Below is a three minute video (Highway Star) that must have been a Mercedes-Benz promotion film for the “new” S-Class (W126 internal factory designation) that debuted in Germany in 1979 as a 1980 model and which debuted in the US in 1980.
The driver is a wealthy middle-aged German business man (the target customer) who drives his car to work, passing everyone on the Autobahn, enjoying the sun and wind in his hair when he opens the sunroof. The camera lingers on the Mercedes three-pointed star more times than you can count.
At the end, he parks his car in an outdoor two level carpark. There are lots of cars on the lower levels, but ONLY his Mercedes-Benz S-Class on the top tier. Subtle, but you understand the imagery. It’s the best and it has no equals. That might have been true in 1979 as the big Mercedes really didn’t have any competition.
The background music is something else. It’s epic and heroic in tone, complete with heavenly vocals reminiscent of Wagner. Hans Zimmer, the German composer of the background music “Chevaliers De Sangreal” (Knights of the Holy Grail), is mostly known for his film scores. Born in 1957, this piece had to be one of his earlier works.
He’s super-famous these days, scoring such films as “The Lion King,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Inception.” In fact, “Chevaliers De Sangreal” was used in the 2006 film “The Da Vinci Code” starring Tom Hanks.
It’s nice to know that Mercedes-Benz, in all it’s German arrogant glory, thinks that the S-Class is the Holy Grail of cars and the owner is a knight.
Todd Bianco's ACarIsNotARefrigerator.com Blog 