How many of us drove sports cars before converting to the reasuring clack, clack, clack of diesel.

Before I had my first mercedes, I had 3 ford thunderbird turbocoupes, an Eagle Talon AWD TSI, 1980's Mustang, 1980's Lincoln Mark VII.

So what did you drive before converting to Mercedes, and would you go back?

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1984 Euro 300SDC, (4spd standard)
1986 Toyota Landcruiser Diesel HJ60 5spd X2

Gone but not forgotten (some sold, some stripped)
1983 300 SD, 1985 300 SD, 1983 240D, 1986 300 SDL, 1985 300 SDL, 1983 300 D, 1984 300 D, 1985 300SD, 1987 300 SDL, 1983 300 SD, 1985 300 TD Euro, 1983 380SEC, 1990 300 D, 1987 300D, 1982 300D, 1982 300D, 1994 E420, 1987 300 TD, 1987 300 D, 1984 300 D

My last car was a 2001 Toyota MR2. About as far from a 300D as possible.

I'm lucky enough to own a variety of vehicles to suit pretty much any driving need from sports to comfort to off-road. So yes, I have and drive a sports car on occasion...

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Yes, I have a VW Bus.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

I used to have an 88 911 Carrera as my daily driver and I put about 60k miles on it in the five years I had it. Our current Mercedes was actually my fiance's first car. Not a day goes by that I don't miss having the 911 in the garage to drive--it was a perfect "driver's" car that required you to work to drive it well but the rewards were incredible.

After I finished the 911 I was bored and decided to pull the Mercedes out of the barn and started bringing it back as it had sat for five years. Most of my special Porsche tools work on the Benz, and they are put together very similar--the Mercedes just has a lot more room. I respect the Mercedes and plan to keep it for a very long time but I see another 911 sharing the garage with it in the near future. Next one will be a 993 C4S or Turbo--993's are the last of the ones you can DIY. Nothing like having that air cooled flat 6 singing to 7k rpm with a sport exbshaust behind you. Plus, there are some great forums for air cooled 911's much like this one.

My Mustang for one summer until I spun a bearing

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

See my signature... Sadly I do not get to drive my Mercedes yet. One day...

The Sebring makes a great comfort cruiser, and being a convertible is an awesome bonus.

My Saturn is actually being used by a friend right now - His Saturn is parked in my shop and is getting a new high compression motor, limited slip differential, and custom coilovers installed. They're cramped little cars for me, but with a little tweaking they're a blast in the corners, and a rocket compared to the 300D.

As for cars in the past, the only sports car I've owned was a 1969 MB Midget. I should get another one some day... They're so small and my shop is so large, it's possible that my wife would never notice it. There is no such thing as too many cars, you know - only not enough parking.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

Only if you consider a 1993 Dodge Caravan a sports car. I drove that a bit in high school.

My 300D has always been my daily driver. I got the Jeep in 2005, and just added a 240D. So no sports cars yet. I've never actually driven anything with a lot of power, which I guess is good, because it makes me think my 300D is a ROCKETSHIP.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

well...

I learned how to drive in the 01 SLK 320 w/ a 6 speed

&& we have an 87 Buick Grand National

&& a Caddy Deville Concourse (gotta love the 32V northstars )

&& i took my driving test in the 05 E320CDI

damn test guy made me turn the parktronic off. then i hit a cone

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Matthew McIvor

2016 E350 4Matic Black/Black
2007 GL450 4Matic with Off-Road Pkg Silver/Black
1995 E300 Diesel White/Gray
1994 S600 Euro Black/ Black Velour
1986 560SL Blue/Blue/Gray
1986 190E Blue/Blue 93k

I'll just highlight some of my previous cars:

'72 Mercury Montego with a 351W. It left the factory with a 2-barrel and single exhaust. I gave it a four-barrel, duals with glasspacks, and a Lunati cam. With a 2.73 rear end, it was slow off the line, but would do about 130 on the top end-on bald tires!

'63 Dodge Dart. I bought this one with no engine and installed a 360 along with a 904 Torqueflite with a shift kit. I added an Edelbrock intake and four-barrel carb to the originally 2-barrel equipped engine. I also did dual exhaust with glasspacks. It was fun.

After I joined the Navy, I decided the Dart had to go since it was never reliable. I think being pieced together by a teenager had something to do with that. Anyway, I ended up with an '86 Lincoln Town Car. It was slow and that helped me stay out of trouble. I think it also primed me for W123 ownership. I kept it for 5 years and 60k miles and didn't sell it until after I'd had my '83 for a while.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

'60 Simca aronde, 61 bugeye, 63 valient convertible, 61 mercedes (overseas), 62 mercedes, 66 corvair, 74 opel sportwagon, 74 saab 99, 80 saab 99, 74 bmw bavaria, 72 mercedes 220d, (these are my daily drivers followed by a succession of mercedes, about 30 in all), a 59 Ferrari gt 250, and now that the kids are raised I have a 99 Miata that I autocross and my daily driver is the 83 240/300d.

Unless I have work to do with it I like a car that turns and stops well. Acceleration is fun but not required so much.

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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.

First car a VW bug, traded that for a Triumph GT6, next vehicle I bought was a class A motorhome (at 17 y/o), have had everything from Porsche and Aston Martin to Hummvee and several 40,000lb motorcoaches. Not much that wasn't European though, ... except the coaches. I owned 21 vehicles before I turned 21.

Something synergistic about a diesel Mercedes-Benz though.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

My 300TD was my first car. I worked at a used car lot in 2004 and got to drive a huge variety of vehicles. Everything from a 1.0L Geo Metro to a 8.2L (500cu in) Cadillac Fleetwood.

I haven't gotten the chance to pilot anything with a V12 yet.

15XXX posts in 4 years. WOW!


lol

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Matthew McIvor

2016 E350 4Matic Black/Black
2007 GL450 4Matic with Off-Road Pkg Silver/Black
1995 E300 Diesel White/Gray
1994 S600 Euro Black/ Black Velour
1986 560SL Blue/Blue/Gray
1986 190E Blue/Blue 93k

Honda S2000

A little bit farther from a 300TD than an MR2

And I would buy another one again...I loved it...if I have a garage to put it in and another 20 grand that I don't know what to do with

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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now