Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
You know what, maybe the weather in England isn’t so bad after all. Of course I am saying that solely because of today’s car, a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300SL up for sale in Southern England. It is finished in the rare Willow Green with a brown soft top over tan MB-Tex. What I would give if this one was left-hand drive.
I think it’s becoming pretty clear to everyone that the reality of owning a “new” car that was recently produced for a really long time is slim. Unless you own some factory diagnostic software and tools, or get really cozy with an independent shop that does, the weekend warrior at home in the garage will be a thing of the past. Even with something like an oil change requires software to reset the service intervals, and changing a battery? That literally needs to be coded to the car. No more slapping a new one in and calling it a day. Because of all this, I think the demand for relatively simple cars will grow greater and greater. A perfect example of that? Of course its a W124 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. This example up for sale in Maine is no low-mileage garage queen, but nice enough to make you think is. The thing, the price certainly reflects that.
The majority if the time I check out a Mercedes-Benz W126 it is either a 560SEL or a 300SD. For good reason though as if you wanted the ultimate luxury car short of Rolls-Royce/Bentley, you went with the 560SEL. If you wanted a car to literally last you a generation, you bought the OM617-powered 300SD. But if you wanted a compromise of both models, Mercedes gave you that option towards the end of the W126 life-span from 1988 to 1991 with the 300SE. It was the tried-and-true M103 3.0 inline-6 paired to a standard wheelbase sedan that saved you over $20,000 if you selected the 300SE for $53,000 versus the $74,000 you would have paid for the 560SEL. Now that the majority of these cars are sneaking up on 30 years-old, you don’t often see them in really nice condition. Fortunately, this example painted in the rare Willow Green up for bid in Connecticut is in really nice condition and probably won’t cost you a ton of money either.
The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a car that mystifies me. From my perspective, it’s the best looking of the Volkswagen lineup from the 1950s until the launch of the Scirocco. Like the Scirocco, it’s really just a more sedate Beetle underneath with a special body; but the looks of that alone really set the car apart. But unlike the Scirocco, which in good shape commands more money than its counterparts as witnessed by the $20,000 example from last week, the Karmann Ghia remains fairly affordable in comparison to the top-tier air-cooled models. If aliens landed with a lineup of a Mercedes-Benz 190SL, a early Porsche 356 and a Karmann Ghia next to each other, you’d have a hard time explaining to them why the Volkswagen was only worth a fraction of what the other two currently are. Yet here it is, a clean and classic Volkswagen coupe with lower miles in great condition for under $17,000:
Have you ever fallen in love with a car instantly? Is it sometimes completely irrational? I am somewhat ashamed to admit I let out a low sigh accompanied by an “Oh, man!” when I first came across this 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SE. Perhaps my wife is too accustomed to me doing so, because she didn’t even direct her stare in my direction – instead simply saying “What now?” Expecting to see some exotic Ferrari or Lamborghini, it was instead a rather boring looking Mercedes-Benz. And it was green. Really, really green. She also emitted a low sigh, but coupled it instead with an “Ugh!” That, however, did not dissuade me. I continued to stare at this Euro-spec W126, thinking that all should have come in short wheel base configuration, in Willow Green, and with green cloth interiors:
