HMC Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 At work today It finally sank in that I'd agree to buy sight unseen (admittedly for a very low price) a car I'd decided some time ago wasnt worth the risk and to be avoided. The car in question was never particularly well liked by critics at launch. It was considered wide of the mark, too large, to heavy, too poorly styled compaired to its predecessor. Saddled with excessive spec (I wont go into too much detail yet as it'l give the game away) the Car GBU listing in car wittily said it was against the Zeitgeist. the model was envolved in possibly the most infamous car crash of the 90s, but its not a fiat uno. Any Ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 presumably one of those S-class mercs, the slab-sided ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Creep Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Citroen SM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Ford Scorpio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HillmanImp Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Involved in a famous 1990's car crash! Dur! He's bought Ayrton Senna's Williams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rml2345 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 It has to be a W140 series S-Class... Or a Citroen XM but I'm not aware of any "OMG TEH CELERY-BITEES IS ALL DEADED YO" Etc. accidents with those... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Skoda Estelle 105 Lux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Mercedes A Class on a moose test! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 An Aldi TT after someone stupidly attempted to negotiate a traffic cone at 1mph? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shep Shepherd Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 The red J-reg Volvo 440GLE I had a head-on crash with in my dad's Fiesta in 1996? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompei Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I'll go with A class or TT as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobydoo Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Deffo one of these. Lovely cars...so much nicer than the electric nightmare horror that followed in '99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R9UKE Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Deffo one of these. Lovely cars...so much nicer than the electric nightmare horror that followed in '99. Didn't they have self-closing doors or have I imagined that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 They did. Well, a sort of anti-slam. You push the door shut and it caught and closed gently. Though my mate's Mitsubishi Delica has something similar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompei Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Is that a mercedes 280? That's my revised answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulgalour Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Didn't they have self-closing doors or have I imagined that? The Princess has those, if you park on a sideways slope, as I found out to the expense of my shins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairymel Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Case Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 the model was envolved in possibly the most infamous car crash of the 90s, but its not a fiat uno. Any Ideas? As you have implied that you are not a member of the papparazi, it must be the florists' favourite the Mercedes S class. Only thing is I thought it was the W220 not the W140 that was said to be too clever for its own good. I claim my Autoshite Anorak, please PM me to arrange delivery * Alfisti Health Warning. If you must drive through tunnels may I suggest a Lamborghini with the windows down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Well some of you are quite close. I'm due to collect it tomorrow, and bring it back under its own power I hope. I'll leave it untill the collection mission write up to let you know what it is. It was first registered in 1992, and its type was chariot of choice for Col. Gadaffi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Rustbucket Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 If it is a W140, 1992 is an early one! My brother had one, an S320 but his was quite a bit later - later 1990s. It was a regal thing and he liked it, but it was truly breathtakingly expensive to run in those days because it had a lot of electrical problems and a persistent misfire. It regularly threw up bills of more than £2k, one he had towards the end of the time he owned it was well over £3k! He traded it in for an XK8 in 2001-ish because he got sick of the bills and the Jag was much cheaper to run. The Merc was a remarkable thing to drive - surprisingly fast, quiet, very smooth and felt completely unstoppable. I liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Ross Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I had a 1991 W126 300SE. Sublime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-M Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I had an '82 500 SEL. Apart from the rust it was an amusing bit of kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 So today I collected the car.I parked up at the station beside a similar vintage family wagon..... Mines on the right, though I have always liked the look of the 240 and have nearly bought one several times..... Things got off to a bad start, as the train was cancelled. In the absence of any help at the station, i managed to figure out a service leaving earlier, at 8.25 called at Cheltenham Spa too. Good. At this point it was 8.25 so after a bit of a dash, and with seconds to spare, i just about made it onto the train. Phew. The rest of the outgoing trip was quite relaxed, I idly thumbed through 1986 and 1991 editions of CAR whilst watching the world go by. Autoshite heaven? A short trip from the station saw me arrive at the salvage yard to collect the beast. Despite it being a salvage yard it was far removed from the muddy puddles and rottweilers of those I went to as a kid. I passed various expensively crashed cars, all neatly arranged. I was distracted for a while trying to figure our how a maser quattroporte had ended up shaped like a banana! I climbed aboard into the sofa sized drivers seat, closed the double glazed door and gazed into the distance at the silver star on the prow of this supertanker. So yes, it was a w140 s class. A 500SEL. I'd leant from my previous w126s that I prefered the ones with the bigger engines! It had been owned for the last 15 years by the MD's Aunt who had reluctantly let it go. Despite buying the replacement (another s class) she held onto it for another year or so. It turned out the final sale price wasnt particularly important, just that it would be looked after. It came with a wad of service history, a reasonable amount of tax and test, 4 new winter tyres fitted, and 4 continental summer tyres in the boot. First thing I did after hitting the road was to fill the tank. 100 litres capacity, you 'do the math'. I swallowed and handed over my card. Better get used to it! A quick check over of fluid levels and we were off. After starting up again the car was missfiring and down on power as I eased off the forecourt. Did I have my AA card? I can only imagine it may have disturbed some silt in the tank as once i'd cleared its throat on a slip road, it ran fine and has done since, thankfully. I had wafted back with the cruise on, busying myself with the testing of the various electric gadgets to check they work. (this took a while!) I'm pleased Its got the original slightly unfathomable becker radio cassette, which has usually been binned by now for a modern head unit. The cabin is just enormous- i'm 6 foot but just look at the seat position! I can only imagine in the R&D dept at MB during the 1980s theyd run out of true innovations, as a rear view mirror controlled electrically by a joystick on the dash, whilst impressive, does seem a bit pointless. For the american market maybe? I did stop at michael wood services for a double whopper meal (highly appropriate I thought) Getting it to fit in a space in the busy car park brought home how vast it is (LWB model) with the nose in as far as it could go the back end still stuck out ridiculously. Its got some sort of antennae which poke out of the rear wings when you reverse to help you figure out where the back end is. Away from car parks etc it does feel much smaller, and on a favourite b road stretch back to the house, i was suprised how agile it was through some of the curves. I dont really know what 'the plan' is with this one. Its a bit of a white elephant, the wife says its big and ugly (it is, i told her) the huge stats (18 feet long I think, 322bhp 155mph limited) are countered by the smaller ones (MPG) yet it is hugely satisfying to drive round in....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rml2345 Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 They really are a mad old thing, aren't they? I thoroughly approve sir Always thought they were quite handsome really, particularly compared to the replacement S class, which never seemed to have quite the same gravitas as this sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timewaster Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 What a stupid thing to buy! What ever were you thinking?! I LOVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-M Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I'd rock that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Ooh that's lovely with the 8-hole alloys. I crave a short-wheelbase 500SE from the early years of production like yours, or a later S280 on steel wheels with plastic trims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Ooh I like that. They are a beast of a machine. I seriously considered buying Utterpiffle's J-plater a few years back. They are a deceptively fast car - took his for a test drive up the dual cabbageway, he told me to give it a bit of welly so I did, looked down at the speedo and I was doing 130 - felt like about 85. I'd like to try a 600SEL one day, as long as somebody else is paying for the petrol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuke Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I climbed aboard into the sofa sized drivers seat, closed the double glazed door and gazed into the distance at the silver star on the prow of this supertanker. The Mercedez-Benz 500SEL is a bitch. And brookjm spanked it. As said, lovely barge, plus eleventy million bonus points for practicality*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Rustbucket Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Big isn't it! They're great things these and give a real air of importance. I found the SWB a nightmare to park, particularly the width. It's so enormous it made my XJ feel small and delicate. It's sad the W140 turned out to be their last hurrah but they're truly Mercedes at its best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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