That would be the Ferrari 308 GTS, the bigger brother to the Mondial. The 308 was a $30,000 car seven years ago, and is now worth $90-120k on the low end. The Mondial was like a $15,000-20,000 car at that time, and is now about $50-70k.

Um, this car is a Euro. Euro bumpers, Euro model, Euro spec (and a Cossie motor dropped in obviously, but we can skip over that). That’s what makes the car notable. It also doesn’t matter that it wasn’t available from Mercedes in the US, as you could import a car from Europe brand new in 1983.

80s cars are the only cars that can be trusted with that sort of mileage, other than maybe ‘90s diesel trucks. These were overbuild to the fullest of Mercedes’ ability, and even if it needs some suspension work, it’s not going to break the bank. Just fix it upon purchase and put 50,000 worry-free miles on it. Having…

That is damn impressive, holy crap. And picturing that four-speed column shift totally encapsulates the story. I’ve driven a 220s with that transmission, and the idea that people used to drive those cars regularly with such cool and complex shifting methods was thrilling. That must have been an incredible story to be…

Not sure what mileage figure people are looking at for this, because the one I’m seeing is 170k. You can’t find W123s (swapped or not) with less than 250k anywhere, and they will run steadily and dependably through 300k, and with a rebuild will keep going after that (and this engine isn’t even on that schedule because…

That price is about double a very well-set-up driver, and 170k is nothing for these cars. These and the later W124s were million-mile cars, and it’s incredibly difficult to find a W123 of any type with fewer than 250k. Given that the Cosworth engine alone is worth as much as he’s asking for the car, it’s an incredible…

Lolwhat? These cars are far more reliable than anything built after 2000, they will run for literally—not figuratively—a million miles and more, and parts are plentiful as they were used by a wide range of European manufacturers. Yeah, if you’re an idiot and you go to a dealer they’ll charge you $95 for an idler arm,…

I would counter that an E28 M5 isn’t particularly needy. An E39 sure, and an E60 obviously, but not an S38-powered car. And in any case, compared to hydraulic diagnosis and sourcing Unimog parts...

Thank you! And yes, the blue one (my keeper car) is stored from November to April. The Mercedes S124s get me through the winter (they’re too good as daily drivers to put away).

To be fair, an E24 does have to be done up properly in order to look good. That said, there are two types of E24 owners: People who admit that they lust after an E9, and dirty liars. This is aided by the fact that you can get an excellent 635CSi for $7k, and a driver E9 is around $35,000.

Leave the cool close-up drone shots to the pros

This was my immediate response, but I think he was sarcastically thinking of names that rhyme with Tennessee that weren’t... you know...

I hear that. Somehow I’ve ended up with four Mercedes W124s (three S124s, one W124 stick) in five years. I mean, I love them. But try telling me as a young kid that one of my favorite cars to drive is an automatic, six-cylinder wagon from 1994, and I would probably ignore you and try to teach you something about the…

Wake me up when dealerships stop being a useless and arbitrary middle man to the car buying process (which is already grossly moronic for new cars, unless you enjoy throwing away 30% of an item’s value upon purchase). Of course they should go above and beyond, you’re throwing away money on products they don’t even…

0% surprising from the guy who runs the world’s worst Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/MrWheelerDealer/ 

Fair. Co-creation would be the (still generous) description, then. But even so, I still know his name (albeit certainly in the context of the pair of them).

the Google Glass guy

These sell for $11-12k all day long. Condition-to-condition they’re about $5k more expensive than SL500s.

They literally linked to the initial Jalopnik coverage of the Automotive News story in the article. In the preview even. Incredible.

Awesome write-up! How long should you wait between each step, though? I’m assuming certain paints (primer and color coat) need to dry before the next paint type can be applied, and that some paints (touch up paint vs. leveler) should be followed up quickly, but how long should that waiting period be?