I went with the Benz for the exact same reasons you had listed.

I almost went with the VW for the "bumper and other parts in car" quote, but chose the Merc for hopes of a V8 dump.

Benz.

Especially if you're putting in an LS1 or Buick V6.

VW, with a Ferrari motor in the back. Isn't somebody building one right now?

No, it's was a Rambler wagon. But just the same, put a Ferrari motor in the back of it.

The VeeWee is a cute car and all, but the Squareback is certain to have an impossible to remove smell inside and drive stiffer than a slot car which is a nightmare on a narrow bodies car that high of the ground.

Meanwhile the Benz has literally as much interior space as the VW and a much more comfortable ride. Probably has a smell too, but not as bad as old V-Dub smell.

@JSmith53: Put a Ferrari motor at each end. And a whiskey still in the middle.

I am horrifyingly close to inquiring about a fintail Mercedes around the corner from me. It appears immobile, and the yard it's in is a scary single-wide, so rational thought wins out so far.

[picasaweb.google.com]

So, yeah, that's my vote. Mind you, the VW is pretty sweet, but the Mercedes is just that much more odd -- and don't forget the swingaxle rear end!

VW, just based on a great summer spent in a nicely modified one. Put it in the weeds, add some Porsche wheels and some stoner eyelids and you get a lot of college girl attraction for a little money. Plus many years ago I got smoked by one with an 1835 in it in my modified '95 Maxima.
I'd much rather drive an LS1 powered Benz though.

Dang man, this looks like my parents carport from 1980. The colors are wrong, and it was a Type 4, but still. Therefore, I cannot cast a vote.

Let's not forget the barber-pole speedo in the MB heckeflosse: [www.heckflosse.nl]

Be careful of the wood trim as it's bent wood and likely to be broken at the 90deg. bends. Very difficult to fix or replace.

MB dual carb straight-6 vs. a Squareback? I've owned lots of VWs and love 'em, but really, roll in style with the fintail.

A Heckflosse with no drivetrain.....is a restomod waiting to happen. I'll take mine with a new 6.3 AMG V8, uprated brakes and suspension, and paint it to look like this

[www.heckflosse.nl]

or possibly this

[www.heckflosse.nl]

Oh yeah, the Benz. I like Squarebacks, but a Mercedes will keep running like Christine no matter what you do to it.

I loved my squareback.

But for lunacy the fintail has much more potential. 6.3 Merc V8! LS1! MB turbodiesel with a quadrillion pounds of boost! Outside rear wheel tucking under in hard corners!

The Benz. I'd rather fill an empty Mercedes engine bay than wrench on a non-running Type 3.

Besides, the same model Benz was on the cover of Kraftwerk's Autobahn.

@Ed D: I'd find an 86-87 6cyl turbodiesel from a W124/W126 (the most powerful MB diesel until fairly recently), a good five or six speed, intercooler, a giant turbo and have the best, noisiest car ever built that could spin tires and/or remove trees from the ground (should the need arise) with reckless abandon.

I've put way too much though into this.

Actually, if you're willing to pay for an LS1, you should be able to afford a nicer Mercedes as the engine recipient. This one would have to be junkyard all the way.

@MurileeMartin: In that case, see if you can find a 5.0L or 5.6L Benz V8 out of a mid to late '80s S or SL class model. Choked by the smog-mitigation gizmos of their day, you might be able to extract close to 300 normally-aspiratied hp out of a 5.6 since it'd be in a smog-exempt chassis...

Or, if you wanted something really wacky, you could find a vintage Unimog with a rotted body and drop this thing atop the chassis. Then you'd have a Heckflossimog!

@Paul Y: Ooh, I'll help!

@ThnderbltDoherty:

Awesome.

I wish I had a garage, or at least a yard of my own (student loan debt keeps me in indentured servitude to landlords). I have, for some time now, vowed to eventually have a graveyard of odd European cars, mostly MBs and Citroens. My girlfriend rolls her eyes whenever I bring this up.

@TomAnderson: You know, the W109 with the 6.3 was allegedly rated at around 300hp, and it's not that different a body from the fintails. Realistically, if you had a DS-like parts/maintenance budget, that could work in this car.

Now that I think about it, a fintail MB would make an AWESOME lead sled.

Again, thinking about this too much.

@MurileeMartin: Holy fuck I love the way you think.

My dad bought a used 1964 220b in 1964 and has driven it for the past 43 years, so I fully endorse the Mercedes. So much more style and class than the Type 3. Put something beastly under the hood and go nuts.

@TomAnderson: Now that's an interesting idea, because I see those engines all the time at Pick Your Part. $100, air cleaner to oil pan, on Half Price Day (which is coming up again in a couple weeks)...

Oh my god, the squareback all the way. Jack it up and throw the tailpipers out the back. Or slam it and push the exhaust out the sides. Little wagons, ho!

Wow; so little love for the wee-dub. The only thing that would keep me from choosing that over the Benz is a rusted floor.

Besides; the Benz looks too much like my dear departed Grandma's Rambler.

Squareback... I've wanted one for as long as I remember:

Primer grey, dropped, narrow beam, hot rod 1835cc motor, dual 36 Dellorto carbs. I'd graft in a ragtop, bolt on some Porsche Fuchs and stick a swamp cooler in the window.

Drool, drool.

Had a squareback. Fins uber alles!

I'm not sure everyone is voting as originally intended: your vote is supposed to indicate which one you would rather AVOID, right?

I'd take the VW, easy. Sure, there's a big support base for either, but I just love the VW and its barely-past-steam-age tech. And there's almost literally no end of support and tweakage potential there. You can go as stock or trick as your wallet will stand.

Sorry:
Neither this time, Jalop.

I voterd for the Mercedes. An engine from Detroit would be the way to go, perhaps either a supercharged Buick 3.8 V6, or even an older Buick nailhead V8, if space allows.
Lower the car, find the right wheel/ tire combo, paint it a darker color, and rock on.

squareback with Porsche parts is the way to go.

Having owned both of these fine autos (well, almost -- a 67 Type 3 Squareback and a 65 Benz 220Sb), I can state with some authority that the VW is going to be 'way more reliable, and 'way cheaper and easier to repair.

The Benz with a GM small block and tranny would be a pleasant drive, though.

@TomAnderson: Great, now I can't stop thinking about a 500SEL-powered fintail... Damn you, TomAnderson!