Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
This is the time of year you’ll invariably be asked “where do you summer?†I’m more interested in “what do you summer in?†This 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SE Cabriolet appears to be a perfect vehicle in which to holiday. This car was given a respray a few years ago along with an interior retrim, including the extensive amount of wood trim present in these models.
Ah, the wonders of the “grey market”. I long for the days when it was apparently fairly easy to import and legalize European versions of the cars that were turned down for the U.S. market. They were more powerful, better looking and lighter; but best of all, for most of these designs they were much closer to the original design language than what we were sent in the U.S.. The perfect example of this is the W116 Mercedes-Benz, though it’s not alone. The W116 came to the U.S. with Texas-sized bumpers and somewhat unattractive DOT-approved headlights. When those items are returned to their natural state, the transformation is nothing short of miraculous:
We all have a bucket list of cars that we would like to own over our lifetime. One that has perpetually been on my list is the Mercedes R107 SL, specifically, one of the later models like this 1987 560SL for sale in New Jersey. When I was growing up, a neighbor had a 560SL just like this one and I was always enamored with it, dreaming of the day that I would someday own a Mercedes. Even though the design was well over a decade old at the time, it was still a vehicle that commanded respect with its presence. After owning two C classes for a period of ten years, I’ve gotten a bit of the Mercedes bug out of my system, especially in light of some of the new models that are, in my opinion, a bit overstyled. So I sit here, still dreaming of the day I will finally snag my R107.
With gas prices on the rise again, consumers are once again turning their eye to more fuel efficient vehicles. Some people prefer the hybrid or electric route, but for me, I’ve always been a fan of the tried and true diesel engine. Mercedes-Benz was a pioneer in diesel powered passenger vehicles, with their first model, the 260D, appearing at the Berlin Motor Show in 1936. Fifty years on, and we find this car, the W201 190D with a 2.5 liter inline-5 diesel. The W201 was still rather new in the lineup for 1986, but with a diesel offering, it catered towards those who had grown to love the oil burners from Stuttgart. This example for sale in Texas appears well cared for and comes equipped with a 5-speed manual gearbox, helping to make the most of its 94 horsepower.
We’ve seen before many times that the devil is in the details with the pre-merger AMG modified cars. Like Faberge eggs, they can look the part without actually being a real AMG modified car; but unlike the Faberge art the details of all of the early cars is not particularly well known or documented. So here is a fairly desirable, very clean W124 300CE – already a sought after car, especially with lower miles. Tack on the awesome looking AMG bits and you have one really great looking, desirable package. Despite this, it’s not likely authentic. There’s a line that it was factory equipped with the AMG body kit and sport suspension, and indeed if you scroll through the pictures there are the AMG-spec springs. Outside the AMG-spec body kit is one of the best looking available and really sharpens the lines of the W124 into a more aggressive stance. But is it a real AMG?