Car of the week

[Patrick_R]

Yes mate, would you believe I’ve been looking for one for years, and the others just fell into my lap really.

I do like that blue one though, and it’s in Sydney.

 

[c107]

Yes mate, would you believe I’ve been looking for one for years, and the others just fell into my lap really.

I do like that blue one though, and it’s in Sydney.

That blue one looks like its worth a look.
It can be hard to find a nice 116 (that is not a 6.9).
I was actually looking for a w116 when I purchased my red 126, but its much easier to find a decent 126 than it is a 116. 126 are not as susceptible to rust.

good luck finding the right car.

 

[Patrick_R]

Thanks mate.

I’ll keep on looking.

Maybe check the blue one this weekend.

 

[Patrick_R]

Is this car really as rare as the seller is stating?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1965-Mercedes-Benz-300SE-Fintail-/254529814803

 

[c107]

Is this car really as rare as the seller is stating?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1965-Mercedes-Benz-300SE-Fintail-/254529814803

He is right about only about 5000 made. The rare one is the long wheelbase version (not 300SEL, but 300SE Lang) though. The prices quoted are silly though.
The valuable one is the 300SE Cabriolet and to a lesser extent coupe. Even the long wheelbase four door is not even close to that value.

 

[Patrick_R]

This would be a can of worms for sure.

 

[c107]

This would be a can of worms for sure.

This would be a bugger of a restoration. So few of these cars made and so many parts are now NLA. You would be scouring the earth for rare used parts.

 

[Styria]

The beauty of W116 styling - please observe the photo taken that appeared on facebook. When all said and done, are there many other cars that display the intrinsic quality of styling ? I have my doubts. Regards Styria

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10215367175683612&set=gm.10158038225791684&type=3&theater

.......and even the colour is spot on.

 

[Styria]

Talking about the 300SE Sedan that Patrick found. I can add a fair bit more to this post as I did own the 1966 300SE Lang version ! It might constitute a good yarn talking about this car and the one I used to own. More later. However, at one stage and some years ago, rumour had it that there was only one Lang example registered for road use in Germany. Regards Styria

N.B. In addition, Craig S. would be the perfect person to talk about restoration of the 300 engine, as found in the Adenauer versions, and also the 300SL (about 1961), the Gullwing and the various versions of the Heck tail 300s built between 1962 and 1966.

 

[Patrick_R]

All I can say chaps, is you would need a wallet as wide as this car is long to bring it back to any reasonable condition.

The only thing I think you could do with this vehicle, is keep it exactly as found, hang onto it for a few years and advertise the crap out of it exclusively in Europe and the USA.
They would be the only destinations that hopefully someone would want a fairly rare car like this.
That being said, one would need to make sure this was a matching numbers car, otherwise it’s value would be greatly effected.

 

[Patrick_R]

I like all original vehicles regardless of make.

How good is this.
Not even a crack in the dash which is what all early Japanese cars suffered from.
This looks like an Australian made Corona due to the AMI badging.













https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/202926351790

 

[Patrick_R]

I’m off to Queensland for a sales meeting at my Australian head office at Wacol Thursday & Friday of this week.

While there, I will be visiting the owner of this lovely 1958 FC Special.
What a lovely looking FC in Colleen Green.

 

[Styria]

He is right about only about 5000 made. The rare one is the long wheelbase version (not 300SEL, but 300SE Lang) though. The prices quoted are silly though.
The valuable one is the 300SE Cabriolet and to a lesser extent coupe. Even the long wheelbase four door is not even close to that value.

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I must admit my surprise that a 300SE Coupe sold on Car Sales for the amount quoted. If that is correct, the market has quadrupled over the last few years. I really don't understand it as the cars are really not that good - style wise fine, but in that regard, any Convertible version looks better. Our own C107 has a beautifully kept 250SE Convertible, and it is in exceptional condition.

Regarding the car advertised - it is the standard wheelbase version, and obviously in very poor condition. This is probably a stab in the dark, but it suspiciously looks like a car that I once looked at with a view to purchase about forty five years ago. The old chap wanted $500.00 for it, but when I offered $300.00 he got annoyed and took away a glass of water that my son had asked for as, obviously, he was thirsty. I am digressing. He quotes $80K. top to bottom restoration. I guess you could do it for close to that figure, but I would want to be much, much younger than I am now, and I would also want to have a lot more liquid funds to undertake the restoration.

The car that I owned, viz. the "Lang" version, I bought for $2300.00 back in about 1978, maybe a bit before that. It was a great family car. Huge boot, self levelling, roomy interior, and an uncanny engine with typical operational noise on account of its all alloy construction, but a surprisingly fast cruiser on the open road. 90 miles an hour was child's play. The engine itself is probably one of Mercedes' most expensive engines to rebuild, and always was. Gearbox nothing special, very similar to all of the "60s gearboxes. Interior about $25K. from go to whoa but it is all accounted for in the $80K. price quoted for restoration.

I think the preferable model would be the next W109 300SEL of 1967/1968 vintage and I know where there is one (not for sale at this stage) awaiting restoration. In many respects, it is a much sounder car than the one advertised. Again, a lot of work if you have the time, patience and money. I doubt that its present owner will ever get around to restoring it, but I must not put the car before the horse. I will probably be able to expand further on this car and the various myriads I can come up with, and I consider it to be a quite fascinating subject. I even have some pics. of the 300SE I owned for that period of seven years. Regards Styria

 

[c107]

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I must admit my surprise that a 300SE Coupe sold on Car Sales for the amount quoted. If that is correct, the market has quadrupled over the last few years. I really don't understand it as the cars are really not that good - style wise fine, but in that regard, any Convertible version looks better. Our own C107 has a beautifully kept 250SE Convertible, and it is in exceptional condition.

Are you sure? Unless you know either the buyer or seller, you never know.

For example, I advertised my Traction Avant for $22,500. I sold it for $20k. Carsales is not updated on final selling price and the ad if found later on the internet will be reflected as $22,500.

Many of the dealers have outrageously inflated prices. Nobody but them knows what the cars actually sell for.

This is why Auctions are the only way to really know the true value of collector cars. Challenge with rare ones is having enough auctions to smooth out variance (e.g. bidding wars on the upside, and bargains on the lower).

 

[c107]

That FC holden looks great. Love the period double green livery!

 

[Patrick_R]

Yes Bryce, this is what caught my eye.

My mum and dad’s original kitchen in their new home in 1958 (same as the FC) was the same 2 shades.

I then remember my mother when I was a kid painting the kitchen in 2 shades of yellow.

Love the old 50’s colour schemes.

 

[c107]

This is a pre-merger AMG SLC in a double green livery.
These cars are starting to fetch real money although I am not convinced that AMG had much do with some of the mods outside the body kit. It doesn't have the cohesiveness of Michel's 107 AMG.

They also mention a different diff ratio, but don't specify what it is. One presumes it was a 3.46 out of a 350 with an LSD centre.


https://barnfinds.com/gray-market-amg-1975-mercedes-450-slc/

 

[c107]

Yes Bryce, this is what caught my eye.

My mum and dad’s original kitchen in their new home in 1958 (same as the FC) was the same 2 shades.

I then remember my mother when I was a kid painting the kitchen in 2 shades of yellow.

Love the old 50’s colour schemes.

yes I grew up in a house with one green bathroom and one pink bathroom. Very 50s!

 

[Michel]

This is a pre-merger AMG SLC in a double green livery.
These cars are starting to fetch real money although I am not convinced that AMG had much do with some of the mods outside the body kit. It doesn't have the cohesiveness of Michel's 107 AMG.

They also mention a different diff ratio, but don't specify what it is. One presumes it was a 3.46 out of a 350 with an LSD centre.


https://barnfinds.com/gray-market-amg-1975-mercedes-450-slc/

I doubt this is more than just an AMG body Kit with some Ronal wheels and a Guigiaro steering wheel. AMG used to fit Italovolante steering wheels de rigeur.
The speedo is unchanged (normally changed to 300km/h with AMG in the middle) and standard seats.
Also AMG would not fit chrome wheel arches and would normally colour-code the chrome all around.

 

[c107]

One for Patrick, this is on facebook marketplace:

$10,000
About this vehicle
Driven 190,000 km
Automatic transmission
Exterior colour: Silver · Interior colour: Blue
Seller's description
Perfect running vehicle, like new.
Suspension/shocks was refurbished 2 years ago with New MB Parts.
Injectors were reconditioned at the same time.
Everything in working order
Replaced interior seats with "like new" MB Tex
Fantastic 6 stacker CD Player.
New front windscreen seals and glass,
Paint work is great.