In 1992, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche briefly entered into a love affair that would produce one very special offspring: the Mercedes-Benz 500E. The car was to become the godfather of all super sedans, packing a 5.0-liter V8 with a staggering (for the time) 322 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. Bolted to a four-speed automatic gearbox, the engine could scoot the big four-door to 60 mph in a mere 6.1 seconds. Something tells us that those power numbers were a little conservative. But where does Porsche come in to this dance?
Germany’s sportscar manufacturer was responsible for working the sheetmetal of the 500E into the shape you see above. Those healthy fender arches were all massaged into place by the gurus at Porsche before the body was shipped off to Mercedes-Benz for paint and final assembly. Once done, the whole kit and caboodle was shipped back to Porsche for final inspection. Needless to say, this was an incredibly limited production vehicle, with the two companies only creating around 500 examples per year.
