Jalopnik: w124

You Too Can Build A Chopped, V8-Powered W124 Benz For Just 500 Bucks!

Murilee Martin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT

All right, maybe you couldn't build a fine race car like the Son Of A Blitzen '86 300E LeMons car, but even the LeMons Supreme Court believes the legitimacy of the team's budget claims.

The recipe is quite simple: start with one banged-up W124 sedan, then find a wretched early-70s 350SL that's been sitting in a field so long that trees are growing through the engine compartment and buy it for $150. Transplant the 3.5 liter SOHC V8 and 4-speed manual tranmission from the R107 into the W124, and you'd think that would have been enough. But no! These madmen decided that they needed to do a chop job on the roof- supposedly performed by a guy who had just learned to weld that week- and the car looks much better this way. Even with a fairly trashed suspension (which enabled the Son Of A Blitzen to get through the BS Inspection with zero penalty laps), the car was quite fast, running an excellent 1:04.958 best lap (the quickest car had a 1:02.123 best lap) and placing 15th overall.

Check out the exhaust tips in the rear door! Somebody needs to build one of these things for daily-driver use.

Mercedes Benz Continues Gaudy Russian Customization Trend

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EDT

The Mercedes Benz E-Class W124 is the placeholder in our minds eye for what Mercedes Benz's should be. Boxy, classy, high-quality, and above all, restrained. This customized Russian W124 is anything but.

Oh it started off simple enough, the owner dropped it down and put some fancy, AMG-inspired wheels on it, but then things got out of hand. Instead of just getting a new Benzie, this one got new parts grafted on, some C-class headlights and new tail lights and a horrific, ASMA-like grille. Then there's the hood vents and fender gills. Oh, and the triple-tipped exhaust pipes. We're going to go wash our minds out now. [EnglishRussia]

And this is what it started life as.

Nice Price Or Crack Pipe: $57,500 For A 20,000-Mile 1987 AMG Hammer?

Murilee Martin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

OK, so 78% of our readers believe the restomodded Volvo P1800S is overpriced at $69,900. We can see that, but we're going to present you with a much tougher call today: a gen-yoo-wine, low-mile Hammer!

Nowadays, a 3,700-pound sedan with a 375-horsepower V8 under the hood is pretty respectable, but back in 1987 it was utterly insane. You'd have paid over 170 grand for an '87 Mercedes-Benz 300E with the full 6.0 liter AMG treatment, and that comes to about $318,000 in 2009 bucks. So, what we have here is such a car, with just 19,600 miles on the clock and apparently in excellent condition, and the owner has set a $57,500 Buy It Now price for it. Let's face it, this thing is one of the all-time great factory hot rods and no doubt quite valuable, but is 58 grand edging into Crack Pipe pricing territory with the economy the way it is now? You decide!
[eBay Motors, thanks to John for the tip!]

Please, No MC Hammer Jokes: 1988 AMG 300TE Wagon!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

There was a lot of debate over the authenticity of the last eBay Hammer we saw here, so let's get our tirades revved up again for today's find: an allegedly genuine 1988 AMG Mercedes-Benz 300TE station wagon! Do you think it's real? If so (or even if not), do you think it's worth $38,000? Thanks to Schm for the tip! [eBay Motors]

Do you want MC Hammer… or do you want The Hammer Party? We thought so.

Ready For The Hammer Party?

Murilee Martin — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EDT

No, not this Hammer Party, although the AMG Hammer came out around the same time as the Big Black album. We're talking about one of 21 American-built 1988 AMG "Hammer" Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars, which is up for sale with a Buy It Now of $89,999. Yes, even though this is a high-end, super-collectible factory musclecar, the seller feels compelled to do the "many nines" pricing routine more commonly associated with a clapped-out '86 Buick Somerset sitting on the Dollar Bill's Easy Autos lot with a Day-Glo "$1,999.99" sign on the windshield. But never mind that, because buying this car today is like buying an LS6 Chevelle 20 years ago; sure, it seems way overpriced now, but just wait another 20 years and see what happens! The only drawback here is the lack of the 32-valve 6-liter AMG engine, though the seller claims the 2-valve 5.6 is actually better. Either way, now that we're in a Hammer Party mood, make the jump to hear "Steelworker." Oh, and thanks to Schm for the tip! [eBay Motors]