[V8] re SLC

[Ingo Rautenberg]

I suggest you submit this story to Car and Driver or Autoweek with a  
few photos :-)

Great story, Shayne!

On Jul 14, 2006, at 2:34 AM, quattro + 5 or 8 = fun wrote:

> WOW, you guys bring back the memories.  My first car was a 1972  
> Mercedes 280
> SEL.  I bought it when  I was 15 1/2.  I did not even have my  
> license.  I
> just fell in love with it.  I am now 31.  When I was 15 1/2 the  
> Eagle Talon
> was the HOT car.  But I just wanted that Mercedes.  It had about  
> 180K miles
> on it.  Amazingly, I kept it running.  My dad redid the interior  
> for my 17th
> birthday.  Leather from Italy, perforated in German, sewn in  
> Spokane WA.  He
> spent $5,000 on the interior.  He made fun of me for owning a car  
> that was
> always needing work.  For two winters, I drove it to college without a
> heater.  And, if you have ever experienced a Spokane winter, THEY  
> SUCK.  I
> had to roll down the windows to keep it from fogging up inside.  I  
> started
> dating this girl who lived 3 hours away.  I would work like crazy  
> just to
> buy premium unleaded to go visit her.  I barrowed a 1980's boom box  
> for
> tunes as the old Becker was dead.  Just after 220K miles, the  
> tranny went
> down.  I thought my life was over.  I was about 18 when that  
> happened.  My
> dad came through again.  He bought me a BRAND NEW tranny.  I could not
> believe it.  He still made fun of me.  Then, about 3,000 miles  
> later, the
> timing chain went through the valve cover.  I was devastated.   
> AGAIN, my dad
> came through.  He bought the motor.  I was lucky enough to find a grey
> market 4.5 and get it in the car.  Turns out, it had about 55 more  
> HP then
> the stock engine.  OH YEA!!!!  He still laughed at me.  Shortly  
> after the
> new engine was installed, I decided to drive 1200 miles to Denver  
> to give
> the car a "shake down".  I did it in 12 hours FLAT.  The speedo  
> recorded a
> 152 top speed.  This was back in the day when Montana was "safe and
> prudent".  Or, when you are 18, driving a 23 year old car with an  
> original
> suspension 15" tires and old brakes, that meant balls to the wall  
> as fast as
> the damn thing can go.  Yeah, the exhaust manifolds glowed.  Yeah,  
> it was
> 115 degrees out.  Yeah, I passed a cop doing 135.  But who cares!?   
> I was
> 18, had a Benz and was unstoppable!  I continued to be senseless,  
> driving it
> into the winter with 300 pounds of sand in the trunk.  I did this  
> routine
> until 1998 when the car was hit.  It had 330K +/- on it.  I tried  
> to sell
> the car over and over again.  But, who wanted a beat up nearly 30  
> year old
> car that barely ran?  Thankfully, I came to my senses.  I still  
> have it.  I
> am NEARLY done with a 40K$ restoration.  I have a custom suspension  
> that I
> designed and built.  It has a new paint job.  Not concourse, but  
> VERY nice.
> I have about 2 weeks of solid work left on it.  Yes, it has a ton  
> of miles.
> But, it is has CLASS, CLASS AND MORE CLASS.  It will hit 70 MPH in  
> first
> gear, roast a Camaro Z-28 from 60-120, sounds AMAZING with a dual 2.5"
> exhaust and most importantly got me to and from the girl who is now  
> my wife.
> I will die in that car.  Oh, my dad still makes fun of me but I now  
> know he
> secretly loves the car.
>
> I plan to drive her again this summer or early fall.
>
> What a car...what a car.
>
>
> BTW, I also plan to install the ABZ 4.2 in my 5 speed this summer.   
> YEEEEEE
> HAAAAAAAAAAA!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Shayne
>
>
> PARTING:  1972 Mercedes Benz 280 SE 4.5
> PARTING:  1986 Audi 4000 CS quattro
>
>
>> From: Ed Kellock <ekellock at gmail.com>
>> Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:10:44 -0600
>> To: <v8 at audifans.com>
>> Subject: Re: [V8] re SLC
>>
>> I may never get over the 1973 450sl until I own one.  The gated  
>> shifter in
>> it is directly responsible for my first interest in the Audi V8.   
>> I had
>> never seen that configuration in any other type of car before.   
>> And it
>> also had a V8.
>>
>> When I was 10 my mom bought a '73 450SL brand new after my  
>> grandfather
>> passed away.  We (mom, dad, me, sister) bugged the dealer for over  
>> 6 months
>> before she ordered one.  Then she got impatient and had them find her
>> another one that could be had sooner.  I'll never forget the drive  
>> home with
>> her that night.  I was mesmerized.  My father and sister followed  
>> in our '69
>> Plymouth Fury III.  It was silver green metallic with green MB Tex  
>> interior,
>> black soft top, no alloy wheels.
>>
>> From them until '86 or so when Mom sold it and I was not able to  
>> afford it,
>> I dreamed of the day I would own it, drive it, and continue to  
>> care for it
>> as I had for the 13 years we had it.  It had 86k miles then.
>>
>> I was never officially allowed to drive it and was caught red  
>> handed only
>> once, but I did get my seat time.  My first time ever driving a  
>> car was in
>> it when I was 14, before my parents probably ever even anticipated  
>> the
>> concept of a teen driver.  They still don't know that I snuck it  
>> out of the
>> garage one night at 3am, all carefully planned and executed.  I  
>> drove it
>> around for over half an hour before returning it to the garage and  
>> going
>> back to bed.
>>
>> I know by today's standards it's not that special, but I still  
>> love the look
>> of the pre-'74 small-bumper cars.  To my eye, the silver green is  
>> the best
>> color.  I really liked the SLC, still do, we considered one a  
>> couple years
>> later when we decided to ditch the Fury for another Benz.  Instead  
>> we got a
>> Harvest Beige 1973 280.  That I was allowed to drive and had my  
>> 1st two
>> accidents in, both very minor.
>>
>> I still have the metal vin plate from the 450 and the original  
>> bill of
>> sale.  In '86 it went to a doctor in Toronto.  I mailed him a  
>> letter and he
>> mailed back offering to let me buy it for 18k because he had put  
>> some money
>> into it.  We sold it for 12k.  I would like to find it.  I think  
>> I'd be
>> incapable of not buying it unless it was thoroughly trashed.
>>
>> 0-60 in 10 seconds, in 1st gear all the way.  Leave the gear  
>> selector in S
>> and at 50 mph, floor the accelerator enough to punch the kick-down  
>> button,
>> and it will drop into 1st.  Fantastic feeling and sound.  No  
>> Ferrari and no
>> Audi V8, but I'll never get over it.  Until I own one maybe.
>>
>> I still have Instamatic photos of every single new Mercedes on the  
>> lot from
>> those dealer visits.  I also used to ride my bike around the  
>> neighborhoods
>> near our house at Edwards AFB and catalog all the Mercedes I could  
>> find.
>
>>>
>>> ... funny Ed, the longer I know you the more I realize that we're  
>>> cut from
>>> very similar cloth ...
>>>
>>> I have to admit, a '74 450 SLC was the first (and only) MBZ I ever
>>> drove.  In fact it was very likely the first non-murkin car I  
>>> drove.  There
>>> were three things that hooked me on the SLC ... I loved how flat  
>>> the car
>>> stayed in hard cornering (compared to what I was used to) ... I  
>>> appreciated
>>> the slushbox that would also downshift on deceleration ... and I  
>>> really like
>>> the lines and scale of the car.  To some respects the SL with the  
>>> hard top
>>> installed (how often do you see that?) is a bit short and abrupt  
>>> for my
>>> taste ... although I like the concave top ...
>>>
>>> ... and if I'm going for an "SL" ... I'll take it as an ur-300SL  
>>> thank you
>>> very much!
>>>
>>> Steve B
>>> San José, CA (USA)
>>>>
>>>> The ugly comments are merely subjective.  I like them, but not  
>>>> enough to
>>> own
>>>> one.  When I get one it'll be the SL.
> !
>
>
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