Category: Mercedes Benz

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1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL

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Some will argue that the W126 S-Class was one of the finest automobiles ever produced. At the end of the day, it does everything well, and doesn’t complain about it. It has everything you need, but nothing more. The styling is handsome, but can blend into a crowd with ease. Running costs? Outside of a hydraulic rear suspension that is well worth the trouble, it can be fixed by the most average of mechanics. Time has been kind to the W126, and prices reflect that. Finding a nice one under $10,000 is a tough ask, and the nicest 560SELs with low miles will put you into new Honda Accord prices.

Today, we travel to Belgium to look at a European-spec 1989 560SEL that has some miles on it, but taking a look at the condition, you’d swear it has a quarter of that. Worth the asking price?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL at British & Sportscars

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1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0

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When I think of homologation specials, there are all sorts of models that instantly pop into my head. Of course, being an Audi fan, the Sport Quattro is a great example of the insane Group B era. Of course, Group C spawned a whole series of special cars, from the RS200 and Lancia 037 to the Porsche 959. There’s the special 924 Carrera GTS, as well – a car few remember outside of Porsche circles, and one that’s often forgotten even by them. Then there’s the great period of DTM specials – the “Evolutions” of the M3, 190E and V8 quattro that proved Darwin was right, and we just looked at the later 80 Competition. Of course, you can go back even further and look at one of the most special cars ever created – the original Ferrari GTO – to see a very special homologation of a race car. But outside of the big headlines, there are plenty of small production run cars that were created to jump through loopholes, and returning to my original Group B example, we can see one neat car that was created in order to run in World Rally. It’s not a car you’d expect though – it’s the quite heavy and long Mercedes-Benz C107. Mercedes took steps to make it rally worthy, including lightweight aluminum panels in front and back, and of course upped the power with a new aluminum 5.0 V8:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0 on eBay

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1991 Isdera Imperator 108i

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Back in 2020, just before the end of the year, I took a look at one of my all-time favorite cars – the Isdera Commendatore 112i:

Wish List: 1993 Isdera Commendatore 112i

That car was itself a development of what you see here – the 108i. Developed by Porsche engineer Eberhard Schulz and Mercedes-Benz engineer Rainer Buchmann as a successor to the C111 prototypes, the CW311 stuck a M100 6.3 liter V8 behind the driver and was pretty outrageous. When it came to market in 1984 in as the Imperator, the motor had changed to a 5.0 version of the M117 and later M119 motors. That was still good to push the Isdera to the best part of 180 mph in the same Road & Track test at Ehra-Lessien, Germany in 1987 that made the Ruf Yellowbird famous.

Somewhere around 13 of the later ‘Series II’ Imperators were made with the M119, and this one is coming up for sale soon – though, the location will probably give you a clue as to the expected price:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Isdera Imperator 108i at Bonhams Monaco

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1995 Mercedes-Benz E36 AMG Coupe

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The Mercedes-Benz E36 AMG Coupe is not a car that comes up for sale often. Most of that has to do with there are reportedly only 68 of them in total, with 24 of them being right-hand drive cars for the UK market. So when you see them, take a closer look. What we have today is a 1995 up for sale in Germany with an impressive color combination and a price to match. At least, I think that’s the case.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Mercedes-Benz E36 AMG Coupe at German-Car.Net

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

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Over 65 years later, this 300SL continues to amaze. There is a reason why it is the only car with a production number over 1,000 that commands seven-figure price tags. Each one of them is special in their own way and some will argue it is up there with the greatest cars ever produced. These cars are not for the faint of heart or those with the tight wallet. Despite having full factory support from Mercedes-Benz and a very active community, they don’t change hands all that often. Public sales are few and far between given the production numbers, and when they do sell, it’s usually in the headlines.

This 1955 up for sale in California is said to have been been in private hands for the past 40 years and taking a look at it, I could buy it – the story, at least. This is not a restored car or even an all that well maintained one judging by the description, but that doesn’t seem to deter this well-known dealer asking the moon for it.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing on eBay

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1994 Mercedes-Benz SL280 5-Speed

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Hey there. This is something different. What we have today in a 1994 Mercedes-Benz SL280 up for sale in the heart of London. If the car being a 5-speed manual didn’t raise your eyebrows, how about I tell you it is actually left-hand drive as well? According to this dealer, the car was originally delivered to Monaco, which probably explains why it only has 35,000 miles. However, a quick check of the UK MOT shows consistent tests starting in 2005, so this one was booted from the beautiful ̶t̶a̶x̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶n̶  vacation spot long ago, probably for being far too plebeian. Naturally, my gear were immediately turning seeing how this would be an ideal import to the US. However, once I saw the price, I threw in the towel rather quickly.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Mercedes-Benz SL280 5-Speed on eBay

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2015 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe

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In my opinion, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class AMG coupe is as close as a personal jet you can on four wheels. I’ll put it up against any current offering from Bentley and Rolls-Royce and say it is better. Decade after decade, Mercedes seems to do it right with these and the prices reflect that. Funny how that works. The C217 generation that just wrapped up production raised the bar again. The example I wanted to look at today, a 2015 S63 AMG, is now a hard to believe six-years old, but still could pass as a new car. The price? Take about $100,000 off the sticker. Sounds like a deal, right? Not just yet.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2015 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe on eBay

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1986 BMW 635CSi Koenig Widebody

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If you wanted a crazy modified European car in the 80s, you had a lot of choices to make. Built to resemble wildly flared racers, cars from manufacturers like DP Motorsports, Gemballa and Strosek are at best polarizing cars. At worst, they’re like the plot line to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex; kill your father, marry your mother and have your sister-daughters, then stab your eyes out and live in a cave. But the Rex himself must certainly be defined as Willy König, with his widebody, Testarossa-straked creations. While usually we see Mercedes-Benz and Porsche versions of Koenig modified cars, today we get a rare glimpse of what he’d do to a E24.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 BMW 635CSi Koenig Widebody at Bonhams MPH Auction

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600

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One of the more interesting subsects of the automotive world are cars that seemingly are common, but in reality extremely rare. If you see a Ferrari F40 driving down the street or parked on a lawn somewhere, you have a pretty good idea that is a rare car. A 1999 Mercedes-Benz S600 parked at the grocery store? You can find those anywhere, right? That would be wrong. Very wrong.

The W140 chassis was wrapping up in 1999 as Mercedes already launched their new flagship W220 all over Europe. So whatever leftover cars they had came to the US to sell off. Turns out they didn’t have many of the M120 V12s to offer up. Just 14 S600 sedans and 15 CL600 coupes were produced for the 1999 model year. That is it! A generation that saw 432,732 examples built came down to a final 29 cars. Guess what we have today?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1999 Mercedes-Benz S600 on eBay

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2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG

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Believe it or not, March is here. Funny to say that since it happens every year, but spring fever is going to get hot and heavy. Especially since, well, you know the drill. With spring, comes convertible season. At least for us who live anywhere else but California and Florida. The options are pretty wide when you are looking for top down cars, but dollar for dollar, the R230 SL55 AMG continues to be one the best values out there. As expected, most of these don’t have many miles on them. Even with that, $25,000 buys you a decent example. However, this 2003 up for sale in Florida has an impressive 98,000 miles. Even better? It’s from the original owner.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG on eBay

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