Wow, John. That's a cruiser!

There is a certain twisted doctor you know that let his daughter drive his 280 cabriolet as a high school car. He owned a 300SL too that had been in a few movies. Hence her affliction with the cars and thus, mine Its the only brand she has ever owned.

The perfect woman.

See also

www.oursl.com

www.slmarket.com

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I got a real nice present from my old man for getting my head out of my ass when I snagged her when I was 25 Those were his exact words, really.

Thanks for the links Jim. When I got my diesel benz, I got on this site and read the diesel posts for months, and months and months to educate myself on the car. I of course picked up other info about mbs as well. What I have found, is that although I supremely appreciate the quality and ownership associated with the MBs, I just have too many other hobbies to spend as much time on another car as I did researching the diesel I realized this when I got another German car last year and started perusing websites devoted to that vehicle--it was overwhelming (I recently sold said vehicle). So on this convertible quest, my goal is to have my indie and another friend look for me, and pay one of them a reasonable finders fee (one will be paid in duck hunts ) for locating a decent example. I don't see how some of you guys (you are one of the main ones) have acquired so much knowledge of these damn things while carrying on what obviously are full lives! Hats off to ye and keep the posts coming for us neophytes.

A 1959 220 SE with fuel injection is a rare bird. The chassis type is "W128", and the nickname is "ponton". The same body style, albeit not injected, was used in Alfred Hitchcocks' "North By Northwest". The fuel injection system is drop dead reliable, once it is set up right. My first car was a 1959 220SE four door, same mechanicals and front end. It sits in the garage now, and I go round the block in it once in a great while.

The fuel injection is the same as what MB used throughout the '60s, with minor variations on the 1959 models. Having fuel injection will make the car a dream to drive. One question to ask the seller is if the car has the "Hydrac" clutch(option on special request when new). It will have no clutch pedal, and will retain the four speed column shift. Which was a semi-auto clutch similar to the sport-shift used in early 911 Porsche models. Parts are not on the shelf anyomore, and the system was a bugger to keep right even when the cars were new.

The gas fuel injection was a first for a MB passenger car, though the 300SL gullwing and mod '50s 300Sc models also had fuel injection. Those models almost don't count because they were so rare and expensive when new(around 13 thousand f.o.b in 1955 for the 300Sc).

This car is a blue chip investment, at the right price. With gullwings and early '50s 300S models at well over six figures, the ponton body cabriolet is the next best choice.

On these cars the chrome, wood, doors, boot, and bonnet were hand fitted to each car. Then the parts were painted and chromed for final assembly. That's why the bonnet from one car won't fit on the other. Most removable body parts have the last three digits of the body number stamped into them.

For investment advice contact Alex Dearborn:

Dearborn Automobile Company, Inc.
16 Maple Street
Topsfield, Massachusetts
USA 01983
Phone (978) 887-6644
Fax (978) 887-3889
Email alex@dearbornauto.com
www.dearbornauto.com

He has a pretty good rep, in the old timer circles. Check out the one he has for sale now, it's part of history. http://www.dearbornauto.com/showroom/6/index.shtml

This website can also answer many questions: http://www.mbzponton.org/

I can get this one for less than half than that, although it is almost a one owner-- a Dr. bought this one from the dealer, and his widow sold it back after he died to the owner of the dealership. The owner of the dealership has had it for about 20 years.

If the car checks out as A-OK, for that price, if you can afford it, you'd be foolish not to buy it.

How's that? There's three commas in one sentence, all at no charge.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

It sounds like your prospect has very "good bones". That kind of provenance is priceless, seriously.

Check this out, it's in German, but it is still very moving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL74cGMKwSc