No subject

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 loo=
k
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.

Ed


On 7/12/06, Buchholz, Steven <Steven.Buchholz at kla-tencor.com> wrote:
>
> ... funny Ed, the longer I know you the more I realize that we're cut fro=
m
> 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.  The=
re
> 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 appreciat=
ed
> the slushbox that would also downshift on deceleration ... and I really l=
ike
> the lines and scale of the car.  To some respects the SL with the hard to=
p
> 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 yo=
u
> very much!
>
> Steve B
> San Jos=E9, CA (USA)
> >
> > The ugly comments are merely subjective.  I like them, but not enough t=
o
> own
> > one.  When I get one it'll be the SL.
>