Sounds like your next Moab project.

Or 107-chassis Mercedes SLs.

The EJ25 (and the EZ25 that followed it) were known for head gasket problems to the point that many were replaced preemptively. I wouldn’t say that having had it replaced would be a trouble marker here; indeed, if they had proof it’d been done, I’d call that a plus.

Been there, done that. Had a 2000 Outback Limited wagon. Had a slushbox, but almost the same HP at 165 (though from the next generation engine). It was so underpowered even my roommate who drives a 1998 Corolla he bought new and thinks it’s fine says it was badly underpowered.

A helicopter is 10,000 parts flying in close formation around an oil leak. Would I do aerobatics in one? Hell no!

Three pedals? Soft top? Gorgeous condition? Low miles?

Have *you* done it on a 124? It’s not that tough. You don’t have to do the whole car at once, and you can remove the shock, compress the spring, slip it out, then slip the new spring in and uncompress it. You don’t need to pull the control arms apart. Hell, the 107 community commonly compresses the front springs by…

Come on. There’s no way in hell a VW type 1 is going to drive like a 356, no matter what you do to the engine. Cars are meant to be driven, not looked at, and this one’s a VW.

It can be a trick, depending on how the shocks are mounted and whether there’s enough room to slip the plate in somewhere. On my 380SL, I found myself slipping ht eplate in lower than I wanted it and then turning ot to let it walk itself up the spring.

That assumes the wiring harness hasn’t been done, which I’ll grant is a reasonable assumption. I can deal with the wheels and the fender; they’re not absolutely hideous like a lot of aftermarket replacements. The door panel can be dealt with down the road, depending on how often you have people back there, and you can…

The good news is that the spring replacement isn’t that big a deal. It’s a one-afternoon job (I’m assuming the tops of the shocks aren’t stupidly hard to get to; never a safe assumption when working on a Mercedes... “engineered like no other car in the world” is both a bug and a feature).

If it’s like the 2000 model I had (which was only available with the N/A four), it’s hopelessly underpowered. Even my roommate, who bought a 1998 Corolla new still has it, and thinks it’s plenty powerful, thought the Outback was underpowered. I replaced it with a 2001 E320 wagon and never looked back.

That wandering idle is no big deal, and there are plenty of folks who will help you straighten it out on the forums. The car is damn near bulletproof. I don’t care about the vents; I’d rather have the diesel, but the M104's a good solid engine.

Boy, is that ever a yellow Porsche. It may be the yellowest Porsche I’ve ever seen. It’s not just yellow, it’s *yellow*.

Was that a ham radio callsign plate on the back of the Pismo Pearl?

Don’t even think of taking that to Moab.

Merciful $DEITY. Considering this - as a daily driver - is an even worse idea than Project POStal (at least he knew Jeeps before diving in to that one!), how the hell do you top this?

I have two words to say about this car:

I had an H3 as a rental once. That absurdly high beltline had a major flaw: you couldn’t see out of the damned thing! I was constantly worried that I’d flatten some Miata that snuck up on me changing lanes to the right, even though I’d look, and look, and look. That thing had a blind spot bigger than Stevie Wonder’s…

Tired of driving a crappy old Jeep? Who are you and what have you done with David Tracy?!