¨Mercedes-Benz is my life¨- Article on Bruno Sacco

[LaArtist]

Very interesting read enjoy this:


http://www5.mercedes-benz.com/en/history/mercedes-benz-is-my-life-bruno-sacco-chief-designer-190-sl-class-w126-r129-w201/?csref=_sm:in_glbSacco_fbk_kw52_pc

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

Great read. He had his hands in so many iconic designs.

 

[Gianclaudio]

Amazing read. My maximum respect to Bruno and his timeless designs.

And my appreciation has grow a bit more after seeing this pic:

He collects scale trains, just like me

 

[Human]

Great read and my utmost respect to an icon, always will have a special place in my motoring mind Herr Sacco

 

[Merc1]

W126, W124, R129, still likely the best Mercedes designs ever!

M

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

^add the W140, and you got yourself a delicious M-B stew.

 

[Sovereign]

Bruno Sacco's iconic designs would also include the W220 as far as car design is concerned. it was so sleek and pretty. it lacked the powerful presence of W140 and the most beautiful....... W126 SEL/SEC. The first generation SLK and the CLK were also the best designs of those models to date. However few designs in 1990s were forgettable from the Sacco's era like the W140 CL Coupe and the first generation C class. Even the w140 S class could not hold candle to its former self the W126 and the four eyed E class was much less attractive than the w124. The mid nineties were not his best of times but he came back in full form with the second generation CL and W220.

 

[Carmaker1]

I'm not sure why many people forget or do not even know, that the R230 SL was part of Bruno Sacco's roster in 1996-1997, as was the W203 C-Class (even earlier in 1995). In fact, the R230 was the last new production Mercedes-Benz designed under him (by Steve Mattin in the first photo), not including the R170 facelift finalized by February 1998.

Ironically, the 1999 Vision SLR concept (designed by Gorden Wagener) was initially developed during the second half of 1998 to preview the upcoming R230's design and became something greater. The first new production Mercedes-Benz design approved after Sacco left and under Peter Pfeiffer was the W211 in 1999, by Harmut Sinkwitz(Head of Interior Design). There were no design release models(non-facelift) approved by the Mercedes-Benz design department in 1998.

It's quite obvious the change in design direction due to Sacco's absence, appeared with the debut of Vision SLA.

The resemblance to a radical impression of the R230 was intentional, only for the Vision SLR to become its own model

 

[Rolf]

He was a very iconic car designer for me, I think most of his designs especially 70's and 80's were so timeless and elegant and also the late 90's to early 2000 designed cars were very sleek as well. His worst era for me is the early 1990's to late 1990's, I am not a big fan of the W140 S-class, the first C-Class, the first ML-Class and especially not a fan at all of the twin light W210 E-Class, which lacked the elegance and sheer presence of the W124 and also it was poorly engineered especially interior design and quality and electronics, which severely dented Merc's image as "built like a bank safe" and its slogan "engineered like no other car in the world" by breaking down/falling apart and cost the company millions. Cars I liked from the 1990's are the first A-Class (mostly cause of its clever design and engineering), the first SLK, the W220 S-Class as well as CL-class.

 

[Carmaker1]

He was a very iconic car designer for me, I think most of his designs especially 70's and 80's were so timeless and elegant and also the late 90's to early 2000 designed cars were very sleek as well. His worst era for me is the early 1990's to late 1990's, I am not a big fan of the W140 S-class, the first C-Class, the first ML-Class and especially not a fan at all of the twin light W210 E-Class, which lacked the elegance and sheer presence of the W124 and also it was poorly engineered especially interior design and quality and electronics, which severely dented Merc's image as "built like a bank safe" and its slogan "engineered like no other car in the world" by breaking down/falling apart and cost the company millions. Cars I liked from the 1990's are the first A-Class (mostly cause of its clever design and engineering), the first SLK, the W220 S-Class as well as CL-class.

Well to be honest, while he was head of design, he wasn't entirely responsible for initial design themselves. He was definitely responsible for the final production model after the design release. Most the cost-cutting changes were authorized in 1991 by McKinsey & Company. A hired consulting firm that sought to reduce 10-15% in Daimler-Benz' overhead costs by 1995, to better compete with Lexus and Acura (Legend) regarding pricing. That same year, Steve Mattin's W210 design was mostly defined and later finalized in early 1992, based on these new principles. The W202, had been finalized around January 1990 and in development since late 1986, became affected by these decisions as well via the production process in 1993 (outsourcing).

The W210, R170 were more of a mid-point in MBs design transition from boxy outline with rounded edges to rounded contours (W168, W220). The W140 on another note, had a height adjustment of its roof by 4 inches in 1987, several months after reaching the final design in December 1986. They tried to rapidly correct this in 1992, while developing a "less bulky W140" for the 1994 facelift. They succeeded in early 1995 with the sleeker, monotone-only appearance that arrived for the '97 model year refresh.

This is what Bruno Sacco once said, likely in reference to the W210 and W220: “The aesthetics of a product can never hope to make up for poor-quality technology.”

 

[Rolf]

Well to be honest, while he was head of design, he wasn't entirely responsible for initial design themselves. He was definitely responsible for the final production model after the design release. Most the cost-cutting changes were authorized in 1991 by McKinsey & Company. A hired consulting firm that sought to reduce 10-15% in Daimler-Benz' overhead costs by 1995, to better compete with Lexus and Acura (Legend) regarding pricing. That same year, Steve Mattin's W210 design was mostly defined and later finalized in early 1992, based on these new principles. The W202, had been finalized around January 1990 and in development since late 1986, became affected by these decisions as well via the production process in 1993 (outsourcing).

The W210, R170 were more of a mid-point in MBs design transition from boxy outline with rounded edges to rounded contours (W168, W220). The W140 on another note, had a height adjustment of its roof by 4 inches in 1987, several months after reaching the final design in December 1986. They tried to rapidly correct this in 1992, while developing a "less bulky W140" for the 1994 facelift. They succeeded in early 1995 with the sleeker, monotone-only appearance that arrived for the '97 model year refresh.

This is what Bruno Sacco once said, likely in reference to the W210 and W220: “The aesthetics of a product can never hope to make up for poor-quality technology.”

Thanks for this great historical write up explaining the cost cutting and relation to design/production dates etc. for the various 90's Mercs, I found this very interesting. The transition model from boxy/rounded edges to the rounded contours was the R170 SLK as this highlighted many design aspects such as the tail light and headlight design that found their way onto other models released from 1998 to early 2000's.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Facinating information @Carmaker1. Have your read this stuff in a book somewhere, or is it more a collation of information you have read over time?

If it's from a book, I'd love to have a read of it. The happenings within MB design and engineering really interest me.

 

[Carmaker1]

Thanks for this great historical write up explaining the cost cutting and relation to design/production dates etc. for the various 90's Mercs, I found this very interesting. The transition model from boxy/rounded edges to the rounded contours was the R170 SLK as this highlighted many design aspects such as the tail light and headlight design that found their way onto other models released from 1998 to early 2000's.

Yep, the R170. I was going to go with that, but felt the four-eyed look was a very important turn for Mercedes-Benz. It seems MB made the shift towards this theme in 1992, judging by early sketches of the W220 S-Class from October 1992.

Facinating information @Carmaker1. Have your read this stuff in a book somewhere, or is it more a collation of information you have read over time?

If it's from a book, I'd love to have a read of it. The happenings within MB design and engineering really interest me.

Actually, it's both. A few random guys I been able to converse with, as well as internet research over the past 4 years, MB history books, and subscription access material. No thanks to Google Archive Search being disabled lately, that I've lost a ton of my original sources from archives. I found out that the W163 began initial development in 1990 as a W463 Gelandewagen replacement in a 1991 article and partnered with Mitsubishi (cancelled, independently from 1992). I previously used a lot of this research on university projects.

 

[WAND]

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https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/mercedes-benz-is-my-life/

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/bruno-sacco-italian-passion-meets-german-precision-2657.html

My favourite models are W124 ( 500E ), W140-C140 and R129.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

Mr. Sacco's best design imo is the beautiful W126 S klasse. The man is living legend.