1960' Classics

[midlife]

Considering swapping in the SL500 for a SL280.
Any experience out there as to what I should expect ?
Will I be looking at a rather expensive pile of parts in 6 months ?
Or have I completely lost the plot ???
Any comments, views or medication would be much appreciated...

>> Edited by midlife on Thursday 11th May 16:44

[steve-p]

There have been some good articles on those in Mercedes Enthusiast - you might want to check out their back issues:

www.mercedesenthusiast.co.uk/

The generic advice with anything of that age is that there are two ways to go. You either buy a very good example at a high price, or a poor example and immediately throw money at it. The idea is that you end up with a good car either way. In between those extremes, you could easily pay a mid price for something that looks good, but actually isn't, and spend more in total.

I must admit, I am quite envious if you get one as they have always appealed - it's a classic design. From my limited research, I noticed that these guys are specialists:

www.silchestergarage.co.uk/

I only noticed them because they are quite close to me. I'm sure there are others. They have a tempting stock list on that site too

[midlife]

Thanks Steve !
Just ordered some back copies MB Enthusiast. Great recommendation.
But that Silchester site is just pure porn !
Will do a bit of reading up and get myself out there.
Got it in my head that 25k should get something usable (would like to get some change from the 500).
Any opinion on daily use ?
Thanks again
Jon

[steve-p]

I think suitability for daily use really depends on your usage pattern. I wouldn't want to drive a car of that age on salty roads for example, since rust is always the biggest worry with cars from the pre-galvanised period, so you might need something else for part of the year. Waxoil and regular cleaning may make that feasible of course. Apart from that it would probably be fine, and more suitable than many 60s cars. A few arty types and celebs drive them daily I believe.