Am I mad? Contemplating a 500 SEC
Discussion
I'm thinking about changing my SAAB 900 for something a little more exotic...
When I was young my neighbour had a 500 SEC, and I've always loved the style.
Now I've found a car that I really like; a good story, some AMG kit, unusual but tasteful colour scheme, 80k on the clock, 2 owners, serviced religiously, and no rust. It hasn't seen much use in the last 3 years as the owner bought a CL600 and needs an aircon compressor, couple of bits of trim and some small parking dents removed.
Here's the thing; it's been professionally converted from LHD to RHD. It isn't cheap, but it is in exceptionally good condition for the money.
Two questions:
1) Will the conversion reduce future value? Or might it be possible to return it to LHD if prices did leap upwards?
2) My friends tell me I've gone mad and will be bankrupt in 6 months. Have I gone mad? Can it cost that much to run?
When I was young my neighbour had a 500 SEC, and I've always loved the style.
Now I've found a car that I really like; a good story, some AMG kit, unusual but tasteful colour scheme, 80k on the clock, 2 owners, serviced religiously, and no rust. It hasn't seen much use in the last 3 years as the owner bought a CL600 and needs an aircon compressor, couple of bits of trim and some small parking dents removed.
Here's the thing; it's been professionally converted from LHD to RHD. It isn't cheap, but it is in exceptionally good condition for the money.
Two questions:
1) Will the conversion reduce future value? Or might it be possible to return it to LHD if prices did leap upwards?
2) My friends tell me I've gone mad and will be bankrupt in 6 months. Have I gone mad? Can it cost that much to run?
sim16v said:
I'd be concerned about the conversion from LHD to RHD, so it would need very close inspection.
However, if the car is rust free, they are generally reliable old beasts, so not a fortune to maintain.
What year is the car you are looking at?
It's an '82 model. Special order collected from AMG and then privately exported to the USA before being sold to the current owner in 1985. He was a sports pro who moved from California to Australia and brought the car with him. He knew somebody at Mercedes in Germany, and bought him a holiday in Australia in exchange for bringing out a RHD dash and swapping over. There is some documentation to support this.However, if the car is rust free, they are generally reliable old beasts, so not a fortune to maintain.
What year is the car you are looking at?
I'd rather have had a later generation car, but it's so hard to find a good condition, low mileage, well maintained car; most of them have mega miles, have been modified (badly) or poorly maintained. Usually it's a combination of all three.
I'm wondering if the conversion would have required welding/cutting to the bulkhead - anybody have any knowledge of this?
jdw1234 said:
Have you ever driven a Mercedes of this era?
They are quite something. Get one now!
Yes! At uni a friend used to smoke about in a mangy old 560 SEL with a welded diff. It took a lot of punishment, only expiring when he took it off-roading and buckled the roof. Thirsty, smokey, and debauched; I loved it.They are quite something. Get one now!
spitsfire said:
It's an '82 model. Special order collected from AMG and then privately exported to the USA before being sold to the current owner in 1985. He was a sports pro who moved from California to Australia and brought the car with him. He knew somebody at Mercedes in Germany, and bought him a holiday in Australia in exchange for bringing out a RHD dash and swapping over. There is some documentation to support this.
I'd rather have had a later generation car, but it's so hard to find a good condition, low mileage, well maintained car; most of them have mega miles, have been modified (badly) or poorly maintained. Usually it's a combination of all three.
I'm wondering if the conversion would have required welding/cutting to the bulkhead - anybody have any knowledge of this?
The conversion should not have required structural changes. However, there are very significant differences between LHD and RHD cars, not least of which is the reversal of the wiring harness: on LHD, the fusebox is on the left, on RHD it is on the right. The firewall is reversed, too. I would be cautious about a converted car but, as with any old car, it is but one factor among many.I'd rather have had a later generation car, but it's so hard to find a good condition, low mileage, well maintained car; most of them have mega miles, have been modified (badly) or poorly maintained. Usually it's a combination of all three.
I'm wondering if the conversion would have required welding/cutting to the bulkhead - anybody have any knowledge of this?
r129sl said:
The conversion should not have required structural changes. However, there are very significant differences between LHD and RHD cars, not least of which is the reversal of the wiring harness: on LHD, the fusebox is on the left, on RHD it is on the right. The firewall is reversed, too. I would be cautious about a converted car but, as with any old car, it is but one factor among many.
Thanks for that! I've found it strangely hard to get any reliable information on the 126 Coupe other than being told not to buy one!I wouldn't normally contemplate a converted car, but the overall condition of the car is exceptionally good and it hasn't been tastelessly modified. And it's done 80k.
Having sunk quite a bit of money into the SAAB due to the high mileage (200k miles), I'm cautious about buying another leggy motor, especially one with Mercedes-sized bills attached...
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