I believe the expression is, "you get what you pay for". Sure enough, I went to inspect the vehicle and it snapped me back to reality pretty quick:

Someone did a horrific job re-painting the car black. It looks like they didn't want to fix rust around the wheel wells, so they put on a bunch of cheesy chrome to cover it up. It appears that someone decided to practice their Flamenco dancing on the hood of the car (bonnet, for those of you in the UK). Looks like they tried CHISELING part of the hood to fix it, then used Bondo to cover up the screw up. None of the brightwork was attached - all was to be found in the trunk in reasonably good condition (including the solid red tail lenses).

The engine compartment was a bit of a let-down... I looked everywhere for evidence of a "113 044" stamp (it's a 280 SL).. No such luck. Also, couldn't find the "130 983" on the engine block. I suspect the engine may be out of a 250/280 SE. I was hoping (at least) to find the series of spot welds where the fender rolls 3/4" into the under-hood area. Yeah, right. Smooth. All the indications I've been told to look for were nowhere to be found.

The soft top was torn quite nicely and covered with something used in roofing, I believe. The floor boards (at least on the drivers' side) were essentially not there. (Guess I pushed on them too hard!).

So! Is this car worth $5000? I don't think so. As someone pointed out, I could spend 5K on it and then dump another 15K into it (and end up with a car worth 15K). The guy seemed willing to negotiate on the price - you could probobly get it for 4K...

If anyone's interested in this "car", let me know and I can send you the phone number (the car's located in the Catskills in NY).

Guess I should concentrate on fixing up my 66 250 SE Coupe, eh?

Regards,

Fred Riss
66 250 SE/C
65 220 SEb Coupe (in about a week!)