I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)

texases

Any way to get the word out to the Gullwing collector community before you put it up for bid?

tjc78

Yeah you can never go wrong with a high reserve on Ebay. In addition to cars, I also am an avid audio guy. I look on Ebay alot for classic Marantz and the like. The popular models always end up going for high prices. Ebay seems to bring in good prices for items even when starting them off cheap.

fintail

I'll give you $10 more than you paid for it. That way you can turn a profit

Mr_Shiftright

Okay, I paid $300. :P

fintail

$310 for a full 300SL shop manual is probably a fair price

Is there a date on this book? Is it just for coupes or roadsters too?

boomchek

Probably is worth a few bucks. No harm in trying to put it on ebay and see how many hits or what sort of a response you get.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like 1956 and it's for the "type" 300SL

fintail

Yeah, MB used "type" when designating their cars. As I am sure you know, back in the day every MB came with the exploded-diagram parts manual, my fintail has one (designated "type 220SE") and my W126 had one too. But the shop manuals are less common...I think a W111 shop manual goes for a couple hundred itself. No doubt there's a gullwing owner out there who would like that book.

Mr_Shiftright

Lots of MB and Porsche stuff has been reprinted, and even looks kinda real, but finding original material is getting harder and harder---and even when you do find it, it's all greasy or torn up or mousified.

When it comes to keeping an eye out for old car books, I'm like a great white shark cruising for surfers off the California coast :P

fintail

I never have that kind of luck. My last thrift store automotive manual find was a British-made aftermarket book for a Fiat 600. It was weird enough that I had to buy it (for maybe a dollar). I have never found any books like that for cars I actually own.

ghulet

....what a 1964 Porsche 356 sales booklet (?--not owner's manual, nothing mechanical about it) in decent (good, not excellent) would go for? Dad gave it to me. :confuse:

jrosasmc

Article and the accompanying pictures made me want to lose my breakfast:

http://x17online.com/celebrities/mischa_barton/x17_xclusive_mischa_barton_gets_l- icense_back_buys_a_caddy_named_maude_runs_out_of_gas-02162010.php

The car in question is a 1970 DeVille ragtop. I like old vintage Cadillacs and it always makes me cringe when these cars end up in the wrong hands - I'm sure Lemko will attest to that as well. It's very upsetting because you know: 1) She'll never take care of the car like an enthusiast, 2) She's clueless as to how it works, and 3) It'll probably be dead within a year.

fintail

We'll get to see how that beast handles in a crash test within a year, no doubt.

Mr_Shiftright

She's getting fat

Mr_Shiftright

That would depend on condition. Collectors of old sales brochures are fussy. I'd just put it on eBay, start bidding at $15 bucks and see what happens.

boomchek

Speaking of old brochures, I bought some bookshelves for my condo storage locker so that I can take my car magazines and brochures out of the boxes they've been in for the past 2 years and organize them.

Nevertheless I was a bit overwhelmed as this excercise took my about 5 hours and I still wasn't finished as I'm trying to make an inventory of everything I have. I was fiddling around until midnight last night with all the magazines and brochures. :sick:

When I'm done I'll update exactly what I have. It crossed my mind to sell it all as one lot (I will sell all my duplicates as I have ton of them too) but I don't think I'll find someone to pay me the amount that I think will ease the pain of letting it all go. I'll take some pictures too

omarman

She's getting fat

Just so I get you right, you mean the girl is the fat one?

And the Cadillac is the one with care and feeding needs?

Help me, doc. After 11 years I'm "new" at this single thing but I'd still like a second opinion.

Spotted again on ebay: That old SCCA Mustang is back at a slightly lower starting bid and still attracting none.

If I remember the verdict on this one correctly there's not enough bits to make a viable restoration for the asking money and there's not enough history to gain admission to the racing events.

So it looks like the Mustang won't live again until the storage space becomes more valuable to the seller than all the bits and pieces.

lemko

A past girlfriend of mine had a drop-dead gorgeous white 1969 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. She was even more fanatical about it than I am with my 1989 Brougham.

The only way that car will survive in Ms Barton's hands is if she becomes my goomah. I'd hate to see a clueless celebrity wreck a beautiful car like that. If there is any good side to this story, at least that beautiful Caddy wasn't sold to Lindsey Lohan!

ghulet

Lindsay is a far scarier car owner: last car in which she was a arrested was a 600hp Mercedes SL, just what someone drunk and coked-up needs.

At least Mischa Barton has money to take care of the old Caddy, that usually helps quite a bit. And she has good taste!

boomchek

My wife was watching one of the housewives of whatever county shows, and one of the bimbos got a CLK55 AMG convertible as a gift from her boyfriend. And I think she really had no clue as to what it was, just that it was a limited edition Mercedes. :sick:

It's funny when people have these cars that will never be used to their full potential because they have no clue how to use them properly.

ghulet

that's the thing....how many horsepower does one need to drive and park badly on Wilshire or Rodeo? MB should just build a very blinged-up 300SL again (think 1990).

ghulet

though I'm betting most of the "Housewives"-types could drive it. I know nothing about the price on this rig, though:

link title

though I'm not a fan of white exteriors at all.

fintail

He's probably 20% or so high. Even if its a nice car, demand for early R129s has pretty much evaporated. A really nice early 90s car goes for about 10K now on a good day, more for later cars, especially "silver arrow" models.

Seeing those "housewives" types in performance models makes me wish such cars didn't have such good safety features...clean out the parasite gene pool a little.

Mr_Shiftright

Marcel Proust tells an interesting story of two women...one a seamtress who had but one good dress that she made herself, the other a noblewoman who had hundreds of dresses. Can you guess which one got bored first?

boomchek

The one with more bling?

Mr_Shiftright

ta-da. Proust's theory, which I think could easily apply to cars, was that only the person with *knowledge* of the object, intimate knowledge, could truly appreciate it and care for it.

andre1969

I'll admit those "Housewive" shows are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I especially liked one scene where this country chick whose trailerpark roots were showing through was at the Cadillac dealer wanting a new Escalade and screaming into her phone "Oooh, Big Poppa!! I want it I want it I want it!!" And he bought it for her on the spot, wiring the money to the dealer.

In the second season though, I think she was driving a Bentley convertible, so I dunno what happened to the Escalade.

Mr_Shiftright

Well the Escalade was so yesterday, is what happened.

The interesting thing about desire is that desire DISTORTS the object of that desire....bends the reality of it.

So, after the desire is attained, perhaps in a day, a few weeks, but sooner than later, the object boings back into its original form in front of one's eyes. Thus, one has to go out and find a new object of desire.

And then the advertising industry was born! :P

andre1969

So, after the desire is attained, perhaps in a day, a few weeks, but sooner than later, the object boings back into its original form in front of one's eyes. Thus, one has to go out and find a new object of desire.

In addition to replacing the Escalade with something she likes better, I think she did the same to Big Poppa! :P

As for distorting reality, I can attest to that a bit with the 2000 Park Ave I bought. I'm still happy with the car, but gotta admit that the car seemed a lot more attractive when the Cadillac dealer still owned it instead of me!

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, I call that the "Greasy Meatball Effect"

Ever been to a conference, wedding, etc. and there's a plate of greasy meatballs on the table that nobody is eating? As soon as two or three people start moving toward them, everybody wants them.

So maybe our desire can also be initiated by watching someone else desire the same object.

This must be genetically wired from Cave Man days but has translated into used car shopping somehow.

boomchek

I've seen it happen on the showroom floor. One person bought a car off the showroom floor, and a customer I was with saw the salespesron put a sold sign in the window, and all of a sudden they also wanted a car off the showroom floor.

That's why you have lineups in front of nightclubs even though it may be empty inside. :confuse:

british_rover

We are taking a 1991 I think 500SL in tomorrow.

Has the separate hardtop too.

boomchek

i like those old SL's.

I can't believe it's been over 20 years ago that they came out.

I can't believe that the current SL is almost a decade old!

fintail

I've seen 03 SL500 for under 20K now. Not that I would risk it.

Time flies...W140 is also almost 20 years old, W202 is not much younger, W210 has been on the road for 15 years now. I'm getting old :shades:

Early R129s amuse me with their W126 steering wheel.

explorerx4

yesterday, a late 70's blazer some rust but a lot of power, a minute later a really nice silver 90''s 300zx.
today, a new looking silver volvo 240 and a later model light blue pinto wagon showing some rust.

boomchek

I think I'd go for an older SL (R129) than a newer one. Not sure why but I just like the square crisp lines better than the cartoonish look of the current SL (R230).

fintail

I like the final run of R129, the Silver Arrow models. Some of those also were ordered with 19" monoblocks, which are extremely rare wheels. There was a 60K mile 97 500SL sport with a full option load sitting at the local Lexus dealer...but it's gone now, maybe it sold.

I know the earlier/cheaper R230 can be problematic, while maintained R129 are very solid...they are old school, designed in the 80s.

ghulet

I must admit, at this point it's a pretty boring-looking car, and the color combo doesn't help; I just like that it's a five-speed, as they're rare and probably a lot more fun. MB is/was not known for fun manual transmissions, though.

Mr_Shiftright

Modern SLs seem best at massive straight line V8 power, running a 7 speed multi-clutch, semi-automatic automatic gearbox and cruising effortlessly for hundreds of miles a day with the top down. These are not lightweight ballerinas.

fintail

Yeah the manual in that car is uncommon...but they did send over a few over back in the day, so they can be found. As you mention, it doesn't really make the car sought after - it's too big and heavy to be an enjoyable shift-yourself experience.

White on blue doesn't woo me, either. My mom had a Taurus in that color, the "government issue" car as I called it.

At that time for the Euro market, you could actually get a 5-speed in a W126...I am sure that's no fun, but it is very interesting to me, somehow.

Mr_Shiftright

I remember driving a stick-shift BMW 7 series and thinking "This is the last thing I want to do all day in this car".

fintail

I especially wouldn't want to drive something that big with a manual in a tight or congested city environment. There are some places where a slushbox is superior.

But, it would have freakshow value.

Mr_Shiftright

I've never personally enjoyed driving any large car with a manual transmission. There is something that just seems "absurd" about the entire concept. I know, it's just me, oh well.....

lemmer

How large is large?

I've driven a G35 and a BMW 5 series with manuals and found them quite enjoyable.

lemko

...white 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS with black stripes at the Wachovia Bank branch on Rising Sun Avenue near Howell in NE Philly.

andre1969

I spotted a couple cars I hadn't seen before. One of them was a '58-60 or so Rambler American 2-door, up on a lift, next to my DeSoto. It was all-red, and looked like it was in decent shape, but my mechanic said the engine was shot. It had one of those old flatheads in it. Don't you have to really abuse those to destroy 'em?

The other car was a '77-79 Dodge Diplomat wagon, in a nice, deep metallic red with a matching crushed velour interior that would do any Louisiana cathouse proud!

As for my DeSoto, it's kind of a sad sight, up on that lift. The rear end is off of it, as is the gas tank, leaf springs, and all the front suspension parts. I tried taking some pics, but it didn't really come out all that great in that somewhat dark shop. I'll try to post 'em later though.

lemko

Are you going to put an E-body rear into the car for the brake conversion? I don't remember, but did you buy a new gas tank for it at one of the Carlisle shows?

andre1969

Are you going to put an E-body rear into the car for the brake conversion? I don't remember, but did you buy a new gas tank for it at one of the Carlisle shows?

Yeah, my mechanic found a new gas tank at the Mopar Carlisle show, and got it for me. And yup, it's getting an E-body 8.75 rear-end, which has a spring perch and overall track close enough to the DeSoto's to make it work. It'll use the same 3.36:1 gearset though, which is a direct swap. For having an axle ratio that short, though, I was always impressed with the DeSoto's highway cruising. I'd think a ratio like that would make it noisy at those higher speeds, but it really didn't.

The main reason for going with the E-body rear is that it does away with those annoying rear brake drums that you have to use a special wheel puller to get off.

Mr_Shiftright

5 series is just about pushin' it for my tolerance level. BMW might get away with it because they can make a big car feel small inside :P

fintail

Good use of the word "antique"

Has to be the best one of these left

"Designer" special trim never turns out right

They don't come any bigger or browner

Almost new, but old

Odd hauler

Cheese grater

K-car bling

Surprising bids

Little racer

Early Diplomat

Low miles and it rotted anyway

Big money for big fins

Bulldog

Chase the sun

Maybe the best of these remaining

Admirable preservation, good bids

Malaise muscle

Be unique

"Parts or restore"...guess which...

Be more unique

Absolutely psychotic

The opera window adds class

Little brother for an Alfa