Mercedes R107's
Discussion
Caught on the horns of a dilemma here.
As I said upthread I want a 1978 R107 with painted steelies, and I got all hot and horny for the red 350SL that was up for auction last month before it was withdrawn.
And now here's this one: an older restoration, pretty thorough description, Bideford is a long way to go for a crappy bulkhead.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUNNING-1978-MERCEDES-4...
Bidding gone to 5.1k inside the first 30 mins.
Trouble is I've got quite keen on an R129 SL500 now, which is being auctioned IRL on Tuesday.
Help me, PH Hivemind. Should I stick with the R107 or twist for the R129?
As I said upthread I want a 1978 R107 with painted steelies, and I got all hot and horny for the red 350SL that was up for auction last month before it was withdrawn.
And now here's this one: an older restoration, pretty thorough description, Bideford is a long way to go for a crappy bulkhead.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUNNING-1978-MERCEDES-4...
Bidding gone to 5.1k inside the first 30 mins.
Trouble is I've got quite keen on an R129 SL500 now, which is being auctioned IRL on Tuesday.
Help me, PH Hivemind. Should I stick with the R107 or twist for the R129?
Only you know what floats your boat more, but one way to consider it from an objective point of view is financially. A budget of say £10k buys you a really good R129 500SL, but is only likely to net you a fairly meh R107 450SL. £5K spent carefully can still buy you a respectable and solid six-cylinder R129, but only buys a dog rough project 107.
After I drove my mate's R107 in August 2012 I wanted one, but since I didn't feel comfortable with slavishly copying him I ended up going to view an R129 SL60 at Brooklands (I left a commission bid but lost out to a buyer in the room). http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
The R107 is of course the better looker and possessed of so much more charm, but the more I read about plenum chamber corrosion the less I fancy one. Of course the R129 has its own foibles (crumbling wiring loom, roof hydraulics etc) but I wonder if you're less likely to uncover fatal rust on the occasion of the first MOT?
Speedo changes put me off quite a lot. I nearly bought a 28k miles grey-on-grey pre-facelift XJS 5.3 V12 in June 2012 that bizarrely popped up at a main dealer in Coventry. Went up and inspected the car, they ramped it for me and all seemed fine. On the test drive I noticed that the odometer was t..u..r..n..i..n..g v....e....r....y s....l....o....w....l....y. They offered to change the speedo when I raised it but I walked away, figuring that it would have to smell fishy to the next punter, if indeed such a fellow could be found. Six weeks later the car popped up at a classic dealer down South for an asking price 3k higher, at the same mileage and with no mention of the iffy clock.
The R107 is of course the better looker and possessed of so much more charm, but the more I read about plenum chamber corrosion the less I fancy one. Of course the R129 has its own foibles (crumbling wiring loom, roof hydraulics etc) but I wonder if you're less likely to uncover fatal rust on the occasion of the first MOT?
Speedo changes put me off quite a lot. I nearly bought a 28k miles grey-on-grey pre-facelift XJS 5.3 V12 in June 2012 that bizarrely popped up at a main dealer in Coventry. Went up and inspected the car, they ramped it for me and all seemed fine. On the test drive I noticed that the odometer was t..u..r..n..i..n..g v....e....r....y s....l....o....w....l....y. They offered to change the speedo when I raised it but I walked away, figuring that it would have to smell fishy to the next punter, if indeed such a fellow could be found. Six weeks later the car popped up at a classic dealer down South for an asking price 3k higher, at the same mileage and with no mention of the iffy clock.
Edited by Zonergem on Sunday 11th September 23:06
aeropilot said:
Zonergem said:
Help me, PH Hivemind. Should I stick with the R107 or twist for the R129?
R107 for me. Proper classic car.
R129 is just an old modern Merc in my eyes of the type so often fitted with tacky body kits back in the day.
As Lowtimer says, if you're unsure look at it from a purely financial perspective. You'll get much more for your money in 129-land, and whilst both cars could throw big bills, the latter isn't yet adding a 'classic' surcharge.
Both types are fine cars, but for an initial foray at this stage, it would be a 129 for me.
Zonergem said:
aeropilot said:
R129 is just an old modern Merc in my eyes of the type so often fitted with tacky body kits back in the day.
Edited by Lowtimer on Monday 12th September 18:42
Went and viewed 4 R107s this week. Every seller told me their car had 'no rust' or only a little bit of cosmetic rust. I rocked up to view one of them, approximately a 2hr drive from where I was staying, and the seller told me 'you can't sit in the passenger seat because it's got a problem'. A quick look underneath revealed the problem - the entire floorpan had disintegrated and the seat was resting on a couple of bits of flat bar.
Another one had massively corroded drain-holes. Seller advises 'they came like that from the factory'. No they didn't, not with 3" f
king rust holes in the middle of the sills. He still insisted his car was 'solid'. I gave up.
The other commonality was that everybody told me how much their rust-bucket was going to go up in value. No it won't, it will dissolve first.
The only straight car I saw (interestingly, the only bloke who said his car was less than perfect) is quite pricey and not in a very good colour combo.
Is the market for 107s so overheated that people will drop (comparatively) big money on stboxes that aren't economically viable to restore? Feeling very frustrated with the number of total idiots I've encountered!
Another one had massively corroded drain-holes. Seller advises 'they came like that from the factory'. No they didn't, not with 3" f
king rust holes in the middle of the sills. He still insisted his car was 'solid'. I gave up. The other commonality was that everybody told me how much their rust-bucket was going to go up in value. No it won't, it will dissolve first.
The only straight car I saw (interestingly, the only bloke who said his car was less than perfect) is quite pricey and not in a very good colour combo.
Is the market for 107s so overheated that people will drop (comparatively) big money on s
tboxes that aren't economically viable to restore? Feeling very frustrated with the number of total idiots I've encountered!Spitsfire - mind me asking what kind of SL you've been looking at - early, middle or late examples?
There's what could be a half-decent higher mileage but usuable later 420 SL at Brightwells auction this week
http://www.brightwells.com/classic-motoring/auctio...
Lot 87.
MB Owners Club sticker, recent respray (but could that hide deeper problems), missing some walnut trim above the glovebox.
but referenced against a £56000 SL Shop car it doesn't look like terrible value
http://www.theslshop.com/mercedes-benz-420-sl-one-...
There's what could be a half-decent higher mileage but usuable later 420 SL at Brightwells auction this week
http://www.brightwells.com/classic-motoring/auctio...
Lot 87.
MB Owners Club sticker, recent respray (but could that hide deeper problems), missing some walnut trim above the glovebox.
but referenced against a £56000 SL Shop car it doesn't look like terrible value
http://www.theslshop.com/mercedes-benz-420-sl-one-...
That 420 at Brightwells certainly looks like my kind of car! Sadly, I'm in Australia, where there aren't so many to choose from. I find it a little bit concerning that I can pick up similar vintage Volvos, SAABs, and Beemers with little to no rust out here, but the 107s all seem to be rotten!
I'd rather have either a very early or a very late car - the purity of the original shape vs the convenience and practicality of the later cars. In a smaller market I've come to the conclusion that I need to buy solely on condition and not be too picky.
I'd rather have either a very early or a very late car - the purity of the original shape vs the convenience and practicality of the later cars. In a smaller market I've come to the conclusion that I need to buy solely on condition and not be too picky.
Grab a beer, find your largest computer monitor or stream to your TV and enjoy...
Mercedes Benz 1971 R107 350sl in HD Part 1
https://youtu.be/QAyhvl1eiQU
Mercedes Benz 1971 R107 350sl in HD Part 1
https://youtu.be/QAyhvl1eiQU
Seems "over-restored" to me. But maybe if you fancy B.I.G. M.E.D.I.U.M. P.I.M.P.I.N.G.?
http://www.coys.co.uk/cars/1973-mercedes-benz-450-...
http://www.coys.co.uk/cars/1973-mercedes-benz-450-...
Well, if you want to avoid the hassle of a restoration...delivery mileage!!
http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...
http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=...
But for the 6m views I would have taken this as some kind of magnificent practical joke, up there with photoshopping an R107 apricotorange...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDm9md97nN_SQ&a...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDm9md97nN_SQ&a...
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