Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

boomchek

lol I never saw that video before. Pretty funny. Thanks for the link!

boomchek

Maybe it was a custom made kit of some sorts.

fintail

It could have been, but it looked period to me, anyway. It even had an old fashioned AMG badge.

I saw a SEC cabrio just like the one in that video in a local drug/tax etc seizure auction several months ago. I wonder if it was the same car. Ownership like that can't give a car a good life.

ghulet

aye yi yi....that song is about two minutes longer than it needs to be. However, as my first car was a '71 Deuce (in a different shade of green), it resonated. Lots of fun.

Oh, and did someone say 'cheese grater' in RE: Benzes? Note the sad waste of the very rare 5-speed manual:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=257941287&dealer_id=63725339&c- ar_year=1986&rdm=1255697073648&lastStartYear=1981&model=&num_records=50&systime=- &make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=1981&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engin- e=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=0&marketZip- Error=false&search_lang=en&sownerid=57850854&showZipError=y&make=MB&keywords_dis- play=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=10&drive=&defau- lt_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=b&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&ad- dress=60651&advanced=y&end_year=2001&doors=&transmission=Manual&max_price=5000&c- ardist=1180&standard=false

fintail

Wow, that's a goodie. I wonder who made that bodykit. I am almost certain it is by a firm called "Koenig". No doubt is a period conversion with modern wheels and decals. I hate the grille star...but otherwise, that's pretty cool in a tacky way.

boomchek

OMG, my eyes!!!!

At least if it's gonna have a wide kit, they should have wide enpough wheels in the back to match.

Yeah, too bad it was wasted on a 5 speed. I guess if one wants to open a 80s themed drug culture museum this car would fit perfectly!

This one looks much nicer to me:

fintail

That's not bad at all, good color, and those deep wheels are irreplaceable today.

I still think the C126 lent itself the best to that treatment:



(although I don't like that spoiler)





And of course, it's easy to over-do it:





When I was a kid, I drooled over these things, they seemed more exotic than Lamborghinis. Now, they are as you say, a funny throwback to 80s cocaine dealers.

xwesx

Yeah, okay... that first photo you posted looks very well done.

boomchek

The 3rd one down with the red interior is my fav.

The white convertible is over the top!!

ghulet

....I love this subject: we'll call it 'how to waste $100k in 1983 money' or 'Bad Taste and Waste will Come Back to Haunt and Taunt You':

http://www.richmondmercedes.com/500%20SEC%20convertible/500sec.html

I'm DYING to see what else this place has in its expensive-flat-tire-dusty-exotic-gaudy-Benzes collection.

ghulet

WOW, boom, that 300CE is actually pretty stunning. Perhaps dated, but at least a little subdued (compared to the we-completely-ruined-an-awesome-design of those modified SECs--blech!!).

british_rover

They could at least move the car in front of it so they weren't taking pictures of the two bumpers touching.

fintail

Wow, that's hideous. Money and sense/taste are once again mutually exclusive. I really loathe that gold trim too....puke.

I wonder what else is in that garage. It looks like someone is building a 190E EVO II beside it.

Mr_Shiftright

horrifying. Would make a great circus car, though. :P

fintail

I wonder what kind of seats are in the red interior version. I have seen some Koenig cars with very over the top custom Recaros.

The window tint on the cabrio really adds a nice touch.

ghulet

....to the Awful Files (Koenig? Brabus? Don Johnson?):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SHARP-1987-Mecedes-Benz-560-sec_W0QQitemZ30035678- - 1219QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item45eea8c4a3

I've never quite understood the 'let's get rid of the airbag and replace it with wood' thing, but then, these cars don't exactly scream logic.

ghulet

I did click on their home page, and I don't know the exact variety of 190, but here's the story. I LOVE the interior....actually, the whole package is really tasteful and sounds like a lotta fun to drive:

http://www.richmondmercedes.com/190e/190e.html

xwesx

Wow. What a deal, too; Bidding "starts" er... stops?.... at $10K!

The license plate sure got it right.... :shades:

Everything else aside, I actually like the wooden steering wheel and shift knob. I could see putting a wooden wheel in my old '69 E100. :P Would an '87 actually have an SRS?

boomchek

An 87 SEC might have had an airbag, but maybe as an option?

fintail

A NA model 1987 SEC would have a standard drivers airbag and optional passenger airbag.

fintail

That's a tasteful little period piece, and looks very well preserved.

Those seats look especially nice. Interesting little car. I wouldn't mind having that.

From the home page:

A manual roll up window W126 with a basic interior...something you won't see every day even in Europe. With DOT lights, this car was likely a period grey import.

Custom front end W126

Rare W210...too bad it's not an E60

I think I want to own a shop like that.

Regarding the wood steering wheels - I see them as a 90s thing, I don't know if they were normal back in the day.

boomchek

That is a rare W126. Wow, 5 speed, cloth, crank windows. Maybe one of a handful that left the factory like that?

fintail

It's almost bottom of the line, even the cloth is the basic style - the only lower model would be a carbureted 280S, which actually remained available until 1984. That being said, it's a nice color combo, condition looks fantastic...I have to like it.

ghulet

....if we're talking about the roll-up windows, check out that 380SE AMG (looks like an NA version--leather interior, etc.) til you look at the....cranks. Just strange, considering how lavish an AMG Mercedes is.

I actually test-drove a 1980 W126 280SE (just for the hell of it, clearly) maybe 12 (?) years ago (it was an automatic--power front windows, manual rears, no sunroof, silver w/the nice blue velour interior). Working ABS. Neat car, and surprisingly fast; I was sort of in the market, but not really considering a gray-market car with semi-limited parts availability.

fintail

I noticed that in the 380SE. It's a grey market car though - I am pretty certain all NA spec W126 had power windows.

You could get anything for that 280SE - you'd just have to pay for it. I never understood that weird window arrangement - how much can power window motors cost? If going for 2, why not go for 4? I have seen that on old British cars too. Sounds like a classic example of a grey market car, where everything was an option. I'd say a good half of euro W126 even had hubcaps rather than wheels - hubcaps never were offered on W126 in NA.

boomchek

Fintail, just admit it, you'll like any oddball W126. :P You should be seeing many of them on your trip. Isn't it coming up soon?

boomchek

Dodge Neons had that awesome feature too up until they were discontinued a few years ago. Front power windows, rear cranks. :lemon:

fintail

I'll like just about any decent W126 :shades:

Yeah, I leave in a few days. It will be tough not to visit any random junkyard and look for odd parts...for cars I don't even own.

andre1969

If going for 2, why not go for 4? I have seen that on old British cars too.

As a general reference point, back around 1985, GM charged something like $195 for power windows on 2-door cars, and around $270 on 4-door cars. On something like a 1985 Bonneville G or Cutlass Supreme sedan, the only midsize 4-doors left with the stationary rear windows, they charged around $195 if you only wanted power up front, or $270 if you wanted to add power to the vent windows in back, as well.

Now I'm sure those options on a Benz were a lot more money, but I still can't see saving much money by leaving the back windows manually operated.

boomchek

Have a good trip. You'll probably run into lots of oddities, especially the 80s and 90s Brabus/AC Schnitzer/Alpina modded cars. Are you gonna take a lap around the Nurburgring in your rental too?

fintail

I'll find plenty of interest in ordinary parking lots, no doubt. I can't wait to see my first Dacia Logan! :shades:

It's looking like I might not make it to the 'Ring this time...my friend in Switzerland wants me to spend some time there, and although it makes a good base for day trips...Nurburg is a bit of a drive. He's also in a very local mindset, and isn't used to normal North American road trips...he's shocked when I say a 6 hour drive doesn't make me blink.

These days, with most rentals having GPS...they can tell if you took the car around the track. Apparently if you do it, at the very least they ban you from future rentals.

xwesx

6 hours..... *snickers*..... yeah, that's a LONG drive. How do you do it?! :P

fintail

I think he said something to the effect the longest drive he's made is about 2 hours. Of course, for long trips he takes the train as that region actually has a working transit grid.

hpmctorque

Yeah, great trains in Europe, and high fuel prices, so it makes sense.

Enjoy your vacation!

lemko

No end to tackiness around here. Yesterday, at the Giant Supermarket, I saw a 1992-generation S-Class sporting Buick portholes and a V-6 badge that looks like it came off a Camry. If that wasn't bad enough, on the way home I saw a newish DTS with a raised spoiler!

fortee9er

An acquaintance who collects exotic machinery has a Konig SEC with the wide body conversion and the cheese grater sides. These body kits and conversions were designed by Vittorio Strossser who also did Porsche 928 kits. His most notable kit was not a body kit but a twin supercharger conversion for the 928. Two GMC looking 'chargers sitting at an angle atop the V8's valley. It looked like a hot rodder's wet dream. I believe Strosser is still in business and has a presence in the internet.

texases

Somehow I don't guess this is Strosser's work:

fortee9er

I misspelled the name, it is Strosek not Strosser. Here is a link to his current business http://www.strosek.de.

fintail

Both of those sound ridiculous....especially the V6 badge. That's nothing to brag about.

I really hate portholes in anything but a Buick. There's a mid 90s 626 that drives up my street now and then that has a loud fart can and portholes. It could be the lamest car in the region.

fintail

Ah yeah I have seen the Strosek cars in DuPont registry and similar. Crazy stuff.

Somehow not surprisingly, there's a devoted following of Koenig Specials in Japan...quite a few youtube videos about these cars.

And speaking of MB, I know I should not be tempted by a W220 But I think this Lorinser conversion is gorgeous...I love the color...and talk about depreciation.

Mr_Shiftright

They make a nice kit out there somewhere to drop a Chevy crate engine into a Porsche 928 (since rebuilding the Porsche engine costs more than most 928s in total), but I don't think this is quite what they had in mind. I'm not even sure this would be necessary. A stock 928 GTS model goes like stink...and...you can see where you're going!

andre1969

That Caddy hearse is cool! I like that dark green color, too.

qbrozen

You know those portholes are stick-ons, right? Not much of a "hole" there. Maybe... uhhh... portstickers?

My BIL put them on his Focus. It took everything in me to keep from busting out laughing.

boomchek

Strosek. I like their early Porsche 911 and 928 conversions:

fintail

The 928 is pretty cool. It would be a good sister car to a Koenig Special SEC.

Those tiny headlights on the 911 conversions always seemed a little off to me.

boomchek

Yeah, I wonder how effective they actually are? I think they just put those small 90s style PIAA foglights in there to act as headlights.

fintail

With SUVs and big trucks seemingly held to no standards regarding lighting, I am sure you are right regarding the foglights. That look predated HIDs, so it isn't an early version of those.

lokki

Those headlights are "projector" headlights. They can be quite small. I had a set on my Acura Integra in 1997. They've been overtaken by HID headlights on the fashion front, but they can project very powerful light beam from a small headlamp.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Projector-and-Halo-Style-Headlights&id=2397610

danbone111

Qbrozen,
Not that you need another car, but I see you've been posting/looking at these Volvos....and what do you think of this one?
Ebaymotors item number 250515306888 .....sorry i dont know how to make a link.
Interested to hear what you have to say about this car.

qbrozen

Seats look amazing for the number of miles.

Problem is the miles, however. No matter how well a car is taken care of, there is just so long it can last.