350SE - 1980

[fatherpierre]

fatherpierre,


Some comments intrigue me as I wonder what your profession is;

-70 mercs!,
-drive fast for a living,
-and gutsy enough to try a newly acquired 26yo car at 1**mph

Not that I'd expect you to divulge what you really do for a living, but from the above clues, my guess is your either a Valet Parking Attendant or a Crash Test Dummy? Am I close?

Fascinating posts. Especially of your mention of experiences with mercs and comments about the 116's and the 350.  I too am amazed with my MBTex quality and although some cars demand leather, I'd be happy to stick with this durable good looking vinyl. I can only agree with the comparisons between 116's and 126's.  (Although I've never driven a 126).

I'll second Michaeld's comment and hope you can share more.

Cheers,
Simon.

Profession?  It's not so hard to work out . 

I've had so many old Mercs that I tend to trust them to do big speed!  Besides, I'd already spent 45 mins in stop/start London traffic without a hitch so figured the beast would take a bit of stick!  Which it did with ease.

You really must try the 126, if only to see the improvements in aerodynamics and slight build quality over the already excellent 116.  There is little in the handling as the 126 is just as ship-like to drive.  The main downside, I find is that the engines are far quieter (must be down to noise laws) and the use of plastic on the body makes it less easy on the eye.

Here are few pictures of Mercs (and others) I've had, loved and moved on.  The white 116 had an amazing 804000 on the clock and was on its original engine and box!  I loved that car and wished I'd have kept it.



























And my dog!

[Denis]

Hmmm...I see that your cute dog got the best of the Mini's tail pipe 

Denis

Paris, France

[fatherpierre]

The 500SEC was an ebay acquisition about a year ago from a guy who had just bought a mint 560SEC.  It was a 1983 model and hda a really sickly chocolate brown interior.

I had it for about 4 months and sold it on as the timing chain noise was getting worse and I was quoted about £1000 to have them sorted - I only paid £650 for the whole car!

It was AMGed from new in their factory and not some badged up normal car.  It handled fantastically - miles better than any 126 I've had.  It was a lovely car ot drive and gave 25mpg if you were careful.

I sold it to a welsh bloke with, and this is no lie, one arm  .  He had no right arm (lost it in a bike accident).  I thought he was joking when he told me, but he was one armed on my door step and drove the car the 300+ miles back to Cardiff!!

The green CE was a 1984 model, mint bodywise, and all original, other than the chrome arch things.  I had that one for a year and made the interior almost as nice the bodywork.  That had over 250000 miles on it when I let her go and was still silky smooth.  It was bought by a retired BA engineer who stripped her down to nuts and bolts and replaced every item that wasn't A1 over a 6 month period.  When he'd finished it was as new.

The cream CE was 1979 280 and a bag of shit!  Rusty, leaky and the engine was probably putting out around half the 185 bhp it was meant to.  It never failed to start though, ran nicely and was probably the only CE in the world with a glass sunroof - an after market fit that let loads of light into her.  That car had character and looked great unti you got up close!