Lux Aeterna: Norev’s Mercedes W222 is Still The Best

As we enter 2022, we enter year two since Mercedes-Benz said goodbye to the W222 chassis of the S-Class. Born in 2013, the W222 was the first production Mercedes to feature the marque’s familiar smooth, ovoid design philosophy we’ve seen over the past decade. Since the new S-Class’ introduction, I’m sure some have looked back upon the W222 as “old-fashioned” or “outdated,” but I beg to disagree.

I’ll choose to keep my opinions of the new S-Class to myself, but I feel as though the old W222 deserves more respect than it gets, much like every S-Class before it. In my opinion, S-Classes do not get old, they don’t wear over time…they age, like a fine wine.

In fact, I find myself looking more upon the W222 with admiration now than I did when it was on sale. I believe designers Robert Lešnik and Il-hun Yoon captured lightning in a bottle. This era of Mercedes design is probably some of the best since Sacco’s twilight years of the 1990s. You could pick up a pre-owned W222 today and easily still look at home at your local country club or business park for a fraction of what the newest ones cost.

But, this isn’t Dak’s Used Car Blog, it’s Castheads, so why am I featuring a 4-5 year old model amongst the latest from AutoArt or Tarmac Works? Well, frankly, I think that this model should be on everybody’s radar in the same sense as it’s 1/1 counterpart.

As soon as the W222 was released to the public, Norev was quick to hop on and released a 1/18 model of the S550 variant, which soon went out of production and goes for a pretty penny used. Around 2017, however, Norev released a new model of the W222 to coincide with the car’s facelift. This time, in the form of the S560 AMG-Line, with more performance-oriented finishings.

The Norev S560 was produced from roughly 2017 through 2021 in a variety of colors, but with the new S-Class around the corner, it is unknown of Norev plans to produce this model again, which means they’re quickly gaining in price, like the original Norev S550 before it. You can still find them in places for under $150, but those options are dwindling, and fast.

This model is exquisitely detailed, just like the rest of the Norev Mercedes line, but its relative freshness in design and overall feature count adds an amount to elegance to any shelf. The Diamond Silver paintwork shines in every light, with the additional dark colored interior forming a beautiful contrast. This car is just oozing with status, an immaculate recreation of the real deal.

Although the interior, exterior, and engine bay are rife with details of every sort, my favorite feature has to be the addition of a folded down tray and the TV screens in the rear seats. These will remind you what kind of car this is, in case you forgot. The carpet is lined with felt for realism, and the engine bay is expertly laid out with labels and a picked silver Mercedes-Benz star above the engine cover. The overall quality of the car is brick-like, with a definite heft to it that you just can’t get with modern composite models, an extra that’s becoming far too rare nowadays.

I can’t help but wonder why this model never received the fanfare it really deserved. If you’re a Mercedes collector like myself, or just in the market to broaden your collecting horizons, I think you should do yourself a favor and try to pick up one of these old models before they become too expensive to justify. I think the sheer amount of style and detail of this one model makes it worthwhile, even in a market shared with the latest S-Class model by the same brand. Besides, who knows ir or when Norev will ever start producing it again?