Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Last week I checked out a really interesting 2001 Mercedes-Benz CLK55 AMG that was one of the better W208 AMG cars, but I still thought didn’t hold up to the brother W210 E55 AMG. I just thought it lacked a few things and I’m not just cherry picking little things, Mercedes really did short the CLK55 with equipment and less power. Today, I thought I’d check out the next generation, the C209, to see if anything improved and if they were on par with the W211 E55. Sad news, they were not.
Update 8/2/18: This car listed as sold at $95,400
Here we have a Polar Silver Metallic 1991 Porsche 911 Turbo, located in Oregon, with Black interior and 73,940 miles on it. We don’t see the 964 Turbo come around for sale all that frequently, at least not compared with its longer lived predecessor the 930, but for whatever reason I’ve been seeing some nicer ones pop up for sale lately, one of which appears to have sold quite a bit more quickly than I’d have expected. There are a few up on eBay right now, including the very pretty and gradually becoming less expensive Coral Red Metallic example I posted a year ago, but I chose this one for a couple of reasons.
First, I think Polar Silver looks fantastic on the 964 in general and especially the 964 Turbo. Silver isn’t typically a color I prefer on most cars, but Polar Silver is an excellent variant of the color and it just works on the 964. I don’t know why, it just does. I also like that this one has a few modifications that should make it just that extra bit more fun to drive. Obviously, how much appeal that work has will vary by buyer, but fun is fun and more power generally is more fun. So why not?
I’m ready to declare that the W210 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG has stepped into collectibility territory. Full disclosure, I own one of these so take it how you want, but the recent sale prices have been telling the story. Over the past year, auction results for clean, nice condition E55s have been producing prices that have surprised me just a little. For the past five to eight years, you could pick a decent W210 E55 for $7,000-9,000 and have a nice example. If you wanted a rusty one with a bunch of issues, $5,000 would put one in your driveway. Now, those $9,000 examples are $13,000-$15,000 and the really prime cars with low miles are reaching the high-teens and maybe even $20,000. Sure, you can still find those rusty $5,000 ones if you look hard enough, but I just don’t think there will be any appreciation on those because once the rust starts on a W210, it never ends. I guess this makes sense in the grand scheme of things because we’ve been seeing price cycles like this for years with W201 190E-16vs, W124 500Es and on the BMW side with the E39 M5 and of course the E30 M3. Remember when you could get one of those for $8,000?
Today’s car, a 1999 E55 AMG up for sale in Canada, brings a little bit of a unique situation. First being it is a Canadian-spec car so there are some minor changes from the US cars and second being that it’s a 1999 which means this is the rare, one-year only, pre-facelift car. That means a different gauge cluster, steering wheel, body work, transmission setup, taillights and radio. For some the one-year status might mean increased scarcity, but I doubt you’ll find a lot of people wanting a 1999 over a 2000-2002 because of all the upgrades the facelifted cars received. That doesn’t matter all that much today because this car is in outstanding condition and is set to probably bring a nice, fat number once the auction ends.
We talk a lot about period specific and period correct cars around here and this 1978 Porsche 928 seems to fit that bill just about as much as possible. While I’ve said frequently that I think the 928 design still looks great today, we wouldn’t confuse one with a modern car. It has pop-up headlights and is a bit more pointy than it is round, neither of which we see much on today’s designs. But really it is the colors of this one that plant it firmly in the ’70s. The exterior is said to be Apple Green Metallic and the interior is Brown with pasha seat inserts. I’m not at all familiar with Apple Green Metallic on a Porsche so I’m not sure if this is its original color or not, but the interior is one that we’ve seen before from this period. It’s wild and the contrast with the metallic green exterior certainly is pronounced. I cannot imagine any manufacturer would offer such a combination today, nor am I sure anyone would buy it, but it certainly makes for an interesting looking 928!
Yesterday I checked out an absolutely pristine 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL and it got that way by no accident. It was a total restoration down to the bare metal, including the engine, then rebuilt over a three-year period. As a result, the car carried a mega price tag of $259,000. Worth it? If you wanted a brand new Pagoda, yes. Personally I think I’d be thrilled with a W113 for half that price, but some people want it all and they pay for it. Today, I wanted to rewind the clock another 10 years back to the 190SL. Just like the Pagoda, this 1960 was totally stripped down and rebuilt with everything new and now looks like a brand new car. The price? Even higher than the Pagoda.
