And how do you drive it?
 

Inquiring minds want to know!

Bought the car for wife for Christmas '02. She drives it daily except when snow/ice/SALT about. Gotta get the hard top off this week!
'88 560SL

I drive normally and resist the urge to smoke somebody when they are tailgating me. And when I dust somebody, they are in disbelief when they see I am a quarter mile ahead of them within seconds!!!

Das ist gut!

I'm definitely a fair weather driver and generally don't put the Benz on the road unless it's a top-down kind of day. I'm retired now and very much like to take to country roads during week days. I'll leave the weekends to the working class!

Let's hear from the daily drivers!
 

I have driven mine up to 7500 miles in a year. It's not my only driver but I am trying to wear it out. One year I drove it in the snow (with snow tires). I drive it moderately but sometimes I really get on it. There is a lot of torque but it's heavy and you have to be careful.

Also bought mine for the wife as a birthday present in 2000. She doesn't drive much, and when she does, it's only when the weather is picture-perfect.

If I'm driving it, you can bet it's because my destination is the filling station or the repair shop...:rolleyes:

Driven fast
 

I may be the odd man out here, but I drive it pretty fast normally 80+MPH often on long trips across the midwest.

Not odd at all. Just took mine on a roundtrip today to Detroit and back, a couple of hours each way on freeway. One brief stint to 95 on the way down, coming back cruising at 80 on I-96 (Michigan's Autobahn) listening to Sibelius--I do love this car.

I too am often on the major freeways around Toronto and my 380SL runs smooth and true at freeway speeds although it's a more enjoyable ride for my wife and I when we're on back country roads. Next week we'll take it to Ottawa for the 'tuilip festival" using freeway to get there but country roads only on the return trip.

I just bought mine in november of 2003 from an original owner that has only put 31,000 miles on it. So far it has only come out of the garage about 5 times and only gone about 30 miles at a time. It is in such amazing condition I'm afraid to leave it parked anywhere. How do you get over that fear? The amount I have driven it thus far I love it.

I don't think you will ever lose that uneasy feeling when you leave the car parked out in the public domain. I am always VERY fussy about where I leave the car parked. If I can't find a parking slot with lots of room on both sides and located in an area that I consider to be fairly secure, I just move on. I don't use the 380SL to run errands around town but instead use it when the main objective of the day is to go for a cruise. In this way I don't find myself in the position of having to leave it parked unattended for hours at a time. When we stop for lunch on one of our cruises I try to leave it parked where its in full view.

My wife and daughter, of course, think I am out of my mind!

Fellow SL Fans, what is driving hard?
 

I have hit 110 mph in mine but it's got a lot left. I am changing the A-arm and sub-frame bushings and front brakes before I go over 110. I cruise at 85 but that is normal speed on the Chicago highways. Sometimes it will rev to over 5500 rpm on a wicked launch. It really sings over 3500 rpm when the timing advances. I wanted to take it on a race track but don't really trust it. I autocrossed it once. I slid it through a curve and the back end came way out. The correction slid it the other way (swapping ends) a couple of times. It was not easy to straighten it out and I could have crashed. That is when it feels most heavy.

I can't seem to pamper the car. After a death in my family I figure it could possibly happen to me anytime (accident, terrorist or whatever). My friend said "then someone else will be enjoying your car". I am going to drive it whatever way I want to (at the time) with safety as the major consideration.

BTW, bowbyeal, what is your paint code number? It looks like 199 but it's hard to tell from a photo.

Steve,

The color is called "anthracite grey" and I believe the code is 172. It's a very dark grey with a hint of brown in it. I would prefer red to go along with the mid-life crisis but this one is a keeper.

Bowbyeal, I like your choice of colors!:D

Craig,

Your taste is impecable!