Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
If you are feeling déjà vu, you are on to something. Last month I checked out a 1998 Mercedes-Benz S600 7.0 AMG and now a month later, we have the brother 1998 CL600 7.0 AMG. It is probably safe to assume these both came out of the same collection, and believe it or not, this one checks in with over 100,000 kilometers on the odometer. Long live the M120!
When it comes to the old rule of Mercedes-Benz wagons are worth significantly more than their sedan counterparts, the AMG models are no exception. It is basically having your cake and eating it too, only this cake is really rare and extremely hard to find given they didn’t make many at all. Today’s car is a currently forbidden fruit as it isn’t 25-years-old yet, but the clock is ticking fast and it will be legal in no time. Say hello 1998 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG Wagon.
“I don’t think it is necessary to explain to those who understand.”
That’s the only description from the selling dealer for today’s car. Granted, that was translated from Japanese, but it is the general gist of it. If you know you know, if you don’t, this isn’t the car for you. The iconic W140 Mercedes-Benz S600 punched out to 7.0 liters by AMG Japan and equipped with a bunch of other little special touches. In terms of 1990s sedans, this is up there. The price? Well, if you have to ask…
One of these more overlooked Mercedes-AMG models since the turn of the millennium was the very short-lived C209 CLK55 AMG coupe. You might be wondering how a car that ran from the 2003 to 2005 model year can be short-lived, but looking at the production numbers you see how rare they really are. In 2003, they sold a reasonable 761 cars here. 2004? Down to 509. The final year of 2005? Only 247. Considering there were roughly 350 Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US at that time, you were lucky to see one. Even though they are rare, there is not exactly much demand for them as they suffer from the curse of the CLK-Class. That is a thing totally made up by me, but let me explain.
Despite the CLK-Class looking like an E-Class coupe and Mercedes wanting you to think that, it rides on the W203 C-Class platform. That means a lot of shared parts, which isn’t a good thing when talking about the W203. Naturally, the drivetrain of the 5.4-liter M113 V8 with the 722.6 five-speed automatic is a gem, but the interior is a real letdown on these cars with the cheap plastic on almost everything you touch. Still, for this amount of money, who is to complain?
Long live the V12! In all seriousness, I’m not breaking any news here saying the V12 engine is not long for this world. The return just isn’t there for companies with the emissions regulations and you can make comparable power with turbochargers, superchargers, and electric batteries. Thankfully we have roughly 30 years of them to choose from and they seem to be aging reasonably well, all things considered. My favorite V12, the Mercedes-Benz M275, can be had across various of platforms and it seems the secret is out about them. Today’s car, a 2014 SL65 AMG, came with a giant sticker price of over $215,000, but that doesn’t mean you are going to be snagging this one for $48,000 some eight years later. Not even close.
