[V8] W123 addiction!

[Roger Woodbury]

Before she is awoke I prowled around the eBay listings for 300 series
Mercedes.  I set my screen for model years 1981 to 1991 to see what was
there.  We have discussed that very nice W126 that failed to meet reserve at
$8300 a couple of days ago, and I wanted to see whatever else was around.
These nice, heavy panzer like cars are getting more and more scarce.

This morning there was a bumper crop, and I was so excited I just had to
write this.  The more new cars I see the more these cars appeal to me.  The
build quality of one of these cars make the new cars being foisted onto an
uninformed public look cheaper than the little toy Japanese cars that were
brought in to this country for little boys like me to play with in 1949.  In
terms of value received, there are very few cars on the road that are the
equal to one of these old Mercedes.  Try as I might to resist, I am still
seduced by the idea of having another one.  Here is this morning's crop of
winners...if only I had the money and time and energy to travel around the
country to see them all!

The first one that I saw was a 1982 300TD-Turbo.  This is the station wagon
variant and this one is located in Texas.  The owner's tale of woe implies
that he can't afford to keep it and in this economy I believe anyone's tale
of woe.  136,000 miles or so and very clean, at least in the pictures.  He's
got a Buy It Now with offers auction and entry level is twelve grand. I
doubt that he is going to sell this thing, unless he'll take around seven
grand for it, but I'll watch the auction.  I wouldn't be a buyer for this
because we already have Michele's 100 Avant which is pretty much bullet
proof and maintained to be that way. Still, I love the Mercedes wagon and
have always wanted one.  Maybe if we lived in North Carolina I'd be
interested.  You could drive this year round there easily.

Next is the 1991 300SD that's in Philly.  The auction is going to end today,
and I am interested in seeing how this comes out. I don't think this car
will sell either.  The car shows extremely well in the pictures except I
think there is something off in the digital camera as the red doesn't really
look like Mercedes burgundy.  The car has a black leather interior, and I
think this car might have been specially ordered because I have never seen
this color combination on ANY Mercedes unless it was. Something about Red
and Black that the Germans don't want to do, it seems.  Anyway, this car
really fascinates me.  I absolutely LOVE the six cylinder diesel, and had an
'87 300D that had this engine for a brief period....I bought it thinking I
might keep it, but found afterward that it had been hit HARD in the left
side. The body work was good, but it scared me.  I have learned a lot since
that time.  Anyway, the six cylinder engine didn't have a long life in the
market and had a lot of early teething troubles, mostly involving thermal
reactors.  I think the warranty on those is still in effect for all of these
engines ever produced.  This car won't sell either. The seller is asking for
offers with a start of twelve grand, and I think this might be a very nice
buy at around ten grand.  Bet it doesn't sell.  79,000 miles.

By the way, I set my screen to rule out any car with more than 100,000
miles.  I make exceptions for station wagons, but basically if a used car
that I look at has more than 100k on the clock, I move right by. The reason
is that to my experience a one owner car might accumulate almost 100k, and a
two owner car certainly will.  In that mileage, there is at least an even
chance that the car has been well maintained and therefore the after sale
maintenance update (and there will ALWAYS be more than you think), will not
spoil the sale value.  At least that is the philosophy.


Another one of those cars that I have always wanted ever since they came out
is a 300CD...hard to use these terms together, but a sexy 123 coupe.  Always
wanted one, and probably will never have one.  But this morning out in
Caleeforeeeah is this pretty amazing looking 1982 CD with 87,000 miles.
This car may or may not be as good as it looks but the guy selling it has
tried to do everything conceivably to make it so.  The enormous number of
pictures were taken in the soft early morning light overlooking the Pacific.
The car has been repainted and looks well done, and the interior is as near
perfect as it can be.  The asking price is in the seventeen grand range,
which is a fantasy, but these cars do commonly bring into the low teens, so
this one would be out of my price range under any circumstance. Still and
all it is really, really nice. Graphite over black, and even the wheel lugs
are chromed which is a detail that this guy got, and which an awful lot of
sellers miss.  

Now, assuming that I was shopping for wheels and was spending all that money
which I don't have to travel around to see all the likely candidates out in
Seattle is a very nice '84 SD that has a bit more miles than my screen, but
according to the seller the car was sold to him my the daughter of the
original owner who has left this mortal coil.  Could be.  Nice car in that
rather now booring gold over Palomino tex, but very clean, and it might be a
very good acquisition for a life long Mercedes.  Those horrid lights would
have to be swapped out for true Euro headlights of course, but with an Buy
It Now price of $5300 it really does show what value there may be.  

So that seemed to me to be the perfect line up to go and see, and perhaps
buy the perfect lifetime Mercedes.  Even the CD out in Arnold's paradise
would be a good acquisition IF that was the chosen one.  It's one of my
"bucket" items to travel around this country by car and see the things that
I have never seen....I've always wanted to see where Custer made his last
stand, for instance.  And I know my wife would love to make the trip and I
might be able to sneak in some car viewings while on the road and she might
not even notice.  So, I thought I had found a good mix, until my heart
stopped with the last one, which is this older 300SE in Texas.

This one is a '71 300SEL 3.5.  61,000 miles and it looks like it.  No, it's
not the bullet proof SD or CD that I do lust for, but I also love the older
cars even more.  The bidding is all the way up to $2900 with three days to
go in the auction, and I am watching this one.  Would I buy something like
this?  Oh, probably not.  I know HOW expensive these things can be, but this
is far more value than a 300SEL 6.3 would be, because a comparable 6.3 would
be at least three times as much, and MUCH more expensive by the pound to
fix.  But this one also has the euro headlights which are soooo cool that it
makes my knees weak.  (Well, almost!).

Roger

P.S.  By the way, at that wild restoration ship in Wisconsin there is an
amazingly nice '73 450SLC 3.5 for sale for cheap dollars. That's another one
of those cars that I have always wanted.