Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Put down your pitchforks and extinguish your torches, that’s not needed today for this Frankenstein creation. What is needed is a little bit of perspective and thought beyond what you initially see – a bagged car with a wild color wrap and bolt on fender flairs. Normally these things would be off-putting to most enthusiasts, but are the bones of this build sound? Let’s take a look at this W202 AMG for sale in California.
There is a good chance you have no idea who Viktor Knvas is. Don’t worry – I didn’t either until researching this car. There is probably also a good chance you might be hearing a little more about Mr. Knvas when his son-in-law is inaugurated into the White House in next month. Yes, this car was owned by the father of the future First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump. So, if you find obscure political memorabilia appealing (or just like a really nice W111 coupe) let’s check out this 1962 220SE.
The other day, Carter wrote up a gray-market, Signal Red 280SE. The Euro options and unusual color made for an attractive proposition, but that particular car had some mechanical needs making it a light project. This car, on the other hand, appears to be in need of no such work. Available in Europe but not sold in the US, the 280SE paired the 2.8 liter, six cylinder M110 gasoline engine with the short wheelbase version of the W126 chassis. While that might seem a small motor for such a large car, it made about 185 hp in Euro guise, a perfectly adequate, though certainly not blistering, amount of power. Like the US-spec 300SE/SEL, it might need a bit of shove at the low end, but once up to highway speeds it should cruise around capably.
On Monday, I looked at a W124 cabriolet – a model I believe won’t witness a huge spike in value over the short term. While I do think the values will hold strong where they are and, at the very least, keep up with inflation, if you are hoping to make tens of thousands of dollars in a quick flip, there are probably better options.  Today’s car, the Mercedes-Benz 190SL, is one of those options.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a “Roll the Dice” article about a European specification 380SE with a host of period AMG bits. However, there was no supporting documentation that the car was actually an AMG car and, notably, several items were incorrect. The verdict was that without that documentation, it was probably overpriced for what it was. Today I’m back with another white “AMG” – this time, a pre-merger R129 500SL. Again, we get little documentation on what is reportedly a Japanese-specification 500SL with AMG bits. Is it worth a roll of the dice this time?
