My love for old Mercs and Toyota MR2s

[Peter C]

When I was about 10 years old, my best friend's dad had a red W123 230E. He gave me a lift in it a couple of times and that was it, I fell in love with Mercs.

 

This was my first Merc, a 190E manual, which I bought back in the days when they just went out of production:

 

 

Many years later I bought an old W123 200T, for £100, which I sold via EBay for £380 once the logbook arrived:

 

 

My second 190E was a honey. Although it was only a 1.8 automatic, it had 87k on the clock with FMBSH and was mint:

 

 

Then I bought my first W124, a 200TE. Great car, I loved it to bits, until the rear self-levelling suspension hydraulic pipes rusted through and I was quoted £500 to have them replaced!

 

 

My second W124 was a sweet car. I bought it (via a dealer) from its first lady owner. That's right, one lady owner for 20 years! Almost FMBSH, black leather interior, electric everything, it really was a superb car. Not a spot of rust anywhere and it drove like new, with approx 115k miles on the clock.

 

 

And now I drive a W123 230E manual. I bought the car unseen via EBay a couple of months ago. The mileage is 92k but there is very little service history to go with it. That said, the car is in good condition and I don't have any reasons to doubt the mileage.

 

 

My other car is a 1994 Mk2 Rev3 Toyota MR2 G-Limited Automatic. This is my 5th MR2 in about 8 years. I've had it since 2008 and its a keeper.

 

Here it is, next to my wife's old MX-5:

 

 

And posing down the road:

 

 

My previous MR2 was a Mk2 Rev1 Coupe (non-GT):

 

 

A couple of years ago I had a Rev3 GT, with 17" alloys, lowered suspension..... looked great!

 

 

My first MR2 was a 1989 Rev1 Mk2 GT. After buying it I discovered the car's history. In the early 1990s it featured on the front cover of Autocar & Motor magazine a couple of times:

 

 

I kept this car for 5 years and regret ever selling it.

 

 

Whilst I had it, other cars came and went, but I remained faithful to my MR2. This was probably the "best" car I ever had, although I wouldn't have another:

 

 

That's it for now!

[trigger]

What a great selection of cars, I'd happily have any of them.Mercs do have a nice drive about them, That nice smooth autobox, silky steering, the badge on the end of the long bonnet like a target, Lush.Was never so keen on the Manual C class's, The gearbox was shite and it was a bugger doing a hill start with a foot hand brake.

[AnthonyG]

Great selection of Mercs Out of interest, what did you like and not like about the S2000?

[Mr Lobster]

Nice selection you've had there!

[Peter C]

Out of interest, what did you like and not like about the S2000?

Mostly the engine. It was great when you were in the mood for a thrash but a complete pain when all you wanted was to get from A to B. The car had no go unless the engine was extended past 6,000 rev/min. This meant that in normal driving conditions you had to constantly rev the engine (tiring for the driver). If you wanted to accelerate at a decent rate whilst driving at 70MPH in top (sixth) gear, you had to drop down to 4th or even third to wake the engine up..... Track day fun - perfect.Daily runner - pain in the arse.

[meggersdog]

I have a soft spot for old Mercs aswell.Although just listed my 190e on the bay of e.(it's in the ebay tat thread page 1200)Had a 124 series 300e for a few months last year,sold it on ebay over xmas.

[Richard]

It was great when you were in the mood for a thrash but a complete pain when all you wanted was to get from A to B. The car had no go unless the engine was extended past 6,000 rev/min. This meant that in normal driving conditions you had to constantly rev the engine (tiring for the driver). If you wanted to accelerate at a decent rate whilst driving at 70MPH in top (sixth) gear, you had to drop down to 4th or even third to wake the engine up.....

The Honda Stream that my last work had was like that, except it was a 5 speed. If you wanted any acceleration at legal speeds you had to be in first or second.

[Tayne]

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[VWPowered]

W123's are awesome cars all the pikeys round our way loved the diesels in the late 80's

[pompei]

Which are the "good" Mercs and which are the ones to avoid?Sorry for being a thicko about this

[Station]

I've never driven a mk2 MR2, but the mk1 is the best car I've driven and arouses me everytime I see one.

 

[Baz]

I'm trying very hard to resist my current urges to look for a nice 190 in white, cream, or that fantastic battleship grey they did them in....A car that I've loved since I drove a 2.3-16 (LHD, with it's dog-leg gearchange) the day after passing my test! Honda S2000 is on my shopping list too....One day!

[meggersdog]

Which are the "good" Mercs and which are the ones to avoid?Sorry for being a thicko about this

Anything in that line-up would be superb.Avoid any mid to late 90's stuff.From my experience I think Mercedes sorced their auto boxes from Renault in the mid 90's.Well everyone I saw in the auctions seem to have a farked auto box.

[trigger]

A bloke i know bought a brand new (at the time) K reg 190E 2.0 in that really nice Purpley Blue Metallic with full cream leather interior, That was a nice looking car.

[Barry Cade]

Yeeah! Another fan of old Mercs Currently got a 190D,previous were C200,W124 230E and a 190D 2.5. All were cheap and FABWont join in the luv of mister twos though. X1/9's forever!!!

[VWPowered]

X1/9's are awesome

[greengartside]

I love Mercs and MR2's as well

 

Here's my '2....

 

[Lord_Isleworth]

Nice mercs - would love an old estate but worry about the costs when they eventually go wrong.

[Barry Cade]

cheap as chips to fix! But they dont go wrong...