Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: M100

This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.

Roll the Dice? 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3

Roll the Dice? 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3

Published December 21, 2016 by Andrew

Every time I see a car that is usually expensive, selling for a price that is inexplicably inexpensive, the gears in my head start turning. Could I buy this one on the cheap, fix it up and perhaps not lose money on it? Better yet – could I buy it, not do a thing, let it sit and probably not lose money on it? Thank goodness I physically can’t fit another vehicle in my garages and driveway because when I see cars like today’s, those damn gears start moving.

The W109 300SEL 6.3 has quickly become a collector car that everyone in the Mercedes circles are rushing to snag up. Prices have been going up at an alarming rate thanks to folks like Jay Leno proclaiming his love for it.  I understand where he’s coming from because the 6.3, in my opinion, is one of the finest sedans Mercedes has ever made. It’s also generally considered one of the first “super sedans” – the prototype for not only later AMG models, but cars like the M5. Sticking the M100 V8 into the handsome W109 body and building it to a standard of above average durability and reliability made this car a winner the day it left the factory. The only problem was all the greatness is that it costs a lot of money upfront and even more to maintain at a reasonable level. This is where some solid math skills and judging your mechanical ability come into play when deciding whether to take the plunge on a project like this 1969 6.3 up for bid in Eastern, Pennsylvania.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 on eBay

Read Our PostRoll the Dice? 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
1 Comment
1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3

1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3

Published August 6, 2016 by Andrew

g1

There is a reason why Jay Leno calls the W109 6.3 his favorite Mercedes-Benz. It’s a classic Mercedes design both inside and out then finished off with the M100 6.3 liter V8 that still holds it own with modern cars. It’s what a Mercedes-Benz should be. Don’t get me wrong, I love the new super AMG cars that have 650 horsepower and can drive themselves down the road, but you can get that from any brand now. In 1969, this was the car if you wanted a European super sedan. Not to mention you paid for it too at over $14,000, which was only a few thousand less than a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. But the Silver Shadow didn’t compare to the 6.3 in terms of power, build quality and reliability. That’s why this car still has a huge following and even higher demand to this day. So let’s check out this 1969 for sale in Massachusetts.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 on eBay

Read Our Post1969 Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
3 Comments
1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9

1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9

Published July 6, 2016 by Craig

1The 450SEL 6.9 was the top of the range, high performance version of the W116 S-class, produced between 1975 and 1981. To make it, Mercedes took an ordinary W116 and shoehorned the largest V8 into its engine bay that they could find: a mammoth 6.9 liter unit making 250 hp and 360 ft-lb of torque in US spec. They then added a sophisticated hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system that gave these cars a dual personality. On ordinary roads they had a magic carpet-like ride that would soak up bumps in a manner entirely befitting a W116, while on the track they would handle far more nimbly and capably than their size would have led you to believe. The result was an early luxury super sedan; a 70s incarnation of today’s souped up AMG S-classes. But unlike their modern counterparts, on the outside the 6.9s didn’t look any different to the rest of the W116 lineup. Distinguished only by a discreet “6.9” badge on the trunk lid, the understated menace of these cars meant they quickly found favor among the sorts of people who wanted to go very fast and had lots of money, but didn’t always want you to know just how much money they had. Driven by Hollywood moguls, gangsters and foreign dictators alike, these cars were expensive, fast and technologically advanced.

Jumping forward to today, these cars have rather languished on the classic car market. You can still find tired examples on Craigslist costing only a few thousand dollars, often resting on their emergency bump stops as a result of failed suspension, with faded paint and sad interiors. Lately however, nice 6.9s appear to be climbing in value, with more and more nice condition examples coming to market with large price tags attached. And that leads me to today’s car.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 on eBay

Read Our Post1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9
5 Comments
Elvis Presley’s 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600

Elvis Presley’s 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600

Published June 25, 2015 by Carter

(lights lift slowly over a sole figure on stage, the band strikes up the first notes to the familiar tune Jailhouse Rock. The singer breaks into verse…)

“Seller threw an auction up on eBay’s site
He was hopin’ that the listing got his price just right
He thought that the famous owner would take bidding far
‘Cause that giant Mercedes-Benz was Elvis’ car

Let’s bid, everybody let’s bid
Anyone who remembers who Elvis was
Will want to get in his old cars…”

I was going to make a concerted effort to write this entire post without referencing either a Twinkie or the signature catch phrase “Thank you, thank you very much”, but I’ve just failed. Look, I’m not here to give you a history lesson on Elvis or his importance. I’m not here to recount the leather jump-suited Vegas years, whether I like fat old Elvis or young vibrant Elvis, or even debate if he stole music from African Americans. I’m not going to give you a history lesson on the Mercedes-Benz 600, either. But let’s consider a few things about this car. The 600 was expensive. Really, really expensive. Arguably, in the late 1960s it was the nicest car that money could buy, and since it took a lot of money to buy, some really famous people owned them. Only about 2,600 were made, mostly in short wheel base variants like the one that Elvis bought. We learn he put $5,500 down and yet still had 36 monthly payments of $344. That equates to $17,844 in 1969; a figure which doesn’t seem particularly outrageous today and even inflation corrected it’s “only” about $116,000. But it was far more expensive than your average car, and it took near royalty to get into the 600. You needed to be someone like Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, or…well, Elvis to buy one. And if you weren’t an A-list celebrity , you were probably a dictator; Chairman Mao, for example, was a famous owner, along with Tito, Ceausescu, Pol Pot, Papa Doc, Hirihito, de Klerk, Marcos, Kim Jong-il, and Saddam Hussein. Basically, you go through history, and everyone the West considers a “baddy” owned a Mercedes-Benz 600. But, universally they’re still lauded as one of the most impressive automobiles ever made, and when you couple a celebrity owner (which, proportionally, is perhaps more likely than any other single model car in history other than some really low-volume models of Ferraris and Duesenbergs) you’ve got a recipe for a high asking price:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 on eBay

Read Our PostElvis Presley’s 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600
4 Comments
S-Classic Showdown: 1979 300SD v. 1977 450SEL 6.9

S-Classic Showdown: 1979 300SD v. 1977 450SEL 6.9

Published June 17, 2015 by Carter

For some time, the W116 has been stuck in no man’s land value wise; not as new or attractive as the W126 that replaced it, and not as classic a design as the W108 series had been. It’s not that it’s an unattractive car at all, but unfortunately it’s bookended by arguably better looking models and unfortunately – outside of some real stunners – the value of Mercedes-Benz sedans falls below coupes and convertibles. For a classic Mercedes-Benz enthusiast on a budget, then, the W116 offers a lot of vintage Mercedes-Benz build quality and longevity on a budget. There are plenty to choose from, too – lest we not forget this is a S-Class Mercedes, so the price was stratospheric when new and even lightly used. Option out a 6.9 to the tune of around $50,000 in 1980, and you’d have the equivalent buying power of nearly triple that amount today – roughly $143,500 in 2015 money. And they were laden with top-end technology for the time; recently I covered a series of Volkswagen Rabbits, where everything outside of the tires was an optional extra. In the S-Class, you had electric nearly everything, electronic climate control and in the case of the 6.9 you threw in hydropneumatic suspension. These were, and still are, impressive vehicles, many of which were maintained to a high level yet are available for a fraction of their original investment. Today I’m taking a look at the slowest and fastest of the bunch – a 300SD and a 450SEL 6.9. Which is the classic S-Class that woos you?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300SD on eBay

Read Our PostS-Classic Showdown: 1979 300SD v. 1977 450SEL 6.9
Comments closed