Last week I looked at a 2008 Mercedes-Benz S550 with little over 2,700 miles on it and quite honestly, wasn’t all that impressed. Maybe because it was a modern car that was only 10 years old, but the low miles didn’t really blow me away all that much. Today, we have a 1985 380SL that has just 1,500 miles on it. That’s it, exactly 1,500. I don’t know why or how this car only managed 1,500 miles, but that’s what I’m seeing. The problem is, like the S550 from last week, this car just isn’t doing it for me.
Tag: Roadster
Future.
That’s what the “Z” in the roadster/coupe lineup of BMW stands for, and it’s hard not to look at the 1990 BMW Z1 and not see a futuristic Roadster. Based upon, and sold alongside, the E30 BMW, the underpinnings weren’t revolutionary, but the shape sure was. Highlighted by its resin body with guillotine doors, roughly 8,000 of these unique visions of the future were produced by BMW. So thorough was the exterior change, little connection of the E30 base can immediately be seen. Never officially imported to the United States, there are nonetheless several cruising around (by cruising around, I mean mostly being offered for sale for outrageous prices). Today’s signature Urgrün (Original Green) Z1 has only 10,500 miles since new, so is this one equally unaffordable?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 BMW Z1 on eBay
1 CommentFresh off last weeks bit of random Mercedes-Benz facts about the 1990 300E that came in both a 2.8 and 3.2 liter, I’m back again with some information that might be useful every once in a blue moon. From 1990 to 1993, you could purchase a 300SL with a dogleg 5-speed manual gearbox. Yes, the same dogleg from the 190E 2.3-16v cars. You might think this is the best news ever, but not so fast. This gearbox in this car has often be described as sloppy at best and really isn’t an enjoyable experience. The throws are long and vague, with any hope of fast gear changes being wishful at best. Rumor has it that there were only 166 examples of these 5-speed cars bought to North America which make this a pretty rare car to say the least. But if no one wants it, does this make it valuable?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300SL on eBay
6 CommentsI am not going to say the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is forgotten, but it’s not exactly the first or even 10th car that pops into your mind when someone says ”Supercar.” The SLR isn’t a bad car at all, but rather it gets lost in the admittedly small sea of supercars from the 2000s and on. The performance numbers are good with a 0-60 mph time in the mid-to-low 3 second range and a 0-100 mph run in 7.5 seconds. Mercedes put out the standard coupe as well as some special editions over the eight year production run that gained a little notoriety but today I wanted to look at the SLR Roadster. Normally when you take a supercar and try to make it into a roadster, some of the original design language gets washed away simply because things need to happen to actually make the roof come off and keep the car up to same standard. I think the SLR Roadster did an excellent job of keeping this car as true to the coupe design as possible. Let me explain why.