so, i have this 1986 560sel. bought it new in november of 1986. it has almost 250k miles.

it is semi-retired, but it called out to me to be untethered for runs from willis, tx to san antonio and back, from willis, tx to austin and back. a nominal 1,000 miles of running.

now, i like to do these trips on back roads. all i can say is that the old beast remains a sports car of a sedan. average speed for the trips was 60mph. if you knew the roads, you would understand what speeds this car attained and how it handled bad roads with lots of severe twisty bits.

i encountered corvettes on some of these roads. they could not, or would not, keep up. on the la bahia road, in certain places, i think that they bottomed out at speeds exceeding 60mph.

the big sedan never had a problem. it just sucked up asphalt. newer models might be better, but this w126 remains a pinnacle of car design and construction.

best thing about it is, when i arrive at my destination after 3 hours of hard, high speed driving, i am fresh. no other vehicle has ever offered me that gift. on the other hand, i must admit that this car has orthopedic seats. and i think that makes a diff.

a votre sante