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Detroit, 5:50 PM
Tue Dec 1
31 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/22/09
They look heavy, which is great for big sedans, but kind of sad for sports cars. They were never that fast, but worse, they never felt that fast. Their handling was okay, but not show stopping. They were hard to keep running. They were and are expensive. They just seem like a series of compromises. To me, the current owners fall into two general categories. Neither of which are completely accurate, but this is just my view.
1. The "car guys" who know nothing about cars. They call themselves enthusiasts, but never really went further than that. They saw a two door convertible with a three pointed star and just assumed it was the hottest thing ever. My god father is like that, and... you guessed it, has a W107.
2. The women(trophy wives ten years ago) who wanted a sports car. For whatever reason, either they thought Miatas weren't classy enough, or their husbands thought they weren't safe enough. So they end up with a heavy, slow, W107.
And yeah, I know the second was a little sexist, sorry. But either way, they just seem like they're owned by image people, not car people.
That being said, a teacher at our local Elementary school has an early 80's W107. It is covered in rust and fiberglass patches(by the ocean, so we tend to blend car repair and surfboards). It has a center console made of unpainted roughly constructed 1/2" plywood. It has really nasty looking sheep skin seat covers. It is a total beater. But it's a daily driver. So rather than be something viewed as extravagant, it is viewed as basic transportation that happens to be kind of cool. That W107, while I would never want to own it, makes me happy to know it exists.
09/21/09
09/20/09
Plus, this was MB's era of cockroach-longevity build quality, so they're hard to kill.
Get a big enough shoe (or an E55 engine), and yeah, you can do it some harm...however, they are owned, typically, by the older generation who believes in having the dealer rape them every six months, so they're better maintained than most vehicles.
09/20/09
09/20/09
09/20/09
09/20/09
But contemplate the weight---iit's one fat guy away from my 66 Plymouth Fury or even my 90s Marquis. Really dense, solid feeling vehicle.
09/20/09
09/20/09
Biggest thing is the timing chain... nine miles long. Get that serviced, and they'll run forever. I'm waiting for Mon to quit driving so I can get her 380SL....
09/20/09
09/19/09
http://lovelyschool.net/carsandcoffee/main.php/v/xapexi_002/Cars+and+Coffee+12-27-2008_125.jpg.html
(It has different headlights now)
09/22/09
09/19/09
09/19/09
09/20/09
Sie sind auf einer Mission von Gott.
09/20/09
09/19/09
Have sawzall.
Have 1995 W124 sedan.
Have beer/liquor store nearby.
Presto! Weekend project.
09/19/09
09/20/09
Yes, this was one of the three best sounding cars on the track. The other two were the Fiero and the LTD powered LS1 (I think it was an LTD?).
Searching my videos to see if I have any good recordings of it.
09/20/09
09/19/09
09/20/09