Heh, I'm working on being adpoted enough to get to drive the SLK (although I the one and only time that I have driven it was to take that photo). Actually the first 4 (left to right) cars are owned by "converted" family members. The first two are owned by a once die-hard Taurus owner. The next one by a Caddy owner, and the 3rd by my wife who at one point just considered the MBs overpriced and expensive to fix. My mom, sister and aunt have all been long time MB owners/drivers. My dad and I (who are out of frame) have both owned MBs (mostly diesels) but currently we each own Isuzus (and yes, I'd trade my Trooper for a G-Wagen in a heartbeat if I were given the chance).

-Tad

Tad nice cars, get yourself nice MB, you deserve it.

Here's a very recent pic of the '85 wagon on the way back from N / E Texas.
The smell of diesel while eating fried chicken must have been worth advertising to someone out in Van Horn, TX where I stopped for a fill-up. Place is now a derelict building. Oh yes, my odometer was at 222203 at that time.

The car ran very well from No Cal to Texas and back, I kept it up around 75 - 80 MPH most of the way when possible (why do SUV's like to bunch up together and camp in the fast lane?) plus a few brief runs at 90 (Italian tune up). A real cruiser it is. Used just under 2 quarts over the 3900 mile trip which pleased me greatly. Car got new oil cooler lines and a new vac pump just before I left.
I noticed a rear axle started making a bad sound under heavy acceleration on right hand turns. I lost a nights sleep over that but took it easy until the car was up to speed and no further noises so its a project for the future, but I could have had fun if I lost an axle in Corinth where it was snowing the day it was noisy. I figure it was because of the load (5 passengers, 2 cases of wine, a 17 in CRT monitor, full complement of luggage and more).

I have been thinking of a way to get all my fleet together for a group shot, maybe next year I can pull that one off.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Here's a picture of the fleet. The two "green machines" are our fleet. The gray SDL and the black SDL belong to "smokey" and "airfoill"

-Joe

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Great pics Joe. That Black SDL looks almost exactly like mine, when it's waxed that is. We all need a GTG here in Texas.
A Texas GTG here in Austin, So guys can travel from Dallas, Houston, The Valley and from San Angelo(west) or from anywhere in the country. I'm sure we can get a good group and hopefully this Spring.

Here's the shop. Actually it's just a garage at my moms farm. This is my 300SDL. I've taken the engine and trans out. The trans has been rebuilt and I'm working on the engine. It's a long term project.

The next two are of my other MBs. The light blue 240D is gone now. The engine was ruined after it ran away from consuming it's own oil through the breather tube. Then there's my daily driver, the brown 300SD and my wife's ML320.

The last pic shows my newest addition, another '85 300SD. This is the one I've been replacing the cylinder head on. Oops, better get outside and work on it while it's still warm outside.

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)