This car is the very definition of a hot mess, so much so that I almost passed it by. But a V8 powered Baby Benz is such an outrageously fun proposition that I couldn’t resist writing it up anyway. In the 1980s, AMG was still an independent tuner that offered bodykit, engine and suspension upgrades for Mercedes cars. These are known to enthusiasts as the “pre-merger” years; AMG would later be folded into Daimler-Benz in about 1990. While we’re fairly familiar with W124 and W126 AMGs from this period (especially the W124 Hammer, which you can see Chris Harris hooning here), occasionally a 190E will pop up to remind us that the geniuses at Affalterbach also worked their magic on the W201 chassis. At first glance this candy red 190E appears to be an AMG-modded car, but a look beneath the surface reveals that it’s actually a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster.
Month: August 2016
Over the past 20 years since I obtained my driver’s license, I’ve owned six cars. That’s not a whole lot for someone writing on a car enthusiast site. So when it comes to ownership experiences, my scope is a bit limited. However, the Mercedes-Benz 400E is a car I’m familiar with, as my father owned one for a time during my formative years. Replacing a 1992 190E 2.6 that was totaled in an accident, the 1992 400E that found its way into our household was an altogether different beast. It had the same Mercedes qualities we had come to know and love over the years. This was Mercedes’ first crack at the V8, mid-sized luxury segment and while it might have looked a bit staid when it debuted, is styling has aged well. This 1992 400E for sale in Idaho comes to us from a longtime reader, Max, who has owned his fair share of impressive machinery. Sold new in Hawaii, this car has clocked 114,000 miles and is a rust-free, well-preserved driver.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 400E on eBay
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So lets start off with a quick Thursday evening history lesson. Way back in the grand time known as the year 2002, Mercedes-Benz finally decided to officially grace North America with its wonderful Geländewagen, or ”G-Wagen” for short. Or, ”G-Wag” if the next words in the sentence are ”sittin’ on 22-inch rimz.” So with the G-Wagen starting production 1979 and Mercedes never officially offering them for sale at dealers until the model year 2002, someone had to feed the need of wealthy North Americans who saw these on their vacations in Swiss Alps and wanted to get something else besides a P38 Range Rover that had a permanent EAS Fault message on the dash. That ”someone” were the guys at Europa G-Wagen located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their business was pretty straight forward, they would bring over G-Wagens from Europe, do all the very expensive dirty work of federalizing these SUVs so they weren’t subject to the 25-year import rule, then distribute them all over the country. Their business did so well that they became the exclusive U.S. importer of the G-Wagen and eventually gained U.S. Small Volume Manufacturer status. This all went really well until 2002 until Mercedes gave them the ”we’ll take it from here” and bought the U.S. distribution rights from Europa. This left the company to focus more on service, parts and accessions. Today, Europa still dabbles in importing G-Wagens, but mostly in the models we never got here such as the three door Cabrio.
So, every once in a blue moon one of these W463 Europa SUVs pop up for sale. Today, we have a 2000 G500 in Colorado that deserves a closer look.
CLICK FOR DETAILS:Â 2000 Mercedes-Benz G500 Europa on eBay
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Contrasts: they don’t always work, but when they do they create something that is much more interesting than the norm. I think we see this a lot with modified cars where contrasts in style become much more prevalent. With factory cars these contrasts usually come about through color combinations between the interior and exterior, but even more so when those colors appear to contrast with the ethos of the car itself. That is what we have here. The 930 needs little introduction. As Porsche’s turbocharged rear-engine Goliath it provided rewards to those able to master its dynamics and treachery to those who could not. Subtle is probably the last adjective that might be used about it. In neither appearance nor performance is it anything approaching subtle. Cassis Red Metallic seems a near opposite. A color that is both vibrant and also soft that may even suggest playfulness. It’s beautiful in a way that belies the nature of the 930. When combined we get a stark contrast, one that has been found on many Porsches before and after it and which remains one of my favorite hallmarks of the brand. Does it work? That will be up to individual buyers. But it’s about as far from triple black – the über aggressive alternative – that we can get.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 Porsche 930 Cabriolet on eBay
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In the last few years, the Mercedes-Benz lineup has grown substantially. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any bigger, along comes the S-class Cabriolet. While the myriad of SUVs that Mercedes sells are responses to growing trends in the marketplace, the S-class Cabriolet is a revival of an old theme, the car you see here: the 280SE Cabriolet. The 280SE Coupe and Cabriolet were the swan song of the W111 chassis, with production of the 3.5 V8 variant lasting through the summer of 1971. This restored 1970 280SE Cabriolet for sale in Chicago is fitted with a 4-speed manual gearbox, an option not often seen on these grand tourers.