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I’m certainly not a huge fan of the R107, and when it comes to beautiful and classic Mercedes-Benz models, it’s hardtop sibling – the C107 – probably isn’t on the top of anyone’s list. But it is an interesting car, and it has some unique history – including competing in the World Rally Championship before Audi redefined the category:
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/11/the-big-bad-automatic-benz-which-took-on-the-wrc-the-c107/
These C107s occupy an interesting spot in the marketplace; generally ignored, they offer a lot of classic Benz attributes without breaking the bank. And recently one popped up on Bring a Trailer with some neat modifications that really had me intrigued. So when a similar European-specification 280SLC popped up, I thought it was worth a look.
Usually when manufacturers start pumping out ‘special editions’ it is either at the beginning of the generation or knocking on death’s door as a last grasp to get people to buy the aging model before retooling for the next model. Today, we have the former. This Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is already a huge hit for Porsche fans as everyone guessed, and the European-market already has a ‘special edition’ to go with it. What is it? The Sports Cup Edition. You might be looking at that photo and thinking it is a track-focused model with a bunch of lightweight parts and more hardcore suspension. That would make total sense, right? Nope. Just some stickers.
These ultra-low mileage cars that come out of the woodwork every so often can either can one of two ways. On one hand, they are stashed away with care and caution. Regular exercise, maintenance, and cleaning when necessary. On the other side, basically none of that. Just throw it in the corner under a cover and let it sit. Then bring it out and say it is perfect. That might be true in a loose definition, but not when it comes to really caring for the car. Today’s car, a 2001 Mercedes-Benz SL600 for 427 miles, maybe is on the latter of those scenarios.
We’ve covered just about every generation of 3-series wagon here, barring new ones. The E30 is most popular to import these days, and the E46 introduced the US market to the idea that BMW made smaller, fun wagons too; but in between, the rest of the world got to enjoy the neat looks of the E36 Touring.
So here we are; it’s 2020, and that means cars that were produced up through November 1995 are a lot easier to procure and import. And that’s exactly what someone did with this Calypso Red Metallic 320i Touring, produced for the UK market in April 1995. Now that it’s here, is it the one to get?
“It’s got a cop motor, a 3.2 liter flat-6 plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas.”
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the exact quote, but you get what I’m saying. What we are looking at is a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa modified to be used by the Rijkspolitie. What exactly is the “Rijkspolitie?” They are the state and national police of The Netherlands. The story goes that post-WW2, Dutch motorways lacked a speed limit and required police cars to keep with whatever was roaming the highways then. Their solution? Call Porsche and order a bunch of 356s to convert to police cars. Apparently they were happy with this arrangement as this practice continued all the way up until the 964 chassis and even included the 914 and 924 as well. A total of 507 Porsches went into police service, making it the largest Porsche police car fleet in the world. Over the years, some of these cars have trickled into private ownership and trade hands every now and then. This Carrera Targa up for sale has all the cool touches, but also comes with a giant price tag.
