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Two weeks ago, I was taking a stroll around Helsinki on what turned out to be a fine Saturday afternoon. While sitting outside a cafe, an automotive oddity passed by. A short wheelbase Mercedes-Benz W126 with a big engine, in this case the 500SE with its 5.0 liter V8. Here in the US, we received two V8 S-classes from 1986 through 1991, the 420SEL and 560SEL, both long-wheelbase models. Apparently the product planners at Mercedes-Benz didn’t think there was much of a market for a big Benz with a large engine but smaller backseat. I always enjoyed the proportions of the 300SE that we received, the short-wheelbase W126 with the venerable M103 inline-6. But who doesn’t like a little bit more juice? This 500SE for sale in The Netherlands in Nelken (Willow) Green over green leather is cresting 40,000 miles and is the perfect cure for someone who still pines for the good old days of Mercedes-Benz.
The sight of a W123 wagon on the road never fails to bring a smile to my face. It’s a testament to the durability of these cars that they can still be seen today doing exactly what their designers intended forty years ago, chugging along faithfully and reliably, hauling stuff around. We’ve seen nice, well-kept examples fetch between $10K and $20k over the last few years. As a result, a lot of the nicer ones have been snapped up by rich hipsters (it’s not for nothing that many of them have ended up in Brooklyn). That’s a shame because these were always the workhorses of the Mercedes lineup and the hike in their value has put them out of the reach of those who just want a cheap, no-frills hauler.
That makes this particular car, suggested to us by our reader Don, all the more refreshing. While the mileage is low, the car is certainly not mint, and the somewhat tired but perfectly usable condition will help to keep the price of this one on the affordable side.
You won’t get something if you don’t ask for it. The seller of this 1979 Porsche 928 must be a firm believer in that aphorism, as their asking price is certainly a record breaker for an American spec 928 of this vintage. We’ve seen 928’s follow an upward value trend that seems to have become characteristic of quondam Porsches. More specifically, we saw a 1995 GTS fetch a record breaking $132,000 at an Amelia Island auction in March, placing it $32,000 over its highest estimated sale price. It was one of the few cars that sold for above any of its estimates. Many people were surprised by this, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected to those of us “in the know.â€
This car appears to be pretty well presented, and wears a popular and very saleable black/tan color combination in the form of Schwartz paint and Cork interior. The paint is described by the seller to be totally original, but I’d like to see some paint thickness gauge readings as confirmation. With 29,000 miles, this is certainly one of the lower-mileage early cars out there, and the cosmetic condition appears to be commensurate with the low mileage.
The W124 Mercedes-Benz Estate is a favorite around this site and personally one of my favorite cars that were ”honest”. They had the enormous task of following the legendary W123 Estates and giving Mercedes wagon buyers just a little more. It had to have the same quality of the W123 but be a little faster, a little more comfortable, hold a little more and live up to the standard that Mercedes was known at the time. Without saying, the W123 Estate is still king in the used Mercedes wagon market, but if you don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a car that is over 30 years-old at it’s youngest version, the W124 300TE is still a great buy. This example on the beaches of New Jersey can still give you everything you want from a Mercedes-Benz Estate.
When I consider the slew of new cars for 2016, my mind keeps circling around one question: just how long could you keep one of these machines on the road? My guess is not for long, with the plethora of electronic devices that are bound to go wrong as time marches on. In this era of leasing, it seems that new cars are becoming throwaway items, cast off for those wanting the newest and shiniest thing. This 1979 Mercedes-Benz 240D for sale in California is the exact opposite of the disposable vehicle. These cars were built to last and over three decades on still make for a sensible daily driver.
