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Edit 6/13/2017: the ABC Exclusive replica 560 SEC is back on a no reserve auction for a $15,000 starting bid. Click HERE!
Coupe versions of the Mercedes-Benz W126 chassis are popular fodder for these pages, and in particular we love to look at some period modified versions. Just last week Craig looked at a 1989 560SEC with period AMG bits, though that car was not an originally modified car. Today I have a comparison of two different directions modifications took in the 1980s on the C126, and in many ways it is a commentary on both how to properly present a car and…well, how not to. Whether these cars are to your taste is another matter, but we can certainly see the divergence in style pretty quickly. Which one is the winner? Let’s take a look at the European specification AMG model first:
Though they may not generate the gasps and pleasure groans of the RS models Craig and Andrew wrote up last week among enthusiasts outside of the brand, classic Audi fans in the U.S. still regard the original S4 and S6 one of the best models produced by the company. Indeed the S6 Avant has gained notoriety as a “Holy Grail” for fans of the marque here, as it offered the ultimate development of the C4 chassis and inline-5 coupled to analogue all-wheel drive offered in this market. Only a few hundred of these wagons made it here, increasing the mystique and desirability of the package. Both of today’s examples are presented in the defacto signature color of the C4, Emerald Green Mica (Smaragdgruen Pearl) with Ecru leather and both have been turned up a notch from stock. The first example has all the wizz-bang completed, while the second has been maintained and is ready for further upgrades. Which is the one you’d like?
Tuner Tuesday posts usually focus on cars that have been turned up a few notches by aftermarket companies, but for some time Mercedes-Benz did all the magic internally. Indeed, if you go back to the 1920s and 1930s, Mercedes-Benz had a habit of taking the largest motor they could reliably produce and sticking it in their luxury cars. Such was where the legend of the 500 and 540K specials came from, but while the War postponed many further developments Mercedes-Benz were back at it in the W109 300SEL 6.3. Apparently not satisfied by that factory hot rod, engineers conceived its replacement with an even larger 6.9 liter V8 – mind you, in the midst of an international fuel crisis. Churning out 286 horsepower from the now legendary M100 V8, the 450SEL 6.9 was effectively a land-bound aircraft carrier and about as powerful. Long ignored by the market, the 6.9s have heated up over the past few years as large classic Mercedes-Benz models have become increasingly sought after and the rare 450SEL with the big motor is a solid draw. Today I have two examples to consider – a desirable European version and a less powerful and not quite as attractive American-spec car. Which is the one to choose?
Here’s something a little different for Tuner Tuesday! Last July and September respectively I wrote up two terribly expensive and terribly tuned 911 convertibles. The first was a Strosek 911 Turbo S Speedster back in July, and the second was a 1977 911 Targa that was converted into a 993-bodied turbo cabriolet that was simply marvelous if you believed the interior. In a not particularly surprising development, both are back up for sale having had no takers the first time around. The question I pose to our readers is which is a better (or worse?) deal? I’ve put my original posts below starting with the 1977 and I wasn’t particularly complimentary to either, but let me know in the comments which is really “what not to wear”?
The below post originally appeared on our site September 1, 2015:
I have been enjoying my jaunt through the world of classic 911s looking at examples of the 911SC and 3.2 Carrera. We’ve seen a few nice, and reasonably priced, Targas, a couple very nice Coupes, and a very pretty Carrera Cabriolet. That last model will take our focus in this post as we look at examples from both the beginning and end of the 3.2 Carrera’s model run. 1983, the last year of 911SC production, was the first year Porsche produced a 911 Cabriolet and since there was only one year for those models, it is to the 3.2 Carrera that we typically must turn when looking for the combination of a fully-open cockpit with that classic 911 design. I wouldn’t classify the two we see here as especially rare colors since each is more a subtle variant of a common color, but the color combinations are not ones that we come across very frequently. Those combinations definitely bring with them an extra level of scarcity with these. We will begin with the example from the first year of 3.2 Carrera production, a Slate Blue Metallic 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet located in California with Grey Beige leather interior and 48,133 miles on it.
