-----> Julie's new Mercedes Benz

[Sixty8panther]

So our 1986 Fleetwood Brougham was sold on Thursday night at 8:00pm.

A guy who lives about 1.5 miles away took for a testdrive, gave me a

few $100s & $20s and shook my hand as I gave him the keys.

Shortly after my wife Julie & myself were in the back of the Banana Boat

(the famous Tight Whips yellow '77 Coupe deVille) on our way to South

Boston. XP and his g/f gave us a ride down so we could pick up Julie's

new hoopty. The car in question was on craigslist for several weeks, no

photos in typical fashion. It was located close to University of

Massachusetts, right by the famous JFK Library, in So. Boston off Rt. 93.

1982 Mercedes Benz 240 D, four door sedan, automatic.

Julie's three "must haves" in a car were:

1. 4 door

2. automatic

3. mid-size

So this fit the bill perfectly.

According to the owner it was in "great shape" and although the

odometer stopped working at 185,000 miles it had just about a

1/4 million miles. The front end, brakes & rear end were all

replaced or rebuilt in the last 4 years. So in other words the car

is good for another 100,000 to 400,000 miles. Very rust free,

came from Texas and was out there untill 2004.

So here it is, the first official diesel member of TIGHT WHIPS!

[Flybrian]

I do have to laugh at the awful steering wheel and ginormous gauge cluster clock. WTF? indeed.

However, these will never die. Slow? Ja. Ugly? Ja. Smoke-belching? Ja. But kill-proof. What a Mercedes should be but isn't anymore.

[Robert Hall]

Cool..looks like a nice old Benz...looks like it is missing the hood ornament. I remember reading somewhere that MB used huge steering wheels because it's easier to steer if the power steering failed. My sister's '85 500SEL had the same wheel.

[XP715]

I do have to laugh at the awful steering wheel

I dunno, I kinda like that ugly satellite dish-sized steering wheel. Maybe because it reminds me of the steering wheels from cars from the early 1960's and back (sizewise, anyways).

[Sixty8panther]

Oh, and I forgot to post these:

Here's a few photos of the now depatred (gunmetal/burgundy) Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham

with other Tight Whips Rides, including the Murder Car 1971 Sedan deVille.

I hope she provides good faithful service to her new owner. Not that I had anything against

the 16mpg that car was averaging but the 34-40 the Benz should get will be good enough to

balance out all the miles I do in my 11mpg B-59.

I agree the clock is useless, a tach is what SHOULD be there but I'm over it.

[Flybrian]

I dunno, I kinda like that ugly satellite dish-sized steering wheel. Maybe because it reminds me of the steering wheels from cars from the early 1960's and back (sizewise, anyways).

No way. Steering wheels from vintage cars had personality, were well-designed, and looked classy. Even Plymouths had rather ornate steering wheels. It just strikes me as weird that a 'luxury' car would have such a blandtastic Primestar reciever for a steering wheel when there's no airbag to necessitate it.

A '72 200

And upon looking at this older wheel, you could totally jam an airbag into that. Again, IMO. I love vintage Mercedes despite some of their slightly incohesive details, but the steering wheels are unbearable. If I ever had one, that would be swap # 1.

[Drew Dowdell]

*sticks a small pebble in the turbo*

[Oracle of Delphi]

A '72 200

Hmmmm, a carpeted dash, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit!

[Sixty8panther]

The carpeted dash is not factory, and yet it looks like plastic moss...

Now as far as a turbo: I wish, our MB is natrually aspired.

[Intrepidation]

Congrats Sixty8!

[bobo]

Very nice, a real Mercedes-Benz. I also noticed the missing hood ornament right way. The most prominent visual cue to distinguish the 240D from the 300D was the hubcabs. Has a nice classic look to them. Interior looks to be in great shape. MB steering wheels were also said to be large so that all the instruments were visible through the spokes.

[pow]

Cool. We used to have a late 70s/early 80s faded-yellow 300SD. Wouldn't die until finally some kid backed into it and destroyed the A/C compressor.

[Sixty8panther]

Yup... the hood ornament is on the shopping list. It will happen ASAP.

[Robert Hall]

Nice Benz, Sixty8! My 5th grade teacher had one of those in white w/a dark blue interior. Instead of wheel covers, her car had the wheels on it like the one in the pic below.

Those are the wheels my sister's '85 500SEL had. Silver, dark blue leather interior. Had 175k when she bought it in '01 and over 200k when she sold it a couple of months ago. Fun car to bomb around Phoenix in, I always enjoyed driving it.

Edited September 29, 2007 by moltar

[Sixty8panther]

WHite & blue interior huh?

Seems like 99 out of a hundred of these cars were made in "off-white/tan"

[z28luvr01]

Nice. These are as close to indestructible as it can get.

Seriously think about converting it to run on cooking oil. That's actally a popular thing to do with these. I know someone who has one, and he fills it up for free. Restaurants have no problem giving him their used oil because they have to pay to dump it otherwise. Besides, your exhaust would smell like french fries

[ocnblu]

How typically "New England" of your wife to want one of these. She's an old sweetie (the CAR!). And yes... I wouldn't mind owning an old Benz, as there is something permanent about them. That M-B Tex vinyl upholstery no doubt has a 100-year lifespan.

[Drew Dowdell]

Not to hijack the thread, but can we all pitch in and buy 68 some BleachWhite for those tires on the B-59?

[Sixty8panther]

Ocnblu:

Julie is not a into cars, she was driving a Taurus becuase it

was given to her for cheap by a friend... when we decided

find her a replacement for it I asked what she'd like and her

response was she loves BMWs and the new GTO.

But in her own words she only likes newer Bimmers, not the

cheap/affordable 1980s ones I was looking at, like late '90s

5-series. As far as the Holden-GTO with the baby on the

way she wanted a four door.

(I think there might be a gently used 2008

Pontiac "G8" Grand Prix V8 in her futute)

When I rationalized the idea of a diesel Benz her response

was typical.... "but they're noisy, and don't they smell?"

But she came around when I explained the idea of cheap

& possibly free fuel, durrability & safety. This car is a

very good value, esp. ocnsidering all the recent work that

was done to it by a professional mechanic.

Nice. These are as close to indestructible as it can get.

Seriously think about converting it to run on cooking oil. That's actally a popular thing to do with these. I know someone who has one, and he fills it up for free. Restaurants have no problem giving him their used oil because they have to pay to dump it otherwise. Besides, your exhaust would smell like french fries

Trust me, it's been on the agenda for a while. I decided in

fall of 2005 that I would do a vaggie car. Over the past

two years I've looked at a few diesel Cadillac Sevilles, MBs,

BMWs and even a BMW-TD powered Lincoln Mk.VII.

XP knows a guy who does them, mostly to crappy FWD

VWs from the '80s, but either way I might be able to have

him do a cheap veggie conversion. IIRC he said a realistic

estimate was like $250 for a real basic cooking oil kit.

Knowing Pete that probably involves an aluminum beer keg,

goverment/military surplus junk & parts left over from his

DeLorean restoration.

[balthazar]

God these M-Bs are ugly, IMO. There are 2 of this vintage in a nearby town I work in: one is pushing up daisies on a side lawn and the other is extremely bedraggled. Both are cancer-riddled- not sure how many years in MA this vintage will last. I never see (or at least: notice) this old of a M-B running around central NJ anymore- they all seem to have disappered (except for the rare summer-cruiser SL).

My buddy, who's an engineer, coverted over a Rabbit to veggie-oil, and is planning to do a mercedes diesel sedan (not this old) next.

[pow]

You can make your own biodiesel instead of converting it to run on pure veggie oil.

(Old) Top Gear making their own biodiesel and running it on a Volvo 760 diesel...

[Oracle of Delphi]

(I think there might be a gently used 2008

Pontiac "G8" Grand Prix V8 in her futute)

Muhahahahahahahahaha! You mean to tell me you are going to buy and Pontiac Grand Prix FWD with ugly overhangs? And a W body to boot! :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: Oh and with a transverse engine? :rotflmao: OMFG, this is making me laugh!

Please, please 68 when you get your gently used Grand Prix, PM me! I will fly home from Europe just to watch you accept the keys and take pics, better yet, maybe you can buy mine!!!!! :rotflmao:

The Grand Prix might be a bit to small for your growing family, with the baby and all that comes with it. :AH-HA_wink: But if you buy one please, please let me know! :AH-HA_wink:

Edited October 1, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Sixty8panther]

WMJ:

See that's the thing I'm going for maximum bang/$ so veggie oil makes sense.

I live in a densly populated state with Chinese Food & Fast Food restaurants of

all varieties plentiful. Used veggie oil is not hard to come by pro-bono.

Like I said a guy on the outer regions of Tight Whips membership has been

converting used diesel cars to run on french fry grease for years. His personal

hoopty is a scummy old vanilla/brown Mk.II Jetta diesel that burns veggie oil &

has only spun around the 6-digit odometer about 3.1 times.

Thanks for the link Empowah.

PCS:

Re-read my post... I was NOT talking about the W body, TRUST me.

I should have called it a 2008 Pontiac Catalina SJ (G8-GT) :AH-HA_wink:

[Intrepidation]

LOL @ PCS for making an arse out of himself

The Benz is in quite god shape all things considered...interior's not bad either!

As I said...sounds like an old truck when you start it but when it revs it sounds a lot like a Shadow

[Sixty8panther]

U should convert that Shaddow to a veggie oil burner! >>> Woop-woop!!!

[Intrepidation]

U should convert that Shaddow to a veggie oil burner! >>> Woop-woop!!!

I'd need a diesel downer for that wouldn't I?

[daves87rs]

Good looking car.....

[Drew Dowdell]

LOL @ PCS for making an arse out of himself

Just another day around here.....

[Sixty8panther]

This may sound weird, but could you scan a picture of that red plate on the Banana Boat for me? My Dad's birthday is coming up and that looks like the kind of plate he would like.

That plate is "on loan" to XP, I got it at the junkyard

off an old-man-special Mercury Grand Marq. with a

bunch of gawdy acccessories. It readds:

I heart:

vacations

wekends

& paydays

I've got a good pic. of it somewhere... or search for BIG RED

since I installed it on that car and almost every photo I have

ever posted here has that plate on the front.

[SuperSport623]

awesome car 68.... i sepnt most of my time growing up in the backwards facing seat of my dads white with blue interior 87 300TD wagon.... that thing is a tank.... when my dad died, we gave it to a family friend (to the same guy who painted my nova).... im hoping to talk him into selling it back as a daily driver.. its on 300,000 miles and running stronger then new

[Sixty8panther]

Not to hijack the thread, but can we all pitch in and buy 68 some BleachWhite for those tires on the B-59?

LOL, true that. That's what happens when you daily drive on bias-plys.

I'm just a hair under 59,000 miles in the B-59. I got it in April with just

over 53,900 and keep in mind I've also owned like six other cars this

year: the twin Datsun, 97 Infiniti, 77 Banana Boat, BiCentenial LeSabre,

RoadMonster Estate, F.B. & I daily drove the '71 Murder Car for most

of July & August.

Saddly my current financial situation has not allowed for those much

needed Radial tires I've been planning on.