Well, you asked for strange starting stories. An around the world alone sailboat racer lost his starter for his diesel. Not a big deal, except he needed it to recharge all of his batteries for all of the high tech stuff he used. Rigged up a Rube Golberg arrangement that used the mainsheet from his mainsail. He had lines running all over the place in the cabin to get into the bilge of the boat. When he gybed the boat (turned it down wind causing the sail to rapidly move from one side of the boat to the other), it cranked over the diesel kind of like a lawnmower...

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Bill Streep
San Antonio
'57 190SL (toy)
'08 S5500 (mine)
'09 CLK550 (wife's)
'06 SLK350 (daughter's)
'11 GLK350 (daughter's)
'03 CLK310 (spare)

Bill .... Great story.

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Jim Villers
190SL, 230SL 5-speed, 95 E320 Wagon, 01 E320 Wagon, MGB, Boxster 'S', 190SL "Barn Find"