 1 on the used-car market. Therefore, few new cars were sold in June and July until August 1 when sales boomed. Totally artificial. Possibly, M-B was trying to make a statement on the new selling season.

Consequentially, I first saw the car in the showroom some time in the middle of July but no serious negotiations took place until after August 1.