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Comments
Exactly---I mean, who cares?
RE: another stubject---the High Bid on Olds 4-4-2:
We also have to keep in mind that the failed bid might not have even been real. Auctions will often throw in a shill bid as long as it is under reserve, just to 'get things going'. We call 'em "chandelier bids" because that's where the auctioneer is pointing when he recognizes the bid. So who knows with this car? At such prices, you'd have to really have your eyeballs on it. But pristine examples of the rarest years and options have been bringing pretty strong prices. To me, it's a bubble about to burst, as it has for so many other muscle car types.
Well, they are only original once. And the supply if survivors keeps dwindling
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
True---ultimately it's a supply and demand equation. Original cars are quite in vogue now, but still--one wonders how far this rubber band can stretch.
Project car for fintail?
thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/05/junkyard-find-1966-mercedes-benz-230/
That's a neat old beast...hope someone grabs it as a parts car, at least. I like that shade of greenish-blue. Bet it was really pretty when it was new.
Parts car that looks like it has already been raided - tons of parts gone already. It is a fairly uncommon color, as most seem to be black or white/off white. Seats look worth saving. It's also a lower line (W110) car, which doesn't help desirability. Hopefully it will be broken up more before it meets the crusher, to help some other cars live on, as it looks really solid - people would fight over those rust free panels in Europe.
There's still some good pieces on that wreck--I don't think they'll crush it. Some good seats, glass, body panels, maybe bumper, various handles and switches. Some of these parts will fit other Benzes of the period, too. Definitely not worth restoring.
Seems like it's really not much of a project.
1959 Nash Metropolitan Convertible
59 Metro--seems about market correct. Would be nice to see what's underneath, though.
Reliving the 50s - admittedly, I don't know a great deal about cars before the mid 60s, but I found some interesting listings
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4479160516.html - are those Mustang hubcaps?
http://longisland.craigslist.org/ctd/4489979298.html - about as Christine looking as an Olds can get
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4488567058.html - appears to be a decent car with a reasonable seller, maybe
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4472543787.html - assume that this guy is the opposite of the above
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4452578511.html - what a mess he made of this?
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4471015367.html - interesting to see how plain looking a Lincoln could be back then
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4485254425.html - about as long as a city block
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4467636023.html - and something German
The 57 Chevy may be worth what the guy is asking.
The 54 Buick belongs in a junkyard. He want's how much for it? What a joke!
The 50 Chevy has been butchered so bad I wanted to cry.
That Buick has a typo, I think, the ad body has a $2,900 figure in it...
I think that Olds had Christine potential.
Yep those look like Mustang hubcaps. Olds Christine is pretty cool, looks mean. The limo is cool tool. And a MB 219, the oddball car with a 6cyl front end and a 4cyl body - and to top it off, a hydrak. He's 100% overpriced on a good day, but that is a rare car.
This guy has been advertising this on CL forever!
The price never changes either.
Rare? You bet! Desirable....well...
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/4475111241.html
Anyone? I'll go take a look for you!
Kaiser Manhattans are cool cars - but that one has a lot of needs for such money. Another one that needs 50% off on the best of days.
I see a later 60s Eldo in the background, I think I've seen that car around Bellevue numerous times.
>
With the 50 Chevy, how do you end up with so much extra wire under the hood? Definitely get the feeling he just kept sticking things together until he got something. That car has a cool body style. You wonder how that idea would work if executed by better hands.
I don't know if this is the right word/phrase for it, but I always thought the '58 Olds was the most "downfallen", compared to its '57 counterpart. I thought the '57 Olds was a pretty nice looking car, although one weak spot I guess was the "Suddenly it's 1949" 3-piece rear window. But the '58 version was, IMO, one of the ugliest cars to come out that year. While the '58 Buick is no prize, either, somehow I think its massive, hulking, chromey look works. The Olds just looks like a small car that tried to bulk up too much, and the lower body looks too boxy compared to the more rounded, sleek, '57 roof.
I actually like the grille of the '58 Olds...but like the roof, I think it looks too rounded-off to really match well with that blocky body. I think a toned-down, conservative color also helps make the '58 Olds look better.
I used to see a nicely restored bright red Olds 88 hardtop running around the area on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it had a Continental kit on it. I haven't seen it lately, but I'm sure it still exists. Either the owner moved, or he just doesn't drive it as much these days.
I can't stand continental kits either or added on fender skirts! To me they hokey up the looks of the car.
And, what's with these blue dot taillight lenses that I'm seeing more and more of at car shows. I NEVER saw a car with these growing up.
I do know that they are illegal here in WA and if a cop has time on his hands you will get cited.
Can I get an 'Amen' from the congregation.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Have I got a car for you!
I've seen pictures of V12 Cadillacs and Packards from the 30s with blue dot tail lights which look like factory ornamentation for the most upscale model lines back then. And I remember when blue dot lenses were a "standard" mod for a street rod back in the 60s and 70s too.
As for the illegality of blue dot tail lights, I don't really know how that happened. Some people claim blue dot tail light lenses were used on postwar cop cars and ambulances. Supposedly some 50s hot rodders adopted the look from there. Never heard that before though.
I like this money pit
Regarding blue dots and cops, I don't know if any cops under the age of 50 would even know what they are.
probably as cheap to keep on the road as a new Camry.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
59 Benz---Try $3000. Car is rough.
I'd drive this, but the BIN price is optimistic
$5750 sounds about right, if it is as advertised. Of course, just because it looks like new doesn't mean it will run like new.
And it's only the 6, which is probably taxed as much as you'd want in that LWB body. Pretty car though, if it was a 560, it would get a lot more attention.
really? I guess popularity of the 560SEL is regional. In the SF Bay Area, you can't give them away. Well, you can, if they are dirt cheap. For me, the only old Benzes you'd want to mess with as reliable daily drivers would be the E320s.
A mint 39K mile 560SEL in SF that was actually cheap would be shipped out of there and flipped for a big profit in an instant. Nice enough 150K mile cars aren't the same - the cult likes low mileage and perfect cosmetic condition. This lower spec 6cyl car is up to 7500 with days left to go.
Late W124 E320s can suffer from a rotten wiring harness, but they will drink a lot less, for sure.
Whatever floats one's boat I guess. I wouldn't touch a 560SEL with a ten foot pole. I have only found them to be one headache after another. Complex, gas-hungry and well, rather large. Nice ride though, and solid as a rock. I have no idea what one would do with such a car.
I could deal with a 300 turbo diesel wagon with 39K on it however! It would also be a headache but a more manageable, and more useful one. Nice long-distance hauler.
So, would one of those SELs with the 6-cyl be pretty sluggish, then? I saw one for sale at one of the Carlisle swap meets a few years ago. Forget the year, but I think it was brown, and in good shape, and around $4200. I mildly entertained the idea of buying it, for something different.
The people who buy those big engined W126 use them as Sunday drivers and local show cars. Time might have passed faster than some realize - these are now 25-30+ year old cars that to many represent the pinnacle of brand quality, and legitimately mint original cars are scarce. Take a mint low mileage W126 to your local MBCA show, and it will get attention.
I suspect a 300 SEL like that would have 0-60 around 11-12 seconds - not embarrassing, but pushing it in many areas these days. All US cars have 2nd gear start, and the 6 needs to be pushed to move - they also seem to hover around 3500rpm at highway speeds, which seems odd compared to new cars. They are generally reliable and easier to work with than the V8s, but less equipped and not as fast.
Well, 11-12 seconds is in range of my '79 New Yorkers, '76 LeMans, and '85 Silverado, so I could handle that, knowing that I'm not buying a performance car.
3500 rpm at highway speeds might take some getting used to, though!
It's a revvy engine, redline might not be til 6000-6500 - but maybe odd for what should be a laid back cruising barge. The car has dual firewalls, and the engine is naturally very smooth - so there's no real noise or vibration issues. I had a 300SE with the same engine, which was almost inaudible at many speeds. S-class received a 5-speed automatic for 1992 I think, which addressed the issue and gained mpg.
Funny thing, I googled it and immediately found this
Nice car, though colors are a bit drab (but at least not all black!). With that inline 6, it's like the world's most developed '63 Chevy.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Perhaps the build quality is to be admired, but not so much the mechanical reliability. Remember, these are the very cars that Toyota mauled in the marketplace with their LS400---and for a very good reason.
I haven't heard anything about them being unreliable per se - no horror stories of breakdowns and explosions - just high maintenance. If you let things slip, slowly the car will die, and those thousand cuts will be expensive.
LS succeeded for a number of reasons - it was kind of an updated reverse engineered W126 after all, it even looks like one. Subsidized cut rate price and no real groundbreaking tech, solid engineering, competing with a 10 year old car, made sense. MB finally woke up and just decided not to compete with it, but to move the S-class up a notch - and has been amazingly successful with that both in the US and globally.
I can't do all black - too much to maintain. I don't know what it is with German cars and black, I guess some see it as classy.
I suppose those old Chevy I6s can be tuned to run really smooth - I remember seeing an early 50s one when I was a kid, it amazed me as the idle was barely obvious. There are reasons why I6 is a beloved design.
Heck, the way I look at it, Toyota copied a then 10-11 year old Benz, in order to break into the luxury car market in America. They didn't copy an Audi, BMW, Cadillac, or Lincoln. That should say something right there, that the W126 was something to aspire to.
And, in Mercedes-like fashion, that first LS400 seemed to stick around forever. Another similarity, IMO at least, is that no LS since the first generation seems to have aged as gracefully...just like Benz with the W-126. The later S-classes may be better cars, as time and technology have marched on, but I just don't think the later models have aged, or will age, as gracefully.
Another similarity...I still see a pretty good number of 126es around, as well as first-gen LS400's. So either those cars were built right, or they were and are still highly sought after, or perhaps a bit of both. I don't see all that many examples of later generations of either car. Although to be fair, as prices have gone up, I'd imagine production has tapered. Hasn't the LS460 in particular fallen off pretty sharply, of late?
When the W126 was introduced in late 1979, it was easily the most advanced big sedan in the world, and held that title for a long time. It remained in production for well over a decade - it was just that far ahead. They didn't look old when production ended. I think it was the first car with high volume production airbag (s) and ABS, among other things. Still tons of them on the road here, which says a lot, as the last ones for this market were built no later than early 1991. Lots of them are miled up too, which makes the low mileage survivors more desirable to the cult - and there is a cult for them.
First and second gen Lexus LS were excellent cars, have high survival rates, and the ability to accumulate miles - cheaper than a MB. I see that car as kind of an homage to MB, like Andre says, the influence comes from one place. Later LS and S both won't survive as much, eventually the electronics will decay. But I suspect there will be earlier cars around as long as cars use gasoline.
The LS has become less relevant in recent years - aging design, and the Germans have kept advancing (although much better than the past, still not cheap to run - but more tolerable now). The new S-Class is the leader in the segment now, making the LS look ancient - and now BMW is rumored to be creating a 9 series to compete with uplevel S - makes sense in this new gilded age. The LS is still a nice car, but definitely needs to jump into this decade.
Speaking of MBs and peojects, good luck with this
maybe you could turn a profit if it was a 300SL. it has no floor. look at the picture of the dash where you see the key. Nothing but ground where the floorboards should be.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Fintail:
Your memory serves you well. I have a 1948 Chevy with her original 216 CID inline 6. She'll idle OK at 450 RPM. All you hear is her solid lifters tapping away.
Oldbearcat
RE: 190 SL on eBay:
Bidders are crazy. You can still buy a very nice clean driver quality car (a "5-footer") for $75,000--$85,000, so there is no way in hell you are getting from that $30K pile of junk to a $75,000 clean driver for a mere $45,000. That car wouldn't pan out for anyone even if it were FREE.
RE: 560SEL -- all good points being made, but I still believe Mercedes owners were getting pretty tired of the expensive repair bills. Build quality is one thing, reliability is another, and Lexus showed the Germans how to build a car that wasn't as fussy as a French poodle on your lap.
Buying a used 560SEL as a Sunday driver, or to take to a show, is a very nice and inexpensive way to enjoy a fairly modern "classic". But if you are thinking you are in for miles of trouble-free motoring, think again. HVAC, non-starts, electrical gremlins--you're going to have to deal with them.
You may need to adjust those lifters because you really shouldn't hear them tapping very much.
A flathead ford if running well, could idle so slowly you could almost watch the fan blades turning.
Calling Fintail.....
Do ya want another one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Benz-190-Series-Yeah-theres-some-trim-1962-Diesel-Mercedes-190D-Heckflosse-/251539676676?forcerrptr=true&hash=item3a90eede04&item=251539676676&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
I remember ~15 years ago, 25-30K would get you a very nice driver 190SL. I am still amazed how they shot up - riding on the 300SL, I guess. I don't understand that "barn find" and am skeptical on the miles - looks more like a "bottom of a lake find". One might be better off just buying parts and building a car from scratch. A data plate can't be worth that much.
To be fair, nobody buys a thirsty quarter century old German luxobarge and intends to make it a long distance commuter. You'd have issues even with an early LS.
Nope, one is plenty. And mine is a Ferrari compared to a 190D, that's a 55hp car - fortunately, it is light.
Even the I6 in the fintail is pretty quiet at some speeds - very smooth. But there's always a little clatter, I think inherent in the engine design.
My mother's cousin had one of those. It was even the same year, I think. Magnificent workmanship and controls operated with total smoothness and function. Had to flog it like crazy to make it across an intersection before the light turned red again. It as a perfect car for him, though. He lived in a rural area between a couple of medium sized towns and had his own musical instrument business. He went out to customers homes fixing and tuning pianos and giving lessons, so he could just putter along on country roads with no need to go on the highway. Good thing, since it would probably take a couple of miles to get it up to 60 and I'm not sure it could do 70.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])