Doktorno (aka Chris) and I have been friends for the past 28 years; we are both Mercedes guys. We have the LeMons race car together, we've sold cars to each other, we discuss all major purchases prior to - you get the idea. Our wives call each of us "the second wife". Great friendship.

So we've been discussing buying a vintage race car because we're both in our early forties and can afford to do silly things like that. We've been banging on the idea of buying a 6.3, a Pagoda, an 350SLC with a manual, an old Ford or Chevy. Ultimately we decided a 6.3 would be fast, cool, and unique - but Chris was adamant we'd never find a rust-free car for under $10,000 that wasn't a total basketcase.

So a few weeks ago, I get an email link to a possibility in Las Vegas. It's an ebay car. I called Chris to discuss, I thought the car needed way better presentation in the ad, and then I said "plus it already has a bid on it." To which he replied, "Yeah, that's our bid." I tried to talk him out of the car, but he said he had a good feeling about it. Cripes. But when you have a friend of 25+ years and this situation occurs, the correct response is "Okay, I'm in." We won the auction - sight unseen (!!!). We had the car transported to Houston straight to his ace MB mechanic/restorer.

Cripes again. The car is rust-free. It's been well-maintained. It's been repainted to silver from it's factory white (two-tone - blue top!), but the job was a very good job. It's very original. I found the previous-owner's wife and talked to her about the history of the car - it's been well-loved, garaged, and a desert car it's whole life. Eureka! Immediately, it needed suspension bellows and the fuel distributor was stuck on full-rich; both of those were corrected immediately, as well as a couple of hoses. Chris has been driving it for the past two days, and I drove it today. Wow - that's a fun car!

Biggest problem - it's probably too nice for a vintage racer. All plans are up in the air, but our best plan now is to just drive the poo out of it, have some fun, and see where it leads us. Maybe we race it, maybe we just drive the poo out of it. It's in very nice condition, but not so nice that you don't mind parking it anywhere you want, or mind leaving it out in the rain.

So here she is. These are quicky iPhone pics in a parking lot:

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

nice

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Jim

very nice , but do put a Becker back in for the correct look .
Ad

Cool car! It does need a period looking radio though.

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Nathan
'74 280C - gone to a new home for the finishing it deserves.
'64 356SC
'74 914 2.0

get it the correct air filter. That one not only sucks in hot engine compartment air instead of the cool stuff ahead of the radiator, it also does didly for keeping out the crud. -CTH

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- cth350@gmail.com
http://www.111lakeside.com/

Wow,...nice ride. You guys are going to have a lot of fun wit that!

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Jackson
Rockford, Michigan

1985 500SE gray market
1982 Porsche 928
1985 Mercedes 300CD X 2

Nice. What a conundrum to have! I bet if you were looking for a good example you would have found one that was only good enough to turn into a racer!

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Sam

1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5 "Kenyatta" **parts car(?)**

1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5 "Arabian Grey"

Thats the same color scheme as mine, but mine needs to be put back together.

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With best regards

Al

I agree that just driving it seems like a good idea, that seems way too nice for a race car.

Looks very nice....I just hate the "drive the poo out of it" nonsense. How about just drive it like it was meant to be driven?

would a removable racing stripe fulfill both passions ??

that would be real hard to transform into a competitive race car

is that a crack free blue dash too ??

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1989 300ce smoke silver / brazil, in a constant state of flux ~~~

Maybe you can educate me as to why one is better than the other.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Yeah, Mercedes were built to run flat out on the autobahn. Like a greyhound is bred to run flat out. They are built for it. That's why they have things like ten quarts of oil and an oil cooler....(just guessing how much oil that beast might hold).

BTW there was a 6.9 for sale here in the last year or so that I was offered for 3K. It was not as nice as this one but pretty decent, just a little shaggy. I drove it and it seemed ok but not as much power as I thought it should have. I bet you could buy it for 1500 to 2000. Want me to see if it is still around?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

What about a very-light restoration, flip it for a profit and turn that cash into a different vintage racer?

I'm ignorant about vintage racing, but the car looks too nice for the possible(?) abuse it would get. Maybe too heavy for racing success? Is it original enough for a "survivor class" concours entry?

I like that car. I'd drive the poo out of it too. After all, that's what it was made to do, and it'll do it much better than being garaged!!

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Current:
2021 Charger Scat Pack Widebody "Sinabee"
2018 Durango R/T

Previous:
1972 280SE 4.5
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited "Hefe", 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo "Jeepy", 2006 Charger R/T "Hemi"
1999 Chrysler 300M - RIP @ 221k