Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The Mercedes-Benz 560SEC quickly went from another used, old Mercedes to a modern classic that everyone suddenly wants. Yes, the W126 coupes have always been more desirable than the sedans but recently a huge demand gap has grown between the two. Finding a coupe for sale at typical well-used Mercedes prices is rare or when you do find a really nice one, be prepared to shell out a lot of money. The latter is the case today for this 1991 offered for sale in California.
Put down your pitchforks and extinguish your torches, that’s not needed today for this Frankenstein creation. What is needed is a little bit of perspective and thought beyond what you initially see – a bagged car with a wild color wrap and bolt on fender flairs. Normally these things would be off-putting to most enthusiasts, but are the bones of this build sound? Let’s take a look at this W202 AMG for sale in California.
Black, white, silver or gray. Google search ‘CL63 AMG’ then click the images tab and that’s all you’ll see on these cars. (Ignore that red one. What was that guy even thinking?) I mean I get it, those are the colors that sell. I’m guilty of it. My AMG is silver because 97% of my cars produced were either black, white or silver. German cars are serious, and the buyers of their cars are too. The German models that aren’t so serious (Porsche 911) has every color in the rainbow and people go wild for that (but still usually still buy black, silver, white or gray).
But just because these are serious cars doesn’t mean we can’t venture off into other colors that aren’t on the scale between between black and white. Navy blue is a wonderful color that isn’t in your face. How about a nice darker green? Specifically, how about Jade Green Metallic? We are in luck because that’s exactly what the 2008 CL63 AMG for sale on Long Island, New York is.
There are few things that fit together better than a W140 Mercedes with AMG Monoblock wheels. Just like the car, the wheels are big and flat. There are no thin lines, no 18 different curved spokes with fake bolts – just wide but simple 5-spoke wheels. I’d really like to own this combination, but I’d certainly have an aneurysm from my passengers slamming the doors like it’s a 1987 Ford F150 with the word ‘FARM’ spray painted across the tailgate no matter how many times I tell them they are soft-close. If you have friends that take direction better than mine, then you are in luck with this 1999 S500 for sale in San Diego, California.
To all our American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! To all our readers outside the United States, sorry you have to work today but hopefully today’s car makes up for it. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was the spiritual successor to the legendary 300SL that was produced from 1954 to 1963, mainly because of it’s distinctive gullwing doors and blistering performance. When the SLS launched in 2010 it not only wowed people with its design but with it’s power that launched this car to 60 mph in the mid-three second range.
Of course like the original 300SL, a roadster would soon follow for the SLS, which is what today’s car in California is. I like to think of the roadster versions of the 300SL and SLS like when Michael Jordan quit basketball and went to play minor league baseball. Jordan built his legacy and fame in basketball so much that you literally had tens of thousands of people following him around just to watch him strike out in Birmingham, Alabama. That’s what happened with these cars – you take away the gullwing doors and it’s just another Mercedes roadster, just like Jordan was just another minor league baseball player. But it’s the past reputation, along with how great a driver’s car they were in the first place, that kept these models in demand and values on par with the original. Go check out values for a 300SL Roadster, they are usually in the $1,000,000 to $1,400,000 range, right where the gullwing cars are. The same is happening with the SLS, with the Roadster prices side by side with comparable Gullwing cars. Logic would say the whole point of this car was the doors and it would carry a premium over the Roadster, but I think that would be true if Mercedes-Benz mailed it in on the rest of the car — which they clearly didn’t.
