Actually even though the engines were huge at 472 ci, the compression ratio was high and so was the diff and they would get 20 mpg highway if driven with care.

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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.

Not sure what the price threshold is, but I'll try to stay well under six figures:

1. W123 240D (Already been there and done that, wouldn't mind doing it some more)
2. W123 300D (Just drove down to San Diego in mine, but wouldn't mind doing more of the same on someone else's dime).
3. 6.9
4. Triumph TR6
5. Porsche 911 (air cooled-anything before the 996).
6. Porsche 911's grandfather the VW Beetle. I think it would be kind of like #1 in a lot of respects.
7. E30 BMW M3.
8. W126. Any will do but if someone else is buying the gas, I'll take a 560SEL.
9. Old Mopar. I was a passenger in Dad's '75 Imperial for a lot of miles as a child and got to put a few thousand on a '73 Newport as a teenager. I don't want to own another one, but I wouldn't mind the duty of driving one of those land barges cross country.
10. A V-12 grand tourer. Which one? How cheap do we mean by cheap? I'm told you can pick up certain M120 powered models around ten grand if you look.

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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 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

I don't know, Tom. We had a '68 Fleetwood in our family when it was fairly new, and I don't recall my father ever crowing about the fuel economy.

Oh no, most people who bought caddies back then (prolly even now) if you asked them what the fuel economy was they'd say if you have to ask you cannot afford it.

It still wasn't too bad though until the emission controls started choking off the primitive induction design.

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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.

63 caddy droptop or a lil stripper biscayne. or the old standby camaro convertible.

I would say my long gone $3200 '69 Plymouth RoadRunner but it's not cheap enough nowadays.



So I'd pick my '84 SEC.

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OLD & RETIRED
_.... Don't mess with old farts - - age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Bulls**t and brilliance only come with age and experience!____________
'96 E320
'79 450 SEL
'78 300 CD

That is a handsome SEC. Lovely driving cars. I had an 84 too. I prolly should have kept it. I sold it to a man in Fishers In about six years ago. My lovely #3 daughter reports seeing it from time to time.

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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.

Where's your sense of adventure? Nearly any mercedes would be too dependably reliabe to make for any adventure; same for most post war cars.
The TR6 ( basically a pre-war design) would beat you nearly to death on that long of a trip.

Studebaker Pickup might be nice
My list would have to include nearly ANY pre war Packard 6,8 or 12 cyl. Dual cowl phaetons are nice, but lend themselves to being driven in; not as the driver. An "A" Ford or flathead Ford would be hard to ignore.
I already have extensive Miles in the Peugeot 504; hard to beat for comfort--if you aren't in a great hurry. Also, many miles is a TR6--that would be brutal. Likewise a clone of the Lotus 7--great fun, but not the car for an extended trip.
One final car that just came to mind would be a Jag 120/ 140.
But the prewar Packard is still probably tops on my personal list.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

I bet a Deusenberg would drive alright. It was built by racers so I'd bet it would be a pleasure to drive if all systems are working correctly. I'd love a go at one.

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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.

Lotus 7, why didn't I think of that? Not the most comfortable, but probably still yards better than trying to make the same trip on my bike.

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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 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Across the US of A?

I'd be happy to drive something like this all day - any day

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I know someone who might want to sell the (1) car on your list.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Sweet!

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

How cheap is cheap?

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

I actually saw a Porsche 356 today.

__________________
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 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.