In many ways, it's the best of the 107's - highest horsepower and small bumpers, manual heat, uncomplicated engines. But that comes with challenges.

- if you want to keep the car authentic, you will need the help of a sympathetic dealer parts guy. You can get some stuff through the online vendors, but factory-only stuff will need to come from Europe through a dealer.

- finding someone to work on it will be a challenge. Most shops don't like older cars, much less cars where they have to chase special order parts. If you can do your own work, that's a plus.

- getting it smogged. If you have to pass a three-gas test, you may be in trouble. Because of the higher compression and hotter cams, NOx is a challenge. Can you get a waiver if it doesn't pass? This is getting harder.

- conversion stuff. All of these cars had to be federalized. So you need to look closely at the catalytic converter, and how the oxygen sensor is wired up. Most of these were installed with after-market control units and support for those is non-existent. If you have to have a working system to pass emissions, this could be a real problem.

It sounds like you have found a nice car. But you may be better off with a US model as your first 107. There are plenty of cars around for that price.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe