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Seems funny to see a Goat without at least a blacked-out grille. The LeMans silver is shirley a topic of conversation at shows.

This is just one car, but maybe it is a sign that we don't necessarily have to give up real cars to get to the future. Some of us said when the concept came out that it would be much better off with the 3.6L as motivation, that the hybrid junk is better left in the dustbin. And it seems that GM agrees. GM is in the business of selling cars that make a profit. Alt fuel vehicles do not make a profit, by and large. They are an engineering money pit. And people do not want them. How much clearer does it need to be?

Man, you picked a good day to be born. Parties all around!

One of these Torana commercials has an interesting correlation for Americans - a Pontiac tie-in or two... phrases like "wide stance" and "Breakaway", even the tune is the same as the Pontiac "Breakaway" ads of the time, except they sing "bah bah bah" in place of "PON TI AC". Very cool and predictive. We know there are other instances of shared ad themes as well. http://www.youtube.com/embed/hs0vmgA38CU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

http://www.youtube.com/embed/aShkO8upPBA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

...this year! http://www.youtube.com/embed/oObB6DehViE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Maybe somebody can chop an XTS in silver with blanked-off grille opening, fully-skirted wheel openings, bicycle-width tires with full disc covers, lowered ride height and shaved side mirrors.

Check these out: http://www.livinlite.com/index.php You'll see no flowers in these, I think they're pretty cool. Unless you're looking for a motorhome.

frozen butt

I'm starting to feel like my months of laziness regarding the birthday threads have come home to roost, but now that the page is reconfigured, I will be posting these on time as needed as long as I'm home and have internet access. Rome was not rebuilt in a day. Anyway, Nick's prolly still partyin'.

Maybe his dreams came true and some chick who's really into Monte Carlos (and who has a big empty garage ) has him tied to a bed somewhere.

In my opinion, anything "custom" is ruined, unless the owner wants to own the vehicle for life. Otherwise, factory condition always wins out, valuewise.

Gorgeous automobile, shame he had to run over wet red paint.

Have a great one sir.

Cort (codename Knightfan), don't worry, your witness protection status is safe with us!

Weren't running boards just tucked behind the doors though on some cars? I see what you mean about the protruding rocker panel area on the 300, but there is no rubber step there visible from outside. Vestigial indeed. M-B did take a conservative, Old World approach to stylistic progress as defined by Americans Postwar. Mercedes was interested in keeping their grille design largely intact carried through from the old days, which lends an air of timelessness and permanance, but also a bit of difficulty, perhaps, in keeping up with trends. One minor but telling note: LOVE the nameplate font on the 190, they used that same font for decades, another sign of resistance to trends.

Nice one, with inline 6 and manual trans!

birds in the yard.

Well it's no '52 Styleline Special, but it'll do, I suspect!

Good news!

OK good. This thread makes it clear how tenuous our little group is.

I like the idear of it, but yes, maintenance nightmare. And a new Benz is likely the same way. What is there to gain from all this engineering overkill if none of it is reliable? If the goal is to make the customer's life easier, they fail.

I agree with balthy in that they are somewhat similar (Rambler and 190), but I think compared to American cars of the time, Benz was only 5-10 years behind in body design. The M-B 300 pictured, if that happens to be a 1960 model, compares to something American from about 1952-1954, when you think of fender integration and greenhouse evolution, at least in my recollection. I can't think of a decade that had more rapid evolution of car body design than 1950-1960.

Looks like it's in good condition, hard to tell with the brown in the photos though, it could be hiding some sins. Was this the top Mercedes sedan in 1960 in Germany? Looking at the comparitive photos, dude we DID win WWII. Europe is still different in some ways because of both World Wars being fought on their soil. Conservation of resources is simply a fact of life over there, I guess. EDIT: after looking at the gallery, this thing is looking CLEAN. The lower body appears smooth in the photos, I'm betting it's all metal, no bondo. The MB-Tex is flawless, I'm sure the seats have been recovered though. Nice little buggy.

Looking at the '67 Chevelle in this thread, it is difficult for me to remember a better looking, better proportioned automobile. Such effortless flow and harmony of line from front to back, with so much contemporary universal appeal. The Chevelle was the ultimate chameleon, as was stated recently by Camino. There will never be a car company with a design heritage as wholly rich with beauty as General Motors. HANDS DOWN.