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

Mr_Shiftright

"Was offered $20k back in 2002 in California"

Wow, talk about having regrets....:)

Michaell

Yes, but can you fintail-gate in it?

Mr_Shiftright

it's a Hillbilly Escalade!

fintail

Same price as a middle American house, probably more plumbing

garv214

Is it just me, or is that Mercedes hood ornament making a left turn....

fintail

Hah, funny that they'd miss such a detail. Not a good sign, perhaps. I know that would drive me insane, I'd have to pull over and fix it.

Best pic of the day award

srs_49

mid-size/small truck (dakota, ranger, S10, GMC Sonoma, Mazda B series) with automatic and a V6 or V8, AC, extended cab, decent but not pristine of course

Well, I have a 2005 Dakota Quad Cab, 4x4, and it's been nothing but trouble. With only 35,000 miles on the odometer, its:

- Had the head gasket go at 15,000 miles. Luckily, it was still under warranty.

- Brakes have been nothing but trouble. On my third set of front rotors; left front caliper had to be replaced; and back in September I had a steel brake line let go (brake pedal went to the floor). Had to replace two sections of bake line - original ones were rusted which is why the one let go.

- Gas mileage has been poor for a supposed mid-size truck. Average has been 18 mpg, and hard to reach even 20 mpg on the highway.

- Seat belt warning chime would not shut off, so had to cut and jumper the seat belt latched circuit.

- Windshield leak

garv214

...well... aside from that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play...

lemko

Check out the cheap Kumho tires on that Benz. If they're asking $215K, shouldn't they at least put some decent rubber on it instead of those bargain basement tires? The tires on your fintail would look really sharp on that car.

bhill2

Also, that interior isn't any shade of red that I associate with a Mercedes. I have seen Mercedes red interiors, and they are a rich deep red, not the reddish purple that this one seems to be. Of course, it may just be inaccuracy in the color rendition of the pictures.

fintail

Definitely some detail issues there - the crooked hood ornament might be a sign of other things. I didn't notice the tires, but you are right, and as there are quality vintage style tires on the market, there were better choices. If you're spending 6 figures on a restoration already, another grand for proper tires is not a real problem. I think those tires would be an issue in any judged show. I think a wider whitewall was being used on those cars that early, too - fintails didn't get non-wide whites until 65.

I suspect the car is a case of someone wanting a 100% ROI, a fortune has been sunk into it, and the owner wants it back. Good luck!

fintail

I think you're right. I also notice the seller notes the exterior color is correct, but says nothing about interior. Someone did it to their own taste.

explorerx4

The thing that put up a red flag for me was the faded/saggy rear window curtains.

Mr_Shiftright

the asking price is exuberant optimism to say the least. Even a low mileage Pebble Beach car owned by Elvis and with $50000 in cash in the trunk wouldn't bring that much. It's not even a Pullman.

I'd price it at about $140K if all receipts are in order and it sparkles like a jewel.

The slightest imperfections knock it down to around $110K.

Putting second rate tires on a car like that borders on criminality. This is a fast, and very heavy, automobile. Rebuilt that engine for a price that I don't even want to know...and then cheap out on the tires? Makes no sense.

fintail

What would an M100 rebuild cost these days, from a good shop? 25-30K?

Mr_Shiftright

I could only guess...a 911 rebuild is now about $20,000, so yeah, $30K minimum I'd say. A Ferrari rebuild can run $60,000, so somewhere in that range.

fintail

Had the old car out today - almost 7 year old battery, started right up on a cold morning, gotta love it. Ran fine, never set the parking brake so no worries there. Turn signals were irksome though, worked fine in the beginning, but got worse the more I drove. I'm going to have to have this diagnosed somehow, just don't want to pour money into it.

Mr_Shiftright

Try a new flasher, they're cheap!

fintail

I've kind of narrowed it down to that or the indicator stalk unit, which acts funny too - I notice if I hold it down to a certain level, it seems to work more consistently. The blinker unit is still under $100 and is something I can do myself, so maybe not a bad place to start.

Funny thing, when the car was cold yesterday, I had signals 100% of the time, but as it warmed up, they faded away. Maybe the blinker unit is sensitive to heat, it is 50 years old now and has probably far exceeded what it was designed for.

srs_49

As you probably know, a blinker unit of that vintage is nothing more than a bi-metallic strip that, when heated by the current flowing though it, opens up a set of contacts that then allows the strip to cool down and reestablish the connection and current flow.

So it's easy to see how the ambient temperature could affect the blinker. Also, after 50 years of use (like you said), the bi-metallic strip is just getting "tired" and doesn't work the way it did when it was new.

fintail

That's right. I suppose buying the part and installing it myself will still be a bit cheaper than a diagnosis even from my indy mechanic, so I should try it. It can only be a couple things. Then I can get to the car's weird front indicator issue - for some reason, one of the front parking lights (I forget) won't work, but the signal works. The other side works fine.

And speaking of project cars, I recently opened my latest copy of "The Star" - the semi-monthly publication of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, it usually features articles on a couple specific car, classifieds, show updates, editorials, DIY stuff, etc. It's a pretty nice quality magazine. Anyway, in the show section, they had a paragraph on the regional show here, and look at the car most prominent in the shot:



Flattering.

Mr_Shiftright

I saw a 200 fintail yesterday. Totally, utterly beat to crap but registered and running.

fintail

Gas or diesel?

Beat up but still moving seems to be a natural state for many W110s - there are still some serving taxi duty in the Middle East, even though the last one was built over 45 years ago.

xwesx

Nice, fin! It's a sharp car; that photographer knew what he was doing. :P

I think the baby blue really sets it apart from others, and those wide whites certainly work well! Your pride in ownership is not misplaced at all on that ol' gal.

fintail

Thanks. The tires do seem to do a lot - I seem to notice more heads turned these days. The car is very photogenic and looks good from 10+ feet away - cameras and distance forgive old sins, I guess. The period color helps too.

Now and then I still debate launching into a multi year restoration which would cost multi times what the car would be worth (if I diverted new car payment money, I could probably do it), or just continue to let it slowly age. I think I'll keep up with the survivor route.

Mr_Shiftright

Gas model. Looks like it just came back from Iraq.

fintail

Maybe it did!

toomanyfumes

Pretty cool, Fin..

explorerx4

Fin,
Congrats, those tires have really paid off.

berri

I agree, older cars need whitewalls. It may well be a generational thing though because when I was growing up the upper level models almost always wore them proudly.

fintail

This is...unusual (MBs this late don't need whitewalls either)

fintail

Gorgeous - pushes some of my buttons - just remove those tacky dealer installed (I think) stripes. Ride height seems high, might have new shocks that need adjustment. BIN is a silly price, but what a nice car.

bhill2

Fin, I think you're right about those stripes being dealer installed. Our '85 380SE had a very similar treatment when we bought it. Probably a standard design provided to the dealer in various colors.

fintail

I seem to notice them mostly on earlier (say before 1986-88) cars, but not always. Not consistently either. My 89 300SE didn't have them, for which I am thankful. I've never seen them on a Euro car. I suppose they could be removed easily enough.

Mr_Shiftright

Too bad they pimped it out. Probably you could buff those stripes off.

You're right, BIN price is drug-related.

fintail

The stripes can go, wheels are period correct, and Euro lights look 100x better. Original radio, perfect wood and interior...would be hard to turn a dog into this car for reasonable money. I'd say it's a 12K car.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm thinking more like $10K tops. We'll see. Not sure why anyone wants an old clattery diesel---diesel engines have come so far along in the last 25 years while diesel fuel has gotten very expensive.

Back when that Mercedes diesel was built, this was the way to drive a luxury car at economy car cost-per-mile. Diesel fuel cost much less than gasoline back then.

But now the economics of driving an old diesel are no longer operative, so the benefits elude me. A modern luxury car will outperform the old 300SD in mileage, acceleration and luxury, and with lots less mechanical issues.

fintail

It just takes a couple of cultists. Mint 126s have a little fanbase, and 80s diesels have a fanbase. It has a cross-base of potential buyers. It's not too far from 10K now, given the time left.

Of course, a modern luxury car can't be bought for 10K. Really, for a 10K used car, especially for one who won't destroy it like the typical cheapo new car buyer tends to do, it still might have value. But to me, it's a car to be used as a Sunday driver and local show queen now, I wouldn't put it into a 50 mile/day commuting grind.

andre1969

as to what this is?

stickguy

well, obviously it is a chassis.

I just hope it isn't all that is left of your Desoto!

steine13

It's a wreck is what it is, hit on the passenger side, hard.

Unless the rebuilder is insane, it's from a very valuable car. Otherwise it would have been scrapped....

Cheers -Mathias

andre1969

I just hope it isn't all that is left of your Desoto!

Nah, it's all still there...just in multiple pieces. Here's a few more pics of the basket case in-progress, as well as a couple other old cars the mechanic has around the shop. Sorry for the quality of the outside pics, but I took them from an iPhone in the dark...

I got a call from the mechanic yesterday saying that he dropped the frame, so my first thought was oh crap, I'd better go out and see what's going on. He said he had to drop it, so that he could fix the rust in the trunk floor. I have a feeling this can of worms that's been opened up ain't gonna be cheap...

lemko

Heck, I'm STILL waiting for my 1989 Cadillac Brougham to come back from the shop! It's been over a month!

andre1969

Heck, I'm going on FOUR years now, with this DeSoto! Although a good deal of that is because the mechanic stopped work on it for awhile. He had a '58 Edsel and a '59 Imperial in there before my car, and for whatever reason, had stopped work on them, and then started up on my car. But then, got back into the Edsel and Imperial, and my car got put on the sidelines.

The Imperial is out of his shop now, and I think the Edsel is almost done, so now he's getting back into my car. He thinks it'll be done by the Spring. Not holding my breath though, as he said the same thing, around this time last year. To his credit, he didn't specify Spring of what year, though...

lemko

How much is into that Imperial? From what I've heard, it should be the ultimate example of it's kind. It should be BETTER than it left the factory. Do you have any pictures of that car?

andre1969

I have no idea how much money has gone into that Imperial, but a small fortune, I'm sure. I remember seeing it while it was apart, and being painted, and initially thinking the paint job wasn't so great...had noticeable orange peel in it. But, I think it got buffed and smoothed out, because the last time I saw it, I remember it looking pretty sweet.

Here's a pic I took of it at a local show in 2012...


At least, I'm pretty sure this is the same Imperial. There can't be too many 1959 Imperial 4-door hardtops in that shade of green lurking about Maryland!

Oh, the mechanic also told me that the bill just for the chrome on the '58 Edsel was about $22,000! He said that initially the guy had it repainted, but then saw how bad that made the chrome look, so then he said go ahead and rechrome EVERYTHING!! I'm not sure if the chrome got put back on the car and then the owner made that call, and it had to all come back off, or if he just saw the loose chrome and decided to get it redone before having it put back on. I'd imagine hat if it was all put back on the car, and had to be removed again for re-chroming, that would've added some considerable expense.

lemko

$22,000 for chrome on an Edsel? This better be a super-ultra-mega-rare Edsel! Even then, I don't think it would be worth it! That Imperial does look sweet! Too bad it's the heavy-handed '59 and not a beautiful 1957-58 or 1960!

andre1969

The Edsel is just a 4-door hardtop, but it's one of the bigger, Mercury-based models, either a Citation or Corsair; can't remember which. It's turning out to be a very nice car...for an Edsel! :P The owner will never get his money out of it, but apparently that's not a concern for this guy.

And, admittedly, I'll never get my money out of my DeSoto, either.

texases

But at least you'll be able to advertise that it had "a frame-off restoration"...that's gotta be worth a couple of $$

andre1969

But at least you'll be able to advertise that it had "a frame-off restoration"...that's gotta be worth a couple of $$

Dunno if I'd be able to do that in this case, though. Once the car is back together again, honestly it's not going to look all that different than the day it went into the shop. Unless you look underneath it, or inside. Or in the trunk or under the hood, I guess. The paint is all original, and in fairly good shape, so I'm not having that done. Not having any chrome work done either, although I may get the rear bumper done, as it has a big dent in it from when the previous owner, lord rest her soul, backed into a pole.

But, I also don't plan on selling this car anytime soon, either. I've had it 23 years now, a little more than half of my life. So I figure if I'm in this far, might as well keep it a bit longer!