I kind of think not having the price of these cars go through the roof is a good thing. I've bought and sold a few manual 240s mainly because I love bringing a nice one back. There are rust free bodies out there with original paint under the grime and interiors without cracked dashs, that can be had cheap. IMO a low millage, rust free, well kept W123 is worth a bunch, but its nice too still be able too get a "plus beater" for around 1.5-2K.

You dont find cars this clean ,UNLESS ,you pay attention to detail.Im guessing their taking apart clean examples to start with and making them look factory fresh.Its done with muscle car era vehicles all the time .People pay for the look and feel of a new car,just beware of the odo being current.

The Greatful Dead were marketing geniuses in my book. ;)

Cars like the ones in this thread are my idea of a daily driver, so I'm apparently not a normal person. I've tried and tried to just live with the idea of fixing our '77 up to be only clean and solid, but far from perfect, but then I start working on something, and before I know it, I'm waxing the inside of wheel wells, or spending over a year collecting the finest bits and pieces I can drag out of the salvage yards. Several times, I've bought a part only to find one slightly nicer a few months later, so of course, I buy another and another, all in the name of obtaining perfection.

I'm just the kind of nut job that would spend $20k on one of those cars if it weren't for the fact that I also enjoy the work that it takes to make a car that nice, so buying one that was already perfect would be robbing me of a sense of accomplishment. I like rolling my own. :)

I'm pretty nuts about keeping my cars clean, but I can't even get my SL looking that nice and its only driven 2k a year.

Mine are nice drivers, those are museum pieces.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC02204.jpg


http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01836.jpg

The only 2 I've seen even close to the same as the ones listed in JGS are Patrick (Mbeige) and Derek (Turbobenz) during my trip to Cali.

Poor picture, but its the 2 behind mine.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC02001.jpg

[quote=sd300td;2133926]Money laundering? Really?? I can think of a few easier ways to scrub money...

But can you think of a more enjoyable way?
Besides, the key to a good laundering operation is selling something
for way more than it's actually worth without looking suspicious.
Something these guys are doing very well.
Friend in collage "sold" bows for violins/cellos/violas etc, for WAY more than they were worth, but he also was able to drop 50k/year into a nice legal
bank account. Never did see any one buy his premium bows, but he sold a couple dozen every year.

[QUOTE=cmbdiesel;2134289]Understood. Tyler is right about Mbeige and turbobenz' rides..nicest w123's I've seen personally that are driven daily/regularly. There are a couple of coupes as well (one in palm desert, one in FLA) that are uber-clean.

The cars sold by this operation are destined to be modern museum classics. I bought the finest wagon I could afford, yet it requires significant time and investment to be even close to this seller's cars.

For someone with $20,000 to spend on a pristine, restored, w123, I imagine that they have a lot more disposable income to use for investment, collections, joy-rides, etc. I believe that these guys who sell a handful of cars each year do just that...it takes time to find these cars and clean them to this level of "freshness". They're not making big bucks selling these cars for what they're asking. Making a living? Yes. Making a ton of cash? Maybe. Living high on the hog? Probably not.

They could call me tomorrow, offer $7000, maybe $8000 for my wagon. It'd take at least $3000 to bring it up to speed mechanically (steering box, tach, cruise control, getting the rear window washer working, refreshing a few old hoses, etc.) Double that for interior and exterior refinish...then you have a $14,000 wagon. Problem is that it has 187,000 miles on the thing...it'll never be one of these cars for the mileage alone. But it's mine, cleans up nicely and show well, is extremely reliable and I drive it everyday. Lets not talk about the pending front-end work that'll likely need to be done in a year or two...:eek:

FYI, one of the most efficient ways to launder money is to visit a casino. That's fun! Again, folks with that sort of disposable income don't worry about things like taxes and money laundering...you're absolutely right in that the cost is probably expensed elsewhere.

On another topic, I like the fact that someone is refurbishing these cars. It'll only add value to our cars. At the very lease keep them from depreciating significantly...

Paint ,Polish , and Replacement.Investment in parts such as hoses belts ,tires ,headlights and doors,rear lens units,replacement seat covers for front seats, window seals ,window motors(if needed),brakes,dash pad,a/c compressor ,wheels refurbished.After that cost Im guessing his out of pocket cost is $3500 & change in parts.Paint $350 if he does himself.A/C himself .Car bought for $3000 or under . Doubling his money.Time, effort and overhead ,hes about right.The motor and trans would be in question though.Trannie and motor rebuild would be over budget .Just an educated guess,my 69 Mach 1 didnt make it thru total restoration, ran out of the budget and sold it under investment. He needs to be more detailed though , no rust means no rust.

Sorry about your Mustang
If it'll make you feel better, watch Barrett-Jackson some time and watch some of those beauties sell for what has to be way less than what was invested in them

Yes your right! i bought one of their cars, 85 300d
guy was really nice car looked great , upon arrival car had no ac, a broken throttle linkage ,leaking fuel return hoses , leaking fuel injector ,bad front axles, , cut turbo hose , not working cigarette lighter, bad rear window regulator and blew the water pump within 2 days. He reimbursed me for the Ac at $249 but not for anything else. His reason was "you can't predict what problems may develop in the future" What future it was 2 days!!. Funny thing was the invoices he sent showing the service he had done on the car during restoration included a section where the mechanic listed recommended repairs , this list included the axles ,water pump, window , ac switch, etc. I called him on it and sent copies of my repair cost plus his invoices with recommended repairs but he did not respond . live and learn

Which one did you purchase? Their cars always looked clean, but now its apparent that they do not refurbish these vehicles but merely put lipstick on them.

How long ago was this and which car? It seems they have fallen off the bandwagon as their site is not updated.

At least your starting with a pretty one, I imagine. Half of the people on this forum didn't, and either spent alot to remedy it or just live with the blemishes.

They ain't Hippies.There are capitalist Pigs,like our plastic fathers.

85 300d
 

I bought it about 1 1/2 years ago, paid $11,500 ouch!!
it was on their site not on ebay. I own a 79 300sd that I bought for $1500
10 years ago and I love it, it keeps running and running no matter what, but it has too many problems to restore. I have always wanted a really nice one so when I got some money and needed a nice car I decided to buy what I hope was a car that had everything working and looked beautiful , I guess it seems crazy now to think something that old would not need fixing but we bought a Honda crv for $10,000 a few years ago and I know that it is not going to last like this car is. I guess now I have to just keep driving for as long as possible
to make up for all the money I spent. By the way the paint is original on mine
it has scratches in the clear coat and it is just starting to oxidize a little,
any idea how to fix that ? It really has no rust and a beautiful interior .

a few things are obivous here is they only take cars that were rarely driven, owned by people who had money to store the cars properly and take care of them and getting the cars from the right areas(california etc) which means they are just out to make a profit. The highest mileage vehicle i saw was like 130K. I would like them to take in a car with over 200k miles on it and make it into show room shape but it wont happen since they wont be making much profit on it so Im not impressed with their level of work. My 77 would fall in the latter caterogory just needs some stuff and here there but the potential to make it into showroom shape is there.

I bought my 84 300d 15 years ago for for 8500, it had 57k on it - It now has 210k. Its an amazing car - would like to have smoother shifts but still amazing. Have replaced everything that is rubber in the car - only just this week have I had to replace a window regulator.

If I could find an 85 300td wagon that has had the same maint as mine -(not brown thank you) I would pay 20k for it.

WOW!!!
 

Holy thread revival Batman!



FNHB

They do restore the cars from the ground up, from what I've seen.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercedesmotoring/4383184737/