Thought I would share some pictures of my two newest cars.
I've had the Saab for just over a year now and it's been my daily driver since my 380 SEL pooped out (numerous times!). It's a manual and gets about 30 mpg. It's only in the pictures because I took these for myself and I wanted to showcase both of my cars together.
I bought the 450 SEL in June with the intent of turning it for a profit to help pay for school. I had it on craigslist for awhile, but nobody bit so I've decided to keep it. It will be a nice "graduation present" for myself when I get out of college and get to finally start throwing lots of money at it :) The car only has 69,000 miles and I have most of the records for it. Mechanically the car is excellent. I've replaced the battery and spark plugs. I was planning to do a full tune-up because at high rpms there is a stutter and hesitation, but alas school has started and I'm back to being a broke student. Overall she drives great. Literally everything works except the A/C which broke a few hours after I bought the car....the clutch broke on the compressor so I cut the belt. Before that it blew ice cold and was converted to R-134a...though I've heard that's a bad thing. Cosmetically she just needs a few things. Obviously the paint is shot. The leather is great and the front seats were recently restuffed with MB horse hair, but the back seats still sag a bit. There is also one split developing on the dashboard, but I already have some ideas for dealing with that. Overall the chrome is in pretty good shape, but if I ever get her repainted I'll probably rechrome the bumpers as they show some scratches up close. I've searched pretty thoroughly, and the only rust I can find is surface rust around the sunroof where the oxidized paint has chipped away, small bubbles on the rear left fender, and a bit of rust on the front of the passenger rocker panel where the dark coating has given way. I'd like to get some MB black floor mats as opposed to the mats already in it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2426.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2427.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2429.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2431.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2432.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2436.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/My%20Cars/100_2438.jpg)
And a few more pics that I took with my camera phone right after I bought the car.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081138aB.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081139bB.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081140B.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081140aB.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081140bB.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081141.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081141AA.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081144a.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/bfam4t6/Mercedes/1976%20450%20SEL%20for%20sale/0613081145.jpg)
Hell that's a keeper. Ditch the Saab ;D
Seriously though, the BBS wheels look fantastic on the car and the car itself looks in very good nic. I can see why you bought it. A low mileage one too, I assume it must have been parked outside in the elements for some time for the paint to deteriorate which is a shame. If that was fixed you'd think it'd be worth a nice sum. Finding a buyer is always a problem though.
Haha thanks...I wish I could ditch the Saab. Parts are just too expensive and I hate working on that car compared to a Benz. However, I enjoy driving too much and need a car with good gas mileage and I'm trying to avoid Japanese cars....too much plastic!!
I guess I should have mentioned that the car is a 1976 so it's fuel injected. It was a 1 owner car until the first owner, some old rich lady, gifted it to her mechanic. The mechanic is by trade a BMW mechanic and owns many sweet old BMWs including a Euro CSI in some bright reddish orange paint that I hope he hasn't sold by the time I am out of college and could offer him some money for it. Anyways, kooky rich lady gives him the car in 2001. Family asks that he keeps it until she passes. This guy is into BMW "sports cars" and decides to chop the springs and throw in the BBS. I think he also stuffed the seats. However, that's all he did with it. He gave me photocopies of the old title and his and I know for a fact that he only drove it 1,100 miles in the 7 years he had it. He basically let it sit outside...keeping his bimmers nice and comfortable in his garage. The lady is still alive, but the guy decided he couldn't watch such a nice car rot anymore and since he has no real enthusiasm for Mercedes he got permission from her family to sell the car. Now I have it :) According to the title I'm the third owner, but I like to think I'm the second. The other guy was just babysitting my car until I was old enough :D
And according to the mechanic, the old lady liked to brag about how well she touched up the paint with nail polish. Judging by the placement of the nail polish which is still on the car, I think the paint was oxidizing well before the mechanic got a hold of her, but his leaving the car outside so much definitely didn't help the matter. I've considered getting a cheapo respray next summer when I have a few extra bucks just to seal the body while I save up to properly restore the car.
Oh and if anyone knows where I can find some BBS centercaps for these rims please let me know. Three of the four are a bit worn. I've had no luck with ebay and google so far.
That's an interesting story with a solid history. Becoming more and more hard to come by cars like that IMO. Well done.
Regarding the centre caps, try this link http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=77 I can't tell exactly what yours look like or how big they are but go though there list and see what might fit or look right.