Perhaps coveted or desirable are better terms than collectable?

Anyway, we all know that MB makes lots of limited production, highly desirable vehicles. The TE and TD wagon, the G wagon, the cabriolets come immediately to mind along with the 124 500E any 600 and so on.

There are not too many cars which may offer a cash gain for the cost. Very few "collectable" cars are worth under 100K to begin with.

But anyway, a 500 is a desirable and very enjoyable toy!

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Hey, the 500E looks great (IMHO ... I'm a W201 nut, so go figure), and can hold it's own on the highways as well on the surface streets.

I didn't buy the 500E because it "could" be a collector's car, I bought it for the immediate enjoyment.

Tom: bummer on the ticket

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1992 500E (Daily Driver)
2004 Porsche RUF 955 Dakara 550

I think the E500/500E will be a classic as much as any four-door tin-top MB can, which is less than it should be, but then MB did not try to please everybody.
Collectibity was not a reason why I wanted one since they were new, but occasionally even a petrol-drunken boy of 53 thinks of economic background.
Build numbers as such may not be the crucial problem. Numbers will make it uneconomic to restore bad cars. It will be long before anybody will have an XJ12 rebuilt. And with E500/500Eīs even good ones will go on getting cheaper for a long time.
As with 6.3īs and 6.9īs, size is a handicap. Four doors is another and that goes for Bugattis and Duesenbergs, too. Unreasonable should look unreasonable. It is uncommon to see a 20īs Bentley with original saloon bodywork.
Lack of yellow-press romance is another problem- the Jag MkII is an ego statement just by its looks. Here in Germany, prices of DS23īs are getting steeper. Alain Delon, right, complete with ash from his plain Gauloise on lapels.
Our MBīs just are no Rebel cars.
I wanted an E500 because of the understatement of power and cost, and for its excellence as a car. Itīs my only vehicle and will in all probability remain so as long as I want to drive.
With me, it was just elimination. There is nothing else. I do not want a car where character comes from a computer program. So, the E500 is a car for romantics, after all.

Jukka
+++
ī94 E500, 90.000 km

Buy what stirs YOU.

I liken it to buying art, if you buy in the hopes that you will have the next Picasso, Kadinsky, or Lichtenstein then you will likely come up short. I learned this very $$$$$$ lesson early on in my collecting career. If everytime you see it makes your heart beat faster or smears that perma-grin over your face then you made the right choice. If the press and everyone else proves you right pop the bubbly, if not so be it

I might catch some flack for this analogy but its jus my .02

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Mark
92 500e Spruce/Parchment (41k)
95 E320 Cab Cabernet/Parch (30K)
94 LS 400 Anniv Ed (traded on 500e)
85 Toyota Supra (103k)
90 Toyota 4Runner (56K)
------------------------------------------------
Sometimes you have to put your foot down to get a leg up

I agree with Mark. Before i bought my car, I had discujssions galore - would it hold its value, had they reached the bottom, etc., but it was only to justify finacially what I really wanted.
I love my car every time I drive it.

Tom
92 500E

I honestly don't think there is anyone on this forum that owns a 500E to make money. I do however think that everyones comments are leading down a basic path to collectability and here is why.

Everyone has purchased their cars because they absolutely love them and have some sort of emotional attachment to them. Our cars are loved for their performance, build quality and exclusivity. They also happen to have a bit of mystique since they were hand (Coach) built by Porsche. These are all reasons why cars become collectable.........because they are coveted!

Everyone needs to remember that Muscle cars have increased in value not because collectors saw a rare car, but because there is a very high demand for these cars. The babyboomer generation wanted to remember their good old days and they are buying the cars they grew up with and loved. Now the real question becomes are their enough people out there like us that want the 500E and when will the supply and demand process change.

On the other hand if Jukkas comments about their being a lack of romance associated with our cars is true it may very well prevent our cars from truly becoming collectable.

Am I wrong?

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

I think its a collectible 100%. How may corvettes were produced in the 60's athat are collectible? How many mustangs? Chargers? you name it.

What you have is a German Factory designed and coach built Muscle Car.

Production numbers shouldn't mean too much when regarding collectible.

I consider my 300CE a collecitble car, and I tent to keep it and collect a 500E at some point too as a collectible.

If you like it, then its collectible. I collect zippo lighters. I don't care what any of them are worth, I collect the ones I like. Thats what a collectible is to me, something you see that you want, that you buy to satisfy yourself, and hold on to regardless of market value, or the public's percieved view of what is and is not collectible.

Collect it because you know its history, you know how special it is, and you know that no matter how much it cost you, it was worth every penny spent on it, because it's yours, and you own a piece of history. You own a piece of an era where 4 door sedans were not sold as performance cars. You own a 4 door sedan that easily puts many sports cars to shame. I'd buy a 200k mile 500e, as long as it was mechanically in great shape. Because to me it wouldn't matter, its a 500e after all.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Ashman, right on.

Let me share what Riccardo Felicioli wrote in his history of Fiat. The revered Dante Giacosa had his doubts about the 130 that was meant to be a Mercedes competitor. Giacosa wrote to the Managing director that the 130 would be technically excellent but out of contention, as "it must be borne in mind that the Mercedes is the result of a continuous refinement of a model that has remained unchanged for many years. A model that still remains faithful to the original design."

Felicioli goes on: "As always, Giacosaīs observations are accurate and to the point. The technical and performance features of the new model were not in discussion... what was completely lacking was a stylistic standing equal to that of the Mercedes, the latter being the result of a persistent fidelity to the original conception and the carīs styling, serenely indifferent to incessant changes in fashion and tastes. A stability which conferred on the Mercedes an aristocratic detachment, the elegance of objects created to endure because of their rigorous and unchanging harmony."

The Giacosa-Felicioli Doctrine draws the dividing line between E500īs old and new with precision, too. It may well be that the old way of doing what they thought best and damn the rest of the world was out of date. It certainly was not the way for a medium-size German quality car company wishing to become a global industrial corporation. After the W140 it has been a new automobile game in Stuttgart. Thereīs something in the Bible about the chaff blown by the wind. But of course, Iīll admit DC makes excellent cars of the nature other people make, too.

- Giacosa was right, the 130 was a very good car. It had too little power, especially to begin with, but drove well and coddled you properly. And if you did not like the plump Toyota Crown looks, you could take the truly wonderful Pininfarina coupe. IT looked the way no Mercedes ever could. You have integrity, you suffer...

Jukka
+++
E500 -94, 90.000 km

Yes, you are! :p I'd agree with Jukka that the 500E/E500 not only lacks a marketing image that encourages the affections of collectors ("Lack of yellow-press romance is another problem") it lacks any image at all in the minds of the general auto enthusiast.

OTOH, physical contact with the beast draws an appreciation for the fine craftsmanship and driving qualities that relate more to an era of coach-built autos than computer-driven conveyances. I believe thats what Jukka meant with, "So, the E500 is a car for romantics, after all."

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Dean Albrecht
"Lead, follow, or better yet, get out of the way!"E500 owners motto