And how do you drive it?

[cbdo]

Inquiring minds want to know!

[BobK]

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

[Boudreaux]

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!

[bowbyeal]

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!

[Steve Gutman]

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.

[G-Benz]

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...

[ldcleve]

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

[cbdo]

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.

[bowbyeal]

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.

[NEAL560SL]

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.

[bowbyeal]

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!

[Steve Gutman]

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.

[bowbyeal]

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.

[cbdo]

Bowbyeal, I like your choice of colors!

[bowbyeal]

Craig,

Your taste is impecable!