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

kyfdx · October 2020

sda said:
If I was leasing that would bum me if I had to spend $$ to buy extra tires and perhaps rims to get through winter.

Says the guy who lives in SC.

fintail · October 2020

There's probably a 50/50 chance I will buy it out. I could always resell the winter tires/wheels at a massive loss, but more than zero lol.

gsemike · October 2020

Facebook has stolen Craigs thunder.

Haven't checked in in a while. Sorry about the snow.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/381221322922724 2005 GT vert for $5500 but 200k miles. Can't believe these are 15 years old now. Looks pretty decent for 200k miles

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/806969600038686 68 Camaro off the road for 35 years. Unfortunately had really been left to rot

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/366504414666262 72 Challenger. These have really gone through the roof. This may actually be OK but need more details

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/691676081728666 Nothing special slant 6 Dart that needs everything. Seller is nuts IMO

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/333099384300547 Nova might be OK for the money. Seller doesn't own a vacuum

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/633602397293842 This Catalina vert looks like a decent cruiser for under 10. I do like the old Pontaics

ab348 · October 2020

I like that Catalina!

gsemike · October 2020

ab348 said:
I like that Catalina!

Clearly the best of the bunch. I really like that year too. Definitely different looking

stickguy · October 2020

Mustang isn’t a GT. that’s a V6.

texases · October 2020

Is there any piece of sheet metal on that Dart without a rust hole?

explorerx4 · October 2020

Instead of the Dart, I'll take one of the other 2 in one of the pictures; the beer truck or the blue 'Cuda.

gsemike · October 2020

stickguy said:
Mustang isn’t a GT. that’s a V6.

You're right. I didn't look close enough. I thought that the dual tailpipes signaled a GT

xwesx · October 2020

gsemike said:

stickguy said:
Mustang isn’t a GT. that’s a V6.
You're right. I didn't look close enough. I thought that the dual tailpipes signaled a GT

Honest mistake just looking quickly at an ad... at least the seller was not trying to pass it off as a GT!

omarman · October 2020

Instead of the Dart . . . I'd rather drive the forklift that's unloading the beer truck for the owner of the Barracuda.

stickguy · October 2020

I had a duster (74 I think?) that actually had rustier rear quarters. But the rest of it was fine. there is no saving that mess.

fintail · November 2020

Took the old dear out for the first drive since the big trip. I was a little anxious as I wasn't sure how the car would react after driving hard all day then sitting for 2 weeks through a cold snap - but no worries, fired right up as usual. Took the car for a maybe 25 mile drive, no issues, turned plenty of heads and got a few comments.

Gratuitous pic (ground is at a slight incline, making for the angle, and some leftover snow:

bhill2 · November 2020

Fin, I have lost track of just where you relocated to. Are you in Spokane? Tri-Cities? Somewhere else?

fintail · November 2020

Spokane. The cold has been pretty specific to the NE area so far this year (plenty of frosty mornings still).

bhill2 · November 2020

fintail said:
Spokane. The cold has been pretty specific to the NE area so far this year (plenty of frosty mornings still).

Under the category of one that got away, when I was in the Tri-Cities in the late '70s I almost bought a '77 300D from the Spokane MB dealer. The car had been bought new and serviced there. The couple who originally bought it traded it for a 300SD. It was pristine. I was wowed by it and would have snatched it up except I didn't want to drive all of the way to Spokane to have it serviced. Found out later that there was a Mercedes mechanic right in Richland that people would drive distances for because of his reputation. I was bummed. It had a silver lining though. He was willing to service my Volvo, and did a great job. Eventually I traded the Volvo for a VW Scirroco. Should have bought the 300D.

fintail · November 2020

There's a decent chance that 300D (77 would be a first year W123) is still on the road. Speaking of that, I saw an early 123 when I had the fintail out on Sunday, it was a wonderfully 70s shade of green, and looked very clean. That 300SD might be around, too. A 300 SD was probably the best MB choice in the early 80s (debuted for MY 1979, I think).

I think Spokane has had a MB dealer for maybe 50 years. It is now part of a local I think family owned conglomeration, back when I was a kid in the 80s it was called "Sutherland Motors", and I think it existed under another name before that. Tri-Cities has a dealer these days, maybe existing since around 1990. Somewhat surprisingly, Yakima has had a dealer for ages too, I think it is still owned by the Hahn group - it existed when I was a kid.

I'll need to track down a sympathetic shop/mechanic eventually, there has to be one around as I see old Euro cars out and about. Speaking of that, I think the fintail's odd vibration/noise issue might be in the driveline, maybe a joint or engine mount issue throwing something just a little out of balance. I have no way to fix something like that myself, of course.

bhill2 said:

Under the category of one that got away, when I was in the Tri-Cities in the late '70s I almost bought a '77 300D from the Spokane MB dealer. The car had been bought new and serviced there. The couple who originally bought it traded it for a 300SD. It was pristine. I was wowed by it and would have snatched it up except I didn't want to drive all of the way to Spokane to have it serviced. Found out later that there was a Mercedes mechanic right in Richland that people would drive distances for because of his reputation. I was bummed. It had a silver lining though. He was willing to service my Volvo, and did a great job. Eventually I traded the Volvo for a VW Scirroco. Should have bought the 300D.

stickguy · November 2020

Might be your Giubo. I assume MB used it on your car too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AGKa6QqGKbU

fintail · November 2020

Funny, watching that video made me think about it, as when I had the car checked out before the trip and asked for the wheel bearings to be look at, they were determined to be fine. I know my engine mounts are very old and unpretty, and they can throw a lot out of balance.

stickguy · November 2020

Watched the first 10 minutes. Pretty wild what some people do. Kinda sad though. Probably not all that far from TJC’s new digs.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4FkQEePz9PA

xwesx · November 2020

stickguy said:
Watched the first 10 minutes. Pretty wild what some people do. Kinda sad though. Probably not all that far from TJC’s new digs.

Neat! It is amazing how easy it is for stuff to end up cluttered up like this. In fact, it seems to be a fair bit of work just to keep things under control at times. Not just cars, but anything that might be easy to say, "Yeah, I'll just put this here because it might come in handy someday...."

I think you guys might be shocked... hell, even some of these junk collectors like in the video above would be shocked, at the clutter that my wife's uncle accumulated on the old family property in Pennsylvania. The sheer volume makes most of these other guys look like lightweights (and I kid you not!).

stickguy · November 2020

some people really should not be allowed to have a lot of land (or storage space in the house!)

fintail · November 2020

Back around 1990, a friend of my dad bought some property in rural SW WA, and on it was a few dozen old cars, many of them overgrown with weeds, returning to the Earth. Cars ranged from the 40s to the 60s, and most weren't in bad shape for their storage conditions, especially compared to how they'd be if they were on the east coast. I got to visit the hoard a few times, and was given some trim pieces (hood ornaments mostly), as the cars were probably going to be scrapped, sold off anyway. I should have harvested the license plates, they'd be worth a pretty penny today.

tjc78 · November 2020

stickguy said:
some people really should not be allowed to have a lot of land (or storage space in the house!)

I’m scared with all the storage the new house has.

Two attics, closets everywhere and a pretty large basement storage room.

Wife and I both agreed that the attics are off limits and we have already purged more as we unpack. When we decorate for Christmas we will do another purge of the storage room.

Garage will be for cars and tools only. I have one side ready, need to work on the other side over the weekend. Previous owners put giant shelves on either side which blocks parking cars in there. I ripped out one side, just need to clear off the other and demo that. I have 215” of depth from the edge of the stairs to door. Enclave is only 205” and Volvo is 188” so plenty of room.

tjc78 · November 2020

If I ever get my land yacht it should fit on the other side without the stairs.

xwesx · November 2020

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:
some people really should not be allowed to have a lot of land (or storage space in the house!)
I’m scared with all the storage the new house has.

Two attics, closets everywhere and a pretty large basement storage room.

Wife and I both agreed that the attics are off limits and we have already purged more as we unpack. When we decorate for Christmas we will do another purge of the storage room.

Garage will be for cars and tools only. I have one side ready, need to work on the other side over the weekend. Previous owners put giant shelves on either side which blocks parking cars in there. I ripped out one side, just need to clear off the other and demo that. I have 215” of depth from the edge of the stairs to door. Enclave is only 205” and Volvo is 188” so plenty of room.

I'm not sure what sort of clearance you have, but eyelets or hooks on the ceiling (or walls) work great to hang yard equipment and get them completely out of the way, particularly if you move to electric machines - you can store the batteries in a separate area, and the remaining machine weight is pretty manageable in terms of lifting.

fintail · November 2020

I got a new accessory for the fintail, and something not seen every day - a first gen Thule ski rack. A friend of mine into old MBs is also very enthusiastic about period accessories, having tons for his old cars. He'd been bugging me to get a period correct rack for the car, but the ones that turned up on ebay would sell before I wanted to proceed. This one turned up about 30 miles from here, I made an offer, and picked it up. It's in excellent condition, especially for something like this, and appears complete. This style debuted in 1962, and is correct for the age of the car. I'll see about mounting it today, not sure if I will drive though, it was snowing when I got up this morning - welcome to the east side.

The first 2 cars in this fun history promo video have similar racks:

https://youtu.be/ByW0MKXZKbg

fintail · November 2020

Installed, as easy as it looks. Didn't take the car out though - was thinking about it for a grocery run but changed my mind due to the radar on the weather app. 10 mins later it was snowing and even started sticking a little, and some roads have de-icer and are gritty. I suppose it kind of looks the winter part, now to find some old wooden skis or maybe even old wood hockey sticks (I have some 40s era snowshoes, but don't think I'll put them on it):

kyfdx · November 2020

Those are cool

Michaell · November 2020

I like those, fin.

Hey, when you get a chance, can you pass judgement on this?

https://1993mercedes300ce.blogspot.com/2020/11/1993-mercedes-benz-300ce-convertible.html?fbclid=IwAR1-aKEWDirghN0fgIezLBVC_1zqfG6u2y5hy9CXvRBTiIjzTk5c4_Tpca4&m=1

ab348 · November 2020

How do skis or hockey sticks attach to that?

fintail · November 2020

I think he's a little optimistic - not insane, but there's some room.

Pros: Many problem areas addressed, seller appears to be detail-oriented and honest about condition issues.

Cons: Price, miles and cosmetic wear, no mention of wiring harness, which is a big fail point on these cars. I'd feel a lot better if it too had been done - with those miles, it possibly has, but needs a PPI. I am sure the seller is wincing a little after having so much work done (and realizing this was an 80K car when new), but only the best of the best of these, that is, low miles with perfect original finishes, bring top dollar. This one would be more of a nice driver. I'd want a PPI with no issues, and then negotiate maybe 20%. I don't think it'll fly off the rack at 16K.

Michaell said:
I like those, fin.

Hey, when you get a chance, can you pass judgement on this?

https://1993mercedes300ce.blogspot.com/2020/11/1993-mercedes-benz-300ce-convertible.html?fbclid=IwAR1-aKEWDirghN0fgIezLBVC_1zqfG6u2y5hy9CXvRBTiIjzTk5c4_Tpca4&m=1

fintail · November 2020

Probably hard to see in my pics, there are movable elastic/rubber straps that run parallel to the main bar, in the black area. It can kind of be seen at around 0:33-34 in the video I linked above.

ab348 said:
How do skis or hockey sticks attach to that?

stickguy · November 2020

nice stately classic benz, but those paint colors do nothing for me.

ab348 · November 2020

stickguy said:
nice stately classic benz, but those paint colors do nothing for me.

Those convertibles always looked like bathtubs to me. Not really swoopy or graceful enough to pull off a convertible style.

ab348 · November 2020

fintail said:
Probably hard to see in my pics, there are movable elastic/rubber straps that run parallel to the main bar, in the black area. It can kind of be seen at around 0:33-34 in the video I linked above.

Ah. The only thing I got out of the video initially was that Swedish pop music all seemed to be blatant ripoffs of American/British pop music of the era.

Michaell · November 2020

fintail said:
I think he's a little optimistic - not insane, but there's some room.

Pros: Many problem areas addressed, seller appears to be detail-oriented and honest about condition issues.

Cons: Price, miles and cosmetic wear, no mention of wiring harness, which is a big fail point on these cars. I'd feel a lot better if it too had been done - with those miles, it possibly has, but needs a PPI. I am sure the seller is wincing a little after having so much work done (and realizing this was an 80K car when new), but only the best of the best of these, that is, low miles with perfect original finishes, bring top dollar. This one would be more of a nice driver. I'd want a PPI with no issues, and then negotiate maybe 20%. I don't think it'll fly off the rack at 16K.

Michaell said:
I like those, fin.

Hey, when you get a chance, can you pass judgement on this?

https://1993mercedes300ce.blogspot.com/2020/11/1993-mercedes-benz-300ce-convertible.html?fbclid=IwAR1-aKEWDirghN0fgIezLBVC_1zqfG6u2y5hy9CXvRBTiIjzTk5c4_Tpca4&m=1

@fintail - thanks, I knew I could count on you for an honest review. I do remember these being $75-80K when new (seemed like all the money in the world at the time).

The ad was posted on the Colorado Cars & Coffee FB page, so I'm also not surprised at the attention to detail.

fintail · November 2020

Dodging copyright no doubt - mute or reduction of volume has a purpose in such cases lol

ab348 said:

Ah. The only thing I got out of the video initially was that Swedish pop music all seemed to be blatant ripoffs of American/British pop music of the era.

fintail · November 2020

It's probably a nice car, just maybe a little high. Looks like the owner has spent several grand on it recently, and is probably trying to not lose his shirt.

I recall when those debuted, something like a 25K premium over the coupe - that was real money then, S-class price.

Michaell said:

@fintail - thanks, I knew I could count on you for an honest review. I do remember these being $75-80K when new (seemed like all the money in the world at the time).

The ad was posted on the Colorado Cars & Coffee FB page, so I'm also not surprised at the attention to detail.

fintail · November 2020

The fintail in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' has a similar but different rack - not trying to re-create this car though, as one may recall, it eventually meets an unfortunate end:

xwesx · November 2020

fintail said:
The fintail in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' has a similar but different rack - not trying to re-create this car though, as one may recall, it eventually meets an unfortunate end:

Poor choice in occupants. IIRC, the "bad guys" were driving it when it became the toast of the party....

fintail · November 2020

As per usual for a Bond film (the baddie in that installment (Telly Savalas) had a MB 600), and we all probably remember the bad guy Pontons in Goldfinger..

I posted the rack to the facebook fintail groups (I'm not a facebooker, but many car groups have migrated there), and people went nuts, I guess these old accessories are a thing. Some more old racks:

xwesx said:

Poor choice in occupants. IIRC, the "bad guys" were driving it when it became the toast of the party....

xwesx · November 2020

I have a confession to make, and I hope I don't get kicked out of the group for this.... I don't think I have actually watched a full bond movie prior to 1987's "The Living Daylights," though I have seen many segments of those prior films. I know, I'm a bad person.

xwesx · November 2020

This has a sorta Bond vibe about it... Pretty car, but wow that price....

stickguy · November 2020

gorgeous car. Though I think I prefer the coupe version on these.

fintail · November 2020

The 60s-80s ones are the best anyway, after that they are very hit and miss.

xwesx said:
I have a confession to make, and I hope I don't get kicked out of the group for this.... I don't think I have actually watched a full bond movie prior to 1987's "The Living Daylights," though I have seen many segments of those prior films. I know, I'm a bad person.

tjc78 · November 2020

fintail said:
The 60s-80s ones are the best anyway, after that they are very hit and miss.

xwesx said:
I have a confession to make, and I hope I don't get kicked out of the group for this.... I don't think I have actually watched a full bond movie prior to 1987's "The Living Daylights," though I have seen many segments of those prior films. I know, I'm a bad person.

Agreed

xwesx · November 2020

Well, darn. I guess I will need to set aside some time to filter through these.

fintail · November 2020

For 007, I am partial to OHMSS - fintail and other MB content, Telly Savalas is amazing in it, an actual sad ending in a Bond film. All of the 60s ones are good, most of the 70s ones, and I still like View to a Kill, too.

At an estate sale in the Seattle area tomorrow, a W111 220SE coupe (essentially a fintail coupe):

Euro model, 4-speed, and apparently has AC:

Also a late run Ponton:

No prices. I'd stop by if I wasn't now 5 hours away.

sda · November 2020

I really like the red leather interior. AC, too, nice.

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

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