Freddie Mercurys Mercedes 420 SEL

[rosscobmw]

So, Long story short, I was walking around the yard at my work with my boss as we were going to be clearing the place out a bit. Down the bottom of the yard I see this Mercedes just lying there. I ask him what the story is with it. He says apparently it used to be Freddie Mercurys, But in his eyes it was just an old Merc in his way.
So I went in and did some research. It was definitely Freddie's, and apparently the Merc was his favorite car too.












So a deal was made, V5 was signed and I got it picked up.
Putting it on a trailer was a challenge in itself, its a big car that hasnt moved in 15 years. Winch on the front and a Justy pushing at the back. Eventually it was on and good to go.










Now its back at my yard and I still havnt touched it, been too busy with the E36.
I'll hopefully get started on it real soon.

[rosscobmw]

Google the plate...

[rosscobmw]

Notadoctor said:

Nice pedigree. Having just obtained a 420SE they're rather enjoyable in themselves.

However, it's the back seat that's special as Mr Mercury didn't actually drive (hence the L in the SEL).

As his mother recalled when he failed his driving test, "He said it didn't matter. I said he didn't want to spend his life on buses and he said: 'It doesn't matter because one day I will be chauffeur driven everywhere'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-new...

And some more of his motors auctioned

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufactur...

Yeah I'd read he never passed his test but still drove from time to time anyway. I managed to find the names of his chauffeurs but cant seem to locate their current whereabouts.

[rosscobmw]

Mastiff said:

Strangely enough, one of his ex-chauffers recently delivered a load of timber to my house for some decking and to clad a pond that I've built!

The only reason the topic even came up was that he looked at the pond and saw the Koi, and apparently Freddie Mercury used to love them - keeping a huge pond of them in his garden in Kensington?

True - apparently.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/jul/2...

ETA link

Edited by Mastiff on Tuesday 29th July 12:57

Interesting...

Company and location?

[rosscobmw]

gaz1234 said:

how many cars do you need?

Its a shared yard. The merc and the BMW E36 are mine. All the Saabs are a friends, the omega pickup is another friends drift car. The MK2 Astra GTE is a 3.2 V6 which used to be a friends daily, now awaiting a full resto.
The Nova saloon belonged to a friend of mine who was killed in a car accident last year, so another one of my mates has taken it and will be making it a RWD C20XE.

FRIENDS

[rosscobmw]

Mastiff said:

I've emailed on your behalf - hope that's ok?

Didn't want to divulge info without the chaps permission is all.

Excellent, thank you!

[rosscobmw]

Think I'm just going to have to sell up. I cant afford to give this car the resto it deserves, and its got far too much history to just weld the diff and take to driftland. Just need to find an enthusiast willing to give me some decent money for it.