The Scatmobile - Zonergem's Brown 1989 W124 300CE
Discussion
So.... the new barge.
I was trawling through the usual sites on a Monday night, really looking for cheapo down-on-their-luck R129s that might have spare 15 hole wheels to buy or trade and using the search term "Mercedes 300" when this car hove into view. The seller had listed it on Gumtree the previous day.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/mercedes-benz/mercedes-3...
As it happens that I've come to admire the rarer colours in the Mercedes range - Strela's ApricotOrange R107 of course and r129sl's lovely light ivory Spartan W201. For a while I've had an eye out for a green w201 - ideally a darker Pine Green - but nothing comes up. And the market being what it is there are so many cars offered at huge prices or with feeble engines, huge mileages and obvious issues.
So to see what could well have been a sound car (and here we gloss over the not-really-running issue, broken front spring and without having seen an MOT garage in seven years as trifling details) with a 3.0 litre M103 engine and a rare combination of colours for less than £1400 obviously got me dribbling into my Merc beard.
The seller responded quickly to my text inquiry and we chatted on the phone for a bit. I had glimpsed the windscreen of a red R129 in the advert photos and sure enough he turned out to be a fellow sufferer. Pretty much everything he said put me at ease and he agreed to take some more photos of the car, the interior and the paperwork and email me.
His idea of "some history" turned out to mean
and included a shot of an Import Duty receipt on which I could just make out a VIN. Decoding that told me that the car was ordered in UK spec through the dealer in Karlsruhe, Germany - about 100 kms west of Stuttgart and close to the French border.
This stuff is like catnip to me so without any further ceremony or distasteful attempts at haggling I agreed to meet his asking price and went searching for a shipper.
I know a local guy who would do the whole round trip and who I trust to take the readies and handle the paperwork. He dropped out on me on Friday morning leaving me with a bit of a problem. Shiply threw up some quotes that were competitive but how to get the money there - I wasn't particularly keen on handing it over before taking possession of the car.
So there was nothing for it but to get on the road in the pre-dawn darkness of Saturday morning and do the 300 miles from North Yorkshire to South Wales with a bootload of tools and an envelope of cash. This is only right and proper, the way things should be done when circumstances allow.
I was trawling through the usual sites on a Monday night, really looking for cheapo down-on-their-luck R129s that might have spare 15 hole wheels to buy or trade and using the search term "Mercedes 300" when this car hove into view. The seller had listed it on Gumtree the previous day.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/mercedes-benz/mercedes-3...
As it happens that I've come to admire the rarer colours in the Mercedes range - Strela's ApricotOrange R107 of course and r129sl's lovely light ivory Spartan W201. For a while I've had an eye out for a green w201 - ideally a darker Pine Green - but nothing comes up. And the market being what it is there are so many cars offered at huge prices or with feeble engines, huge mileages and obvious issues.
So to see what could well have been a sound car (and here we gloss over the not-really-running issue, broken front spring and without having seen an MOT garage in seven years as trifling details) with a 3.0 litre M103 engine and a rare combination of colours for less than £1400 obviously got me dribbling into my Merc beard.
The seller responded quickly to my text inquiry and we chatted on the phone for a bit. I had glimpsed the windscreen of a red R129 in the advert photos and sure enough he turned out to be a fellow sufferer. Pretty much everything he said put me at ease and he agreed to take some more photos of the car, the interior and the paperwork and email me.
His idea of "some history" turned out to mean
and included a shot of an Import Duty receipt on which I could just make out a VIN. Decoding that told me that the car was ordered in UK spec through the dealer in Karlsruhe, Germany - about 100 kms west of Stuttgart and close to the French border.
This stuff is like catnip to me so without any further ceremony or distasteful attempts at haggling I agreed to meet his asking price and went searching for a shipper.
I know a local guy who would do the whole round trip and who I trust to take the readies and handle the paperwork. He dropped out on me on Friday morning leaving me with a bit of a problem. Shiply threw up some quotes that were competitive but how to get the money there - I wasn't particularly keen on handing it over before taking possession of the car.
So there was nothing for it but to get on the road in the pre-dawn darkness of Saturday morning and do the 300 miles from North Yorkshire to South Wales with a bootload of tools and an envelope of cash. This is only right and proper, the way things should be done when circumstances allow.
Edited by Zonergem on Sunday 7th October 10:36
That looks flipping marvellous. It looks pre-polished: just get a load of the beading rainwater. The early ones have a wonderful purity of design about them and reputedly better build. But I think more than anything you'll find that very useable in your circumstances, much more so than the 129. Great buy.
I am looking forward to my eldest turning 17. It will make buying far-flung cars much easier. Did you have a mate drive you there? Don't tell me you involved the wife?!
Edit: google shows that the 129 was made in this colour:
I am looking forward to my eldest turning 17. It will make buying far-flung cars much easier. Did you have a mate drive you there? Don't tell me you involved the wife?!
Edit: google shows that the 129 was made in this colour:
Edited by r129sl on Sunday 7th October 20:24
r129sl said:
That looks flipping marvellous. It looks pre-polished: just get a load of the beading rainwater. The early ones have a wonderful purity of design about them and reputedly better build. But I think more than anything you'll find that very useable in your circumstances, much more so than the 129. Great buy.
I am looking forward to my eldest turning 17. It will make buying far-flung cars much easier. Did you have a mate drive you there? Don't tell me you involved the wife?!
Edit: google shows that the 129 was made in this colour:
That rear bumper looks almost silver in that pic. It suits the car very well. Is it different to the OP’s two tone ? I am looking forward to my eldest turning 17. It will make buying far-flung cars much easier. Did you have a mate drive you there? Don't tell me you involved the wife?!
Edit: google shows that the 129 was made in this colour:
Edited by r129sl on Sunday 7th October 20:24
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