Bangernomics: Merc Off
To answer the question, we went and did it
The PC team buy old Mercs, then can’t decide which is best.
When you are in the pub and someone makes a bold statement, such as, ‘You can’t get a decent classic Merc on the road for under £500 – no way,’ the best way to settle the argument is to do it. So, once last orders had been called, we leapt into action and started hunting for the cheapest tri-stars we could find (that still had a pulse). The results of our German car-chasing exploits are paraded here. Arguement settled then? We think so. With not much money, and little fettling, you can live the dream for under £500. ‘Lord’ doesn’t have to buy you one, you can do it yourself.
Danny Hopkins 1991 190E 2.0 Automatic
I bought this magnificent baby Benz, in Taxi Cab White, from PC reader Colin Bassett for a titanic £300. Obviously, I don’t regret the call, it’s a very fine machine although it has required a little TLC. After nine years in Colin’s possession (it had been off the road for two of them, sat on Colin’s drive), Mrs Colin had run out of the ability to look at
the stricken Mercedes, hence the sale.
Why had it been laid up? It needed a small bit of welding to the nearside inner wing. Not major surgery but just enough to make it a bit more of a job than Colin was ready to complet (he has two Triumph projects oin the go as well, so understandable). It was otherwise in decent condition – TLC required, but not that much. Colin needed it gone and I had always fancied a baby Merc, so the deal was struck.
It’s a 2.0 petrol auto, which is faster than the 1.8 but not as swiftly fun as the 2.6. No matter, what it shares with all Merc 190s is excellent build quality which I have been enjoying as I have worked through its various issues. With 160,000 miles on the clock you would expect some major blemishes but the car feels as if it has only done half the miles.
I’ve serviced it, fitted a new exhaust back box (£40!), revived the brakes and welded up the inner wing, fitted new tyres and then bagged an MOT. A new fuse meant the sun roof worked again, although when Pat Foster from Fen-air (fenair.co.uk) kindly came to have a look-see he condemned the aftermarket air-con system fitted (it was working when on the road Colin tells me), the only nonmercedes-benz component.
Since I’ve been driving it, I have had the auto box cooling pipes replaced (new high pressure flexible items made for £50 by a local firm) and solved running issues with a second hand fuel pressure regulator. The interior is good, but needs a clean and the paint will be given a flat and polish once the pin holes in the front nearside wing is sorted. OK – it isn’t a Cosworth and as an auto, performance can be described as ‘perky’ at best, but what you do get is that sense of complete accomplishment from a car that has been thought through and built by people who really care. On the road, the whole car feels tight and sound and with all the work done I think I can safely say I have a really decent classic Mercedes-benz for £500.
I’ll be using it for a bit. With 30mpg easily achievable it must be near the top of the ‘classic daily driver’ tree. You can park it, too. Can’t say that about the big barges sharing the shoot today.
Matt Tomkins 1990 W124 230 TE
We live in a throwaway culture. Just because something’s old, doesn’t mean it’s worn out. Being thrown away was the fate this W124 estate faced after its owner from new passed away. His widow had no need for the car, which had sat unloved and in the way for two years, and needed the space. She’d found a charity who would collect and scrap the car and donate the £50 profit to charity. That’s when Mike Raeburn, PC reader and friend of the original owner, contacted me. I made a £50 donation to a hospice, before a trip up to York with trade plates, battery and fuel; however, a major petrol leak stopped me getting it started. It was, therefore, a call to Thistle Towing to collect the car on a trailer and haul it back to the PC workshop. With the car on the ramp, it was evident that something had nibbled at the rubber fuel hoses into the fuel tank. An hour of swearing and contortion saw all of these replaced followed by a tickle with the welder on a small hole in the sill and a little corrosion around one lower front spring mount. Next, the fuse box got a clean and all the corroded Euro fuses were replaced with new ones. A fresh battery and a little Gaffa tape over a sharp edge on the leading edge of the front wing until I’ve time to repair it properly saw the car pass an MOT test.
I then looked in the glovebox and discovered a huge amount of Mercedes-benz service history. On the road, this care shows, and the car doesn’t at all feel it’s 120k miles. The Mercedes W124 estate has to be one of the most practical classics out there. Seven seats or a massive load bay, it’s already proved itself incredibly useful hauling both people and parts – an MGB bonnet fits flat with ample room to spare! The manual gearbox is rare and is a delight, meaning that this big old barge is actually rather nippy, if not massively chuckable. It’s comfortable, sophisticated and a pleasure to drive. There’re plenty of years left in it yet.
James Walshe 1995 W124 E220 Coupé
The Littlest Hobo was an Eighties Canadian TV series, telling the tale of an un-named and ownerless German Shepherd that roams the countryside into the lives of people in need, helping them through numerous challenges ‘Lassie-style’. At the end of each episode, completely without ceremony, it quietly trots off alone into the horizon. My Mercedes is that dog.
In 2012, this shabby but solid E220 waltzed into the life of my best mate after he fell on hard times – presenting itself online for a grand with no service history but a years MOT. He warmly recalled how it reliably took him from job to job around the country for the next few years. ‘Even on my lowest days, I’d look down that bonnet at the three-pointed star and it’d make me feel like a million dollars.’
The old car was eventually moved on, this time to another friend – a London-based radio producer. He explained that a reliable car was needed so he could visit his ailing parents in Leicestershire each weekend. ‘There were moments when my late dad was gravely ill with cancer but we had days out in the Mercedes I’ll never forget. That car put a smile on all our faces at a time when we really needed a reason to feel good about the world’.
The car’s MOT ran out in July last year and it sat gathering moss in a leafy North London street until recently, when my old pal mentioned worsening rust in the wings, dodgy electric windows, a ‘clunking noise’ and flat battery. Unsure as to whether its time had finally come, I paid him scrap value in December and went to London with a new battery and a booking at the local MOT station. To my delight, the car fired first time and with a couple of new coil springs fitted, followed by an MOT and a bill for £200, the W124 and I glided up the A1.
This handsome, pillarless coupé feels as smooth and solid as it was when new and the four-cylinder engine merely sips fuel as you snuggle into those comfortable leather seats. It may be tired in places and a little frilly around the edges, but it’s impossible not to fall for this car – especially given the comfort, safety and fulfilment it has given to people who really needed it. Who says German cars don’t have soul?