Mercedes W108 280SE 1968

[PGNSagaris]

Sunday evening a few weeks ago and I was thinking about an interesting family car that we could all enjoy. Nothing in my fleet really works in that department and having fixed buckets in the 911 means getting in the back is a mission of trampled feet on alcantara and much angst from me. Aside from that, my wife does not enjoy the ride of that car either and she is right. It's heavily track biased KW3's don't marry up with the st roads and humps London offers up.

It also needed to be a car that would not be affected by the new ULEZ rules as we live in central London and drive around on weekends and across London regularly. I looked at a fabulous Bentley T2 but my wife thought it over the top and a bit try hard. Normally I'd not pay attention to such sentiments but for this car, I really wanted to involve her this time round. So I asked to find something she would be happy with and the next day she sent me this.

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Boom. I'm in. Organised a viewing and test drive the next day. It is a W108 auto, with 106k miles and to these eyes, a fabulous colour.

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|https://thumbsnap.com/a2ByW4EG[/url]

It was majestic. My god the ride is just so boat-like it's hilarious. Reminded me a lot of my old R107 but turned up a wafty notch. The brakes though were fantastic and overall we loved it so we placed a deposit subject to a PPI and the wait commenced. Predictably for a car that is 51 years old, there are some issues that need addressing but nothing terrible thankfully.

So, all agreed with the seller and I collected it last Saturday with a fresh MOT (not legally required but worth doing) and service. I then drove straight over to Edward Hall Mercedes where the car will be totally fixed up ready for us to enjoy when we return from holidays mid April.














Off topic but one of the main reasons why I opted to sell my R129 SL600 was the inability to fit three point belts in the rear and have enough space to fit the two kids comfortably. Also, whilst a 6 litre V12 is always cool, I just felt the R129 wasn't quite a classic yet and didn't make me pine to drive it. So it went. But the itch for a classic remained.

This however had me smiling as hard as collecting my first TVR. Ok, the engine is under powered, the gearchange ponderous, it's woefully high geared and yet none of that matters. It just makes you so extremely happy and content driving it -that is why I am sure I will spend far too much time and money on this car than would ever make sense. And the added bonus is that my wife loves it and her emotional investment just adds to the experience.

Will update on the work being done when I collect. Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of a good user manual, that would be much appreciated. I have seen PDF type ones on Ebay would rather have an actual old school manual.

Thanks for reading.
PGN

[PGNSagaris]

Thank you everyone. Yes, wife is definitely a keeper and hopefully the car too. Was speaking to my old man and turns out he owned an identical one in his 20’s, but in brown!

My only advice when buying a car this age is to have a PPI done because although they can look mega at first glance, a trained eye will spot a shi tbox very quickly.

It might seem obvious but I didn’t with my R129 and had an eye watering bill almost immediately for looms, starter motor, suspension parts etc.

[PGNSagaris]

Thanks for all the very kind comments everyone.

Alex, this car cost £18k but will need another £5k or more maybe, spending almost immediately to get it ship shape. And you’re right, cars of this age are a minefield. Listening to Edward Hall tell stories of people blinded by the external aesthetics send chills down your spine.

Long term there will be ongoing issues with rust that will also need attention and eventually the engine will need a rebuild I’d imagine. It’s on 106,000 miles now and feels/sounds fine but you never know.