Originally Posted by fonzi

While parts might begin to get expensive, it’s mostly labor that you’d be paying for to make sure the car stays in good condition after it’s brought up to good condition.

How hard are you going to be on the car and how much non-wear-and-tear stuff are you going to break.

How anal are you about original equipment vs new equipment. Are you going to change the tires every 5 years? How often are you going to replace all the rubber parts? How often are you going to change the oil? How often are you going to change the coolant? Some people never do this on a car that hardly ever gets driven. Some people have access to stashes of parts and California junk yards where good cars are taken off the road just because California smog registration has lapsed and the California EPA wants all cars off the roads. Other people can’t get a used part without paying over MSRP on eBay for used junk.

I will maintain that if anyone wants a classic car but doesn’t envision themselves collecting the majority of the tools to do all the work themselves, then the car is going to cost you a LOT and you will “lose your ass” on it if considering it an investment. If you enjoy working on cars as a hobby, then it won’t be that bad. W111 coupes, especially 3.5 seem to have really shot up in value recently. So I wouldn’t expect them to be a good investment for the future. Nobody has a crystal ball. But if you enjoy working on cars, I personally think any vintage MB is a great purchase. I personally hate Zenith carbs though and would avoid them, and will probably never buy another MB with dual Zeniths. I like d-Jetronic that’s in the 3.5 and own several 3.5 motor cars I’ve brought back from the dead. The other option for a w111 is mechanical injection which I don’t know. I think d-jet might be better and maybe even easier to get parts for since the 4.5 d-jet parts will work in a pinch, and they are fairly plentiful. I use as many used parts on the junkers that I buy for a few hundred bucks and bring back from the dead. I don’t worry about parking lot door dings and believe I get just as much if not more enjoyment out of the hobby as working on a really nice car, but with less worry.