V0R5PRU7NG DUR6CH T3CHN1K
Motion & Emotion
The particular car I had did have a slightly weird driving position in the sense that the seats were from an E30 coupe and were for all intents & purposes non movable.
so I was a bit stretched out. as for the offset? no. I didn't have any of that.
<cough> www.charginmahlazer.tumblr.com </cough>
It might have to do something with the car being desgned for lhd and been converted to rhd
"Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
"No. My Finnish is fine; I am from Finland. Do you have any water?"
Mercedes 190E.
One of the last great Mercs, parts are easy to come by, good MPG, and the most important bit, a Cosworth designed engine.
Other Mercs to consider are the W124 and W126. If you spring for a W126, make sure it's a coupe, because the long wheel base cars are quite heavy.
I had a old Valiant VG Pacer... 245ci straight 6 with 200hp, 3 speed manual, LSD , was a great car but nearly lethal in the wet with the LSD I sold it for a pittance, now their worth over 30 grand for a restored one
Not actual car in pics... didnt have cameras back then
SA IPRA cars 15, 25, 51 & 77
Sharperto Racing IP Corollas
http://www.sharperto.com.au/
First car was a 1994 Lincoln Continental, sold for 4k after a blown head gasket and bought a 99 grand am gt. Blown head gasket and sold to some high schooler and bought a mazdaspeed6. No real problems with it yet. So basically go foreign
Last edited by Sledgehammer; 08-21-2008 at 03:51 PM.
"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races."
-Carrol Shelby
I think I've come across a few mercs of that era for cheap but I dont know if any of them are cozzas
"Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
"No. My Finnish is fine; I am from Finland. Do you have any water?"
I'm with you on these older Mercs .. "engineered like no other car"
The little 190E 2.6 was their smallest (4cyl) sedan body but with a sweet inline 6 shoehorned in, a neat package but auto-only. Still a nice way to zip around but, as with any Merc, you should select only well-maintained examples in VG (mechanical, at least) condition and avoid the money-pit clangers. 190E 2.3 4cyl is ok too, can be had in manual, they really do handle great.
W124 300E is merely a bigger version of 190E, go well and not much downside to them. Btw I'd avoid any post 1992 Benz
I've got a cheap W126 swb sedan, it still schmoozes along ok at 440,000 kms. Beware of rear-window & boot-area rust on those coupes
If you're not into the straight-line hero game then imo a tempting first car alternative could be diesel Mercedes, like W126 300SD (seemed pretty cheap when I checked Canadian prices last year) or the smaller 300D E-Class etc. No they aren't fireballs, or available in manual (probably) but a comfy and 'different' croozer and for their size are very easy on the go-juice, so you can actually afford to get around. With minor mods they can even run on recycled veggie oil, which is often available free (at least in Oz)
In general, old Mercs were very well made, super durable if looked after, with a great depth of engineering to them, which aside from being appreciated from an enthusiasts POV, can prove a solid friend dynamically - especially for newer drivers when road conditions worsen or events suddenly look bad
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My first (roadable) car? $175 worth of then 10 y/o 1964 Fairlane FD 'compact' in grey & white like the pic, but with added delights like steel widies & radial retreads .. magnifico!
Last edited by nota; 08-19-2008 at 01:56 PM.
"Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
"No. My Finnish is fine; I am from Finland. Do you have any water?"
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