Celebrity owned cars are a funny thing. Other than being an interesting conversation piece their ownership does not add any inherent value to a vehicle. That said, these cars are often advertised at astronomical prices.
That said, one of the largest car buying mistakes I have ever made involves a celebrity owned vehicle I did not purchase. Some time ago David Lee Roth’s Porsche 964 came up for sale, it was silver with this special order red leather interior. It had lead a pampered life, well as pampered as a life with Diamond Dave can be. The difference here was the car was not marked up at all due to its affiliation with the Van Halen lead singer.
Which leads us to William Shatner’s 500E.
William Shatner’s 1992 Mercedes 500E for Sale:
From the seller -
“Up for sale is my 1992 Mercedes 500E. I will spare you the details of what this model is all about and the Porsche connection as you probably are aware of what this car is. I am the second owner having purchased it from William Shatner in 2003 with 66,000 miles. Yes that William Shatner of star trek fame and who sold his kidney stone for $75,000! I had Mr. Shatner sign the underside of the arm rest before the car was shipped. The photo of Shatner with the car was shot outside his LA house on the day he autographed the car. Car color is Black Pearl Metallic with a grey leather interior. BergWerks in LA before the car was shipped to me installed a first gear start, keyless entry, and stainless brake lines. I have installed Hella european head lights, removed the front head light wipers, and put on Evo 17″ wheels. I have the original wheels and all of the other parts. The car is in excellent condition and has been stored in a climate controlled garage and has been driven on mostly sunny days. It is what I consider the last of the Mercedes cars that was designed by engineers and way over built. It is an incredible machine. I have all of the service records dating back to 1992. This car has has an open check book as far as service history and is in excellent condition. In 11/2008 I had the car repainted with the correct oil based Glasurit paint, new rubber and new MB windshield by Stewart’s paint and body shop www.stewartspnb.com at a cost of $14,000. Recent new parts are brake rotors/pads ,Behr radiator, Michelin Pilot Sport tires, and new oem headliner. Car runs very cool, has no dings ,scratches, or suprises. This one will put a smile on your face everytime you drive it!”
First off I had no idea that someone paid $75k for William Shatner’s kidney stone. I was going to say this car is priced outside the reasonable market but this tells me there may be a Trekkie somewhere who finds the $35k price tag for this car reasonable.
Outside of this the car is too rich for the rest of us who do not feel as strongly about its celebrity status. All cache aside, it is just a well kept example with a very nice repaint. Which is not a bad thing, just don’t expect it to achieve warp speed or beam you anywhere.
~Aaron
This has been on ebay at this price for a couple rounds and nobody seems to be biting. The mileage isn’t too bad but this car is really a $12 to $15K so a $20K premium for the autograph seems a bit much. Reggie Jackson and Paul Anka owned 500E’s as well but I don’t remember either of those cars getting much of a celeb premium when they hit the used market a few years ago.
Cool car in good condition. Maybe worth more if purchased directly from William Shatner, and kept exactly as he had it.
I suspect most of the uber-trekkies who would get off on owning Captain Kirk’s 500E don’t have $35K laying around to spend on a 100K+ mile car that’s really worth $15-20K.
No takers at $35k.