Originally Posted by Delibes

The background: with all the outbound expenses (flight, rental car, temporary stay, apartment rent) resulting of my new move to Dubai, I am left with a meager budget to buy a car. And while the long-term is to keep a 450SEL 6.9 or a P1800E in the stable, I needed a good everyday workhorse, cheap A-to-B transportation.

My requirements:
—Reliable as an anvil forged by Ares.
—Cold air conditioning for the 120F days of the Emirates.
—Not tiny. The big Land Cruisers / Patrols will eat me alive!
—Not embarrassing when taking business passengers.
—Comfortable for a 25-40 minute commute. Good seats.
—Preferably a light color —dust and sun take their toll.
—Must be able to move out of its own way.

After 2 months of research, prospects did not look good. Within a $3000 budget (11,000 AED), these were my options:

—A beat-to-a-pulp Lexus SC400 with 254,000 miles. Right at $3000.
—A 300SD! The only OM617 in the country. $1900, bad tires, no A/C.
—A 1992 LS400 with 160k for $2100. Bad fuel pump, not running.
—A clean W124 E200 estate with no maintenance records. $1900.
—An 80's Bentley sure to skin me alive in maintenance. $3000.
—A 2007 Camry with 480,000 miles, former taxi. $3000.
—A well-maintained Volvo C30... convertible w/parts car. $2100.
—A Mercury Grand Marquis that has been run to the ground. $3200.
—A Mazda 6 station wagon. Very bleh tin can. $2700.
—A Jeep Grand Cherokee guaranteed to overheat. $2000.
—Any BMW, Volkswagen, Renault, Seat or Peugeot. >$2700.
—A mid-2000's GCC Market Chevy Caprice. Not bad at $2700!
—Lots of overly tempting Jaguars, cheap for a reason. >$3000.
—W140's and W220's galore, abused by the locals. >$2700.
—A diesel Audi A4 that had been sitting for 3 months. $2000.
—A funktastic Rover 75 with low miles, prices slightly above $2000.
—A Northstar-engined Cadillac Eldorado, guaranteed to blow up $2100.

So, almost ready to give up and just keep driving the rental car until I got enough money to import a proper car, I got into an obscure classifieds group on Facebook and saw a familiar face, one that I had seen before.

Back when I worked at the Al Ain Classic Car Museum, we had a customer bring his black Hyundai Centennial (called Equus in Korea and Europe) limousine. He handed me the keys and told me to take it for a spin. Loved it to death; felt a lot like a Cadillac Fleetwood / Buick Roadmaster. It floated over speed bumps and accelerated without hesitation. I was sold.



That face I had seen in the classifieds was the elusive Equus, a white, short-wheelbase sedan. I had to see it, and a quick phone call later I was to meet the seller the following day.

The car had been for sale for a while and was priced at $3260. Engine run smoothly, tranny shifted properly, there was no oil in the coolant, and all in all the car was free of any hacks in the electrical system. The car comes with two FACTORY televisions, and everything you would expect in a low-option Toyota Century, including the rear reclining seat, electric sunshade, and privacy curtains.




After the test drive revealed that the car needed brakes and tires, I got the price down to $2700 (10,000 AED). Money exchanged hands, and I got a stack of papers to hand to the local DMV.

My supervisor at Tomini Classics has been enormously kind to have our mechanics/bodymen help me with the brakes and a little dent in one door. Original Hyundai parts, for the most part, are cheaper than W123 parts.

Don't get me wrong, I still long for a 6.9 or a P1800. But this Korean Brougham's level of overbuilt quality is something I did not expect from Hyundai. It's got the bulletproof "Sigma" 3.0L V6 from the Santa Fe and it ticks all the boxes for a reliable UAE workshorse. It's funky and at the same time it's not exceedingly precious. I am sold.

Originally Posted by panZZer

what can I say, nice formica dash?

Originally Posted by Delibes

Been tempted to remove the rear decals and put "Miele" ones on it. It's an appliance and that's everything it is!

Last Saturday we got some work done on the car...

First, I decided to polish those ugly yellow headlights. Big pet peeve of mine. In the pic you can see the "before" and the "after".



Not too shabby, huh?



There was a little spot of rust that we got properly fixed...



...and properly masked.



Paint and brakes coming soon!

I have come to notice that the car's doors have been engineered to sound EXACTLY like a W126. It's kind of eerie to see the extent to which they will replicate some things on this car.

Originally Posted by panZZer

um, brings to mind the original 89 lexus 400 , jap benz knockoff,

that black one looks as big as a 1995 poppa daddy Lincoln towne car.
what can I say, nice formica dash?

Miguel, chicks dig pickups

Originally Posted by Stretch

Where's this all happening Miguel?

Are you still in the land of oil and crooks?