Grille badges are cool. Here is a perfect example.

My friend Rob (@carsrob Instaram) hates grill badges. He hates color coded hubcaps as well. He loves patina. So this #W116 S-Class is definitely not his car. But this is a perfect example, why grill badges can open the door to a cars history.

I’ve seen this recently at a car show. And while I totally appreciate the W116, which is my favourite S-Class, nothing special. But looking at it, I saw the JAF grille badge – rather unusual on a Merc like that. The Japan Automobil Federation is some sort of association, which supports all sorts of possible concerns of motorists. And it’s something, JDM nuts are well aware of. Some other details. The technical inspection sticker – the 27 is part of the Japanese calender, it’s for “Heisei 27”, the year 2015 as the last year of inspection. Yanase is a used car dealer in Japan. Look at the headrest, they still have some of the typical Japanese “doilies” over it, the sometimes strange looking seat covers in an absolute grandmother style. So this #Merc 280SE had a life as chauffeur car in Japan for many years. It’s left hand drive, not unusual for Japan, were a LHD Merc is a status symbol. So with the grill badge, you find a very exciting and interesting car. So what a great to congratulate to 50 years of S-Class.