You said, "I am interested in purchasing a vintage Mercedes Benz, but know very little about the cars." The best thing you can do before you spend money on any car is find out as much as you can about the particular models you are considering.
To that end, I suggest you first get a copy of the Mercedes-Benz Illustraded Buyer's Guide by Frank Barrett, the immediate past publisher of The Star, which is the national magazine of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. This is one of a series for different marques published by MBI Publishing Company (aka Motor Books International).
You might also visit some local club events and talk to the owners of cars that you think you like. Know and understand how you will be using the car. Will it be for pleasure only? Do you intended it as a daily driver? A car is either a toy or an appliance. If an appliance it can also be used as a toy (i.e. a modern Mustang GT) but if it is a toy primarily, it would probably not serve well as an appliance.
As Nathan York said, there is a wide selection of models from many years that can be had in a certain price range. I have a 1967 230S (fintail sedan) for which, I am presently considering offers in the $9,500 range. This is a fantastic 40-year old car. It is in excellent original condition (emphasis on original). I never hesitate to drive it to my office 40 miles away but I do not drive it in Houston's worst weather.
Our heavy rains can overwhelm the vintage electric windshield wipers. It has air conditioning and a restored cooling system that performs flawlessly but I would not drive it for an hour in stop-and-go traffic during one of our 95 degree summer days. Also, the more I drive it the more routine maintenance it requires. Automobiles were a lot more maintenance intensive forty years ago no matter who manufactured them.
On the other hand a decent 1977 450SLC could probably be had for that same $9,500 as Mr. York has indicated. Even though Mercedes of the 1960s were very advanced machines relative to other makes of the same vintage they really are not on par with modern Hondas and Toyotas, for instance, when it comes to day-in day-out performance.
The Mercedes-Benz models introduced in the seventies and eighties are though. With the R107 roadsters and coupes, the W116 sedans, and then the W126 sedans and coupes Mercedes-Benz made quantum leaps in technology which put them years ahead the the competition for decades. I contend that, with the introduction of the W116 sedans (450SE and 450SEL) in the U. S. in late 1972, Mercedes-Benz had no competition.
Good luck. If you take the time and effort to make an informed and well thought out decision (in terms of what you really expect from the vintage Mercedes-Benz you purchase) you will be rewarded with years of pleasurable driving.
My two cents' worth:
I understand the emotional pull of the Benz marque, and have yielded to it myself. I probably bought too quickly, thinking how fortunate I was to have stumbled onto the car that I am still putting money into, several months later.
Suggestion: Identify the series, the specific style, the main options and if possible the color of the vehicle that most moves your soul. If it turns out to be a green 280SL with both tops, for instance, then set your heart on finding the right example and don't get distracted because a nice one in champagne pops up somewhere.
A co-worker, who has spent far more money and time on his vehicle collection than I ever will, added one piece of advice. Buy the car that has already had the most money spent on it. The returns on restoration expenses are negative. Might as well let someone else demonstrate that, rather than yourself.
A co-worker, who has spent far more money and time on his vehicle collection than I ever will, added one piece of advice. Buy the car that has already had the most money spent on it. The returns on restoration expenses are negative. Might as well let someone else demonstrate that, rather than yourself.
...The returns on restoration expenses are negative..
if you cannot do this restoration professionally on your own.
as for question, convertibles been always kept by manufacturers in the lower volume of units but higher selling price. for vintage this tendency remains the same. so if you're able to find bargain then you will not lose from the view of time perspective.
if you cannot do this restoration professionally on your own.
as for question, convertibles been always kept by manufacturers in the lower volume of units but higher selling price. for vintage this tendency remains the same. so if you're able to find bargain then you will not lose from the view of time perspective.
I would guess that even if you are a professional restorer, you can make more money restoring someone else's vehicle than you can by working on your own car in order to re-sell it, assuming that you put the same price on your personal time as you do on the time you put in for paying customers.
I prefer paying someone to do something well, when I know that if I could do it I would take longer and it would turn out worse. There are only a few things I will touch on my MB, mostly to do with the car's interior. My local mechanic and the body shop guy are both grateful, but then again, I am grateful to them.
Otto I also agree that convertibles will be rarer and so will hold their value more than 2 door coupes, which in turn will do a little better than 4 door sedans.
I bought my MB because I enjoy it; it is a piece of art that I can also drive. And I don't care if the paintings in my living room are worth more than I paid for them, or less. Just like my car, I bought them to enjoy them.
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