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Comments
300SLs are a scary restoration. You can get a lot of repo parts, but you are still dealing with a tubular frame, a rust-bucket type of body and all kinds of tricky fitment issues. You could buy entire American old cars for the prices on some of the 300SL trim pieces.
And you can't drive these cars slowly either. If you try to putt around town at 2,000 rpms to "save" the engine, you'll end up once a week on a flatbed truck with fouled spark plugs. They like to be revved and driven hard and FAST.
These are old cars but they will still do 130--140 mph on a good day.
They were the supercar of their day and very refined and civilized to boot.
That must be an issue with the old mechanical fuel injection...even my fintail will kind of miss and complain if you just loaf around...and on the other hand, it will rev up and go pretty much as hard as you demand with little complaint other than some black smoke.
Now here's a pretty 300SL roadster ...spend the money on this rather than one that will easily eat up 100K+ in renovation costs...and I even like the color....I can drool over this one.
I mean, we can all do the math here.
The old mechanical injection runs rich at low speeds--that's the issue.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
"It will cost a fortune and it will take forever. What else would you like to know?"
Well that's reassuring to know. :surprise:
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
You just can't budget for these cars, is the point I think of the sign on the wall.
The prices you see for these cars presume a high level of correctness and workmanship. Nobody wants a botched-up 300SL. Collectors will not touch them. A $25,000 paint job would not be uncommon, maybe even cheap.
I could see a 300SL roadster costing 1/4 million to restore, no problem.
I was gonna bid on that SL, but I only budgeted $2100 for restoration.
I thought I could pick up the matching luggage set at an outlet store, the paint job from Maaco (includes 2 hours of prep and body work) for $399, on special right now. Some decent used tires for about $200, maybe a Mr Lube oil change and some new brake pads, then I'd go to Walmart for some Spiderman car seat covers, and some vinyl windshield graphics plus a decent, and I mean decent air freshener, not just the pine tree type you hang, but the ones that contain some liquid in a bottle that you glue to the dashboard with double sided sticky tape.
and VOILA! off to Barret Jackson for some fat profits. :P
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I do also like the late 60's/early 70's Mopars that could be had with a 426 Hemi. I guess the right configuration could fetch close to $500K in the right circumstances? Those 426 Hemis can be a pain in the butt to drive though, as they always want to go flat-out, go out of tune every other day, and absolutely hate leisurely driving. But if I spent $500K on a car, chances are it wouldn't get driven that much anyway! I think I'd be afraid of it!
I was thinking....what if I got one of each fintail sedan variant. I'd have 190/190D, 200/200D, 220/220S/220SE, 230/230S, 300SE/300SE (L). That's 11 cars, and I would want concours quality examples of each,cars I could take to a national show and have judged and not be ashamed...so let's say 25K apiece. That's 275K. Then maybe I could throw in a hearse, pickup, and a Universal wagon and maybe a Binz wagon...give those 25 apiece too, so we'd be at 375K. I have another 125K left to spend. For that I could get a good 280SE low grille cabrio and a couple of pristine W111 coupes. So, for that money, I could have a collection of maybe 18 cars. And if you wanted plain old American sedans, for that money you could easily amass a collection of maybe 50 cars! And those would be very decent examples at that.
I was kinda hoping that there would be a drop-dead gorgeous, showroom new one for sale at the Mopar show, but nothing. In fact, on Friday and Saturday, my 5th Ave was the only R-body on the entire fairgrounds...funfield AND car corral...unless there was one hiding out in the vendor aisles somewhere.
On Sunday morning though, I saw a brown '79 NYer roll in. I think it had about 69,000 miles on it and appeared to be in pretty decent shape. Better than either of my two, but the guy wanted $3300 for it. It didn't look like a "proper" brown for that car, either. As I recall, the brown that year was called "Sunfire Red" or something like that, and did have just a faint touch of red/orange to it, so it wasn't TOO hideous. Also, I could see some things wrong with it. The fabric part of one of the rear door panels felt loose and fragile, just as with the blue NYer I picked up last year. And the fabric around the base of the back seat was starting to rot too. I think that both of these are a result of leaking around the opera windows, which seems to be a common theme with these things.
Anyway, I'm sort of proud of myself, that I found an R-body that did nothing for me. Maybe I'm starting to become immune to their siren song? here's a pic of the thing. If it was a different color, I might have been tempted to make the guy a counteroffer. But let's face it, domestic quality was poopy enough in the late 70's. We don't need a reminder of that in the color scheme! :shades:
And it's money in the bank. They only made 1800 or so and they are an iconic automobile that appeals to all ages and generations.
Downside? You become a celebrity and that can be very annoying.
Also if someone T-bones you, there's no frame to straighten per se. You take the entire car apart.
If it had to be something old, I'd either find the best MB 600 Pullman I could find, and also pay for a full time MB mechanic with the rest of the money to service it. :P
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Yeah, a new Bentley would be nice, if you could stomach the massive depreciation. Nice ride, though if you don't mind throwing maybe $60K out the window as you drive off the dealer's showroom floor or losing $300K in value over the next ten years.
Daddy, What Happened to My Equity?
A Pullman would certainly keep you busy...probably not in a good way though.
That reminds me, a couple weeks ago I sat in a current generation SLK, an AMG model. I am only 6'1' and I am not too big - but I could not find a good seating position. Putting the seat in its lowest position had my eyes just under the top of the windshield, and I had to have the seat leaned back so it rubbed against the back of the compartment. Now I know one car I will never own.
Still crazy depreciation.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
FEATURING A 6.8 LITER, 300 HP V-8 ENGINE
If they weren't getting more than 300hp out of 6.8liters by 1997, they are much more behind the times than I would have thought.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
It pitted a mid 80s Jag XJS V12, a mid '80s BMW 635 and a late '80s Starion (he said it was a 90, maybe they made them an extra year for Britain).
I haven't made it through the whole episode, but so far:
Top speed test: Bimmer 115 mph, Starion 119, Jag blazed through at 140
Road course: BMW 1:01, Starion 1:00, Jag 1:09
The Jag was puking oil and antifreeze after both events.
Apparently, they have another episode where they had a similar challenge but with crappy Porsches. I would love to see that.
Great fun to watch, I think Clarkson had a 928 in the cheap Porsche challenge.
wish i could see that show somewhere other than youtube.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
At least the Jag V12 didn't catch fire, which is what they like to do.
ragtop
Odd mod
Sport sedan
And a nice pile of project cars
This is great. By 2015, my car should be getting 65 mpg. :P
I really like that Celica, run buy it for me will you? I am down in Oregon now, but I will be up in Tacoma this weekend to visit my former room-mates, Denise and Juli. I will come by and reimburse you for it. Honest I will. You can believe me, right?
james :shades:
(just kidding, sort of)
Sooner or later every Bi-turbo will bring an owner to his knees anyway.
thankfully, turbo technology has come a LONGGGGG way since the 1980s.
Yeah, but it would take much less effort to make that Celica fun, whereas the Subaru would need an entire powertrain and suspension swap.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
The Iraq cars are pretty interesting. I wonder how many more dictators have hidden stashes of classic cars that we won't hear about for years.
The Sultan of Brunei's collection is I think one of the biggest ones in the world.
And while searching for it I stmbled upon LeMays private car museum in Tacoma. you ever been there Fintail?
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
What interested me about the Iraq cars was that the Erdmann & Rossi 540K had survived, I had previously read that invaders destroyed it. It's not the most attractive bodystyle IMO, but it's a 540K, so it should survive.
You can check out my facebook pics in this this link without having to join facebook.
Since my wife was at her work conference, I went alone, so the tricky part was positioning the camera on ledges and taking timer photos of myself.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
65 poncho
But I'd have to agree, a '98 Outback isn't much fun unless maybe you are frolicking in the snow with it or taking your mountain bikes somewhere.
AWD cars from the 1980s tend to be pretty heavy-handlers. They have a lot of "push", not exactly ballerinas.
And I like the wheels on that Pontiac posted below...reminds me of a 60s vintage Hot Wheels car.
We also had this friend of the family who had an early/mid 80's Datsun/Nissan pickup with a 5-speed. He worked on building high tension lines. He could also put away a 30-pack of Bud in a single day. One time I went out riding with him, and he said he was going to teach me to drive a stick. He was drunk when we drove out, got drunker during the evening, so I had no choice BUT to learn how to drive that thing to get us back! That was back when I was young and dumb though...like 21 or 22. I know better nowadays than to get into a car with a drunk driver. You'd thin I would've been smart enough back then, but you know young adults and how they think they're indestructible. :sick:
The wheels look toy-like from afar.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX