Click screenshot to view ad on YouTube.

I got a call from my buddy Bruce Kelly over at Lake Country Classics a couple of weeks ago about an advertising agency here in Minneapolis that needed a vintage Mercedes-Benz roadster for a TV commercial. Bruce just seems to be the guy that people call for this sort of thing no matter what kind of car is needed, people just know to call him. He called me to see if I could get a hold of a friend we have in common, and fellow Twin Cities Mercedes Benz Club member, Mark Flaten. The ad agency was looking for a vintage Mercedes roadster, and ideally, one in a light color, to use in a Brooks Brothers TV spot. Bruce and I both thought of Mark’s car… an absolutely pristine 1971 280SL roadster in the classic Mercedes color combination of silver over red leather.

Bruce’s shop, Lake Country Classics, finished a complete restoration of Mark’s car last year. It is one of the most pristine and correct cars of this type and vintage I’ve ever seen. I got Mark on the phone, told him that this ad agency was doing a Brooks Brothers ad and they were looking for a car like his the next day… and that if he was interested he should give Bruce a call ASAP. He did, and…

About a week later, Mark forwarded me this link to the finished ad on YouTube. They did indeed use his car for several hours the day after we spoke on the phone. He was well paid for the three hours the agency used his car, he was on set the entire time with the car. In the end it’s a couple of seconds on film, but it’s a fun story and will certainly ad to the interesting history of the car. Click this link to view the video on YouTube.

Members of the Twin Cities Section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America gathered early Saturday morning, May 12, 2012 at the new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Minnetonka, Sears Imports, to form up and drive North to Osseo, MN for one of the upper Midwest’s largest vintage, foreign car shows… the InterMarque Spring Kick Off Car Show. About 12 cars showed up at Sears Imports to make the 25 minute drive North to Osseo, another 3 or 4 member cars met the group at the show. The mix, and quality of the cars in attendance was spectacular. From the oldest car in attendance, new (only because his membership expired some time ago!) club member David Steingas’ 1951 220s to one of the newest, Matt Jurcich’s super clean 1999 ‘large and in charge’ S500 Grand Edition, the cars looked great and everyone was eager to check out the Intermarque’s new car show venue. For some time the Intermarque Spring Kick off Car Show was held at St. Paul’s Como Park, this was the first year for the show in Osseo.

Twin Cities Mercedes Club members meet at Sears Imports to head up to Osseo.

Mercedes-Benz Club members, and their cars, that showed up at Sears Imports for the convoy North were:

Mark Flaten – 1971 280SL
Dave Bortner – 1969 300SEL 6.3
Dave Tobin – 1973 280C
David Steingas – 1951 220S Cabriolet
John Olson – 1959 300SL Roadster
Jack Church – 1985 500SL (euro)
Dean Nolde – 1999 SLK230
Daniel Miller – 1970 280SL
Jim Klecker – 1968 280SL
Matt Jurcich – 1999 S500 Grand Edition
Ron Burg – 1971 280SL

Tobin corrals Mercedes Club members at Sears and passes out maps to the show.

A couple of other members met the group in Osseo including:
Ron Scott – 1980 450SLC
Don Stephenson – 1971 280SL

(I think most of the years of the cars mentioned above are correct, a couple could be a few years off).

Any new venue creates challenges to organizers of a car show of the size and scope of the InterMarque’s Spring Kick Off. Our Mercedes-Benz Club was one of the ‘club sponsors’ of the event. We were told we could pick just 7 cars (all had to have been built prior to 1991) to show on the main street of the show. The rest of our club member cars would be pointed to peripheral parking areas, but still be allowed to park together if we arrived together. Well, once we got there, we ended up with about 9 of our cars on the main drag and and a handful of other down the street and around the corner, others, those build after 1991 were parked in an entirely different area, so we were a bit spread out. In the end, there was plenty of room on the main street, so we really all could have parked together… there was more than enough space, but organizers just weren’t sure how it was going to shake out, so they did their best, which was quite good, this first time around. I spoke with them during the show and it sounds like they’ll apply the lessons learned this year to next year’s show. I would guess we’ll all be able to park in the same area next time.

We pitched our E-Z Up tent to provide us with some shade, set up a table with club membership materials and some back issues of the Northern Star for  passers by to pick up and take with them. It was a great day with a wide variety of cars in attendance.

Mercedes Benz Club tent and car display.

There were more British cars than anything, as usual, at this show… from MGs and Triumphs to Jaguars, Rolls Royces and Bentleys. There were a good number of Italian cars including a pair of Maserati Ghiblis and handful of Alfa Romeos, I could only find one Ferrari and it happens to belong to a gentleman I know fairly well, he also has two Mercedes-Benz vehicles as daily drivers… he was even wearing his Mercedes-Benz hat all day while standing next to his Ferrari, I guess he has decent taste. There were plenty of German cars as well… more Mercedes than Porsches or BMWs… thanks to our good club turn out.  I haven’t seen so many Citroens in one place since the last time I was in Paris… there seems to be a pretty active Citroen Club here in the Twin Cities.

A great turn out of T series MGs and other vintage British cars.

The InterMarque group is a sort of consortium of car clubs… it is a single organization that sort of compiles information about all the different foreign car clubs in the upper Midwest, their events, website information, etc. and publishes a monthly online newsletter with car show and event information as well as articles and reports that are of interest to all sorts of car enthusiasts. They also hold regular events throughout the Spring and Summer, the group meets every Saturday morning at the Square Peg Diner in Minneapolis every Saturday morning. If you’re into old cars and want to keep up with what is happening in the Twin Cities old car scene you need to sign up to receive email updates from the InterMarque. Visit their website by clicking this link and sign up to receive InterMarque Updates, it’s FREE!

Ferrari Mondial, Maserati Ghibli.

Wheels of Italy organizer Dan Schaefer's Alfa Romeo GTV.

MBCA-TC member Matt Jurcich's 1999 S500 Grand Edition.

Steingas' 220S followed by Olson's 300SL, Bortner's 6.3, Flaten's 280SL and on down the line.

Jack Church's red 500SL, Tobin's '73 280 Coupe.

Dave Bortner's 6.3.

Dave Tobin's 1973 280C.

Great looking Jaguar XK120.

Morgans are rare... Drophead Coupes are even rarer.

Citroen Traction Avant sedan.

Big 1925 Bentley.

1955 Porsche 550 Spyder replica painted up like one of the Carrera Panamericana cars.

More MGs than you can shake a stick at.

Some nefarious characters were even allowed into the show... Mercedes owner Alkis Michaelides brought his newest midlife crisis... a 1992 Ferrari Mondial.

Schaefer's Alfa GTV.

Pretty MG TC.

This Mercedes-Benz 190SL showed up with a for sale sign in it... looked a bit tired for a $47,000 asking price.

Late in the day, and MG TD drives off, pipe in teh driver's mouth and all.

Show's over... Olson drives off, Flaten not far behind.

Following Olson in his 300SL (trying to keep up anyway).

One of the most fun parts of the day for me was driving back home… following John Olson all the way down Plymouth Rd / Xenium Lane / Zachary Lane for about 15 miles. People might not know what he’s driving, but all eyes, through every intersection, were on that 300SL, there is just something about that car, that shape… it absolutely must be one of the all time great designs. They look good in photos, on paper, but nothing prepares you for how they look gliding over the road at speed. A special day indeed.

This 1981 Mercedes 300TD wagon rolled into Sears Imports this morning, the gentleman who drove up in it is interested in selling it… he just advertised it in this month’s Hemming’s Motor News. He bought it out of New York a little more than a year ago for his wife, but they have a number of other vehicles and she just doesn’t choose to drive this vintage Mercedes wagon enough to justify keeping it.

It has just over 180,000 original miles on the odometer, it is a very rare 4 speed manual transmission car with the 5 cylinder diesel engine that is known to run for literally, millions of miles. It was a European car originally, it has the two tone cloth / MB tex interior. I would say the car is in good, driver quality condition. It was mostly rust free, with several small bubbles beginning to show around the rear fender arches. The interior was in decent shape, the driver’s seat could use a recovering at this point, but it’s a complete car in a really good looking color combo… red with tan interior.

The owner is asking $8,500 for this very rare manual transmission diesel wagon, the owner says he gets a little over 30mpg. If you’re interested in the car please contact me and I can put you in touch with the owner. More Photos below:

UPDATE! Sold at $670,000! It’s auction time in Arizona… this 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster will be auctioned this afternoon at RM Auctions Arizona sale being held at the Arizona Biltmore. What’s special about this particular car? A couple of things, one… it’s selling for no reserve, it’s a desirable 300SL roadster with Rudge knock off wheels that’s been recently exercised in the Copperstate 1000 Rally… but most interesting, to me anyway… is that this car underwent a complete, nut and bolt restoration several years ago by my good buddy, and partner in car crime, Bruce Kelly at his Lake Country Classics shop here in Minneapolis. Visit the RM Auction description here.

This is a superb example of an iconic 300SL Roadster, a model that has seen a serious upward value trend over the past several years. These are sought after by collectors today for several reasons. One basic reason is that they’re reliable, comfortable cars to drive, they start when you want them to start, they don’t over heat, they’re generally very reliable cars that you can feel comfortable taking on a long classic car rally without too much anxiety or worrying if it’s going to start in the morning and make it through the day.

This is lot number 331, it will be going over the auction block in a few minutes… you can visit RM Auctions website to see a live broadcast of the auctions as they happen. Just follow this link.

The collector car market these days is red hot… at the top anyway. Blue Chip collectibles, cars like Ferrari 250GTs of just about any type are pulling big money, the best, well documented, no stories Shelby Cobras are on fire, Aston Martin DBs of any number are going through the roof and Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwings and roadsters have seen price increases over the last few years that would make any Wall Street investor wish all their investments paid such returns. The ’55 300SL alloy bodied car that’s pictured here is being offered at Gooding and Company’s Scottsdale, AZ auction in January of 2012… it is, arguably, one of the most sought after 300SLs and it’s poised to pull big dollars at the sale.

Iconic by any measure.

This blue plaid cloth interior was typical for the mid 1950s.

Mercedes-Benz made just 29 alloy bodied 300SLs (alloy bodied refers to the aluminum coachwork as opposed to steel) for special clients who, theoretically, planned to race their cars. Not only were the bodies lighter, but they were equipped with tuned suspension and a more highly tuned engine making them perfectly suited to the gentleman racer back in the days  when you could drive such a car to a race track, use some masking tape to cover the headlamps and put numbers on the side of the car, race the car and then drive it home afterwards.

The 29 alloy bodied Gullwings are well documented, they have been tracked for years, be serial number, by die hard enthusiasts and marque specialists around the world. A complete list of these cars and where they reside (and with whom) is printed in SL specialist and publisher of ‘The SL Market Letter” John Olson’s book “The SL Experience” available on his SL Marter website or at Amazon.com. This book is the definitive guide to Mercedes-Benz SLs by year starting with the 300SLs from the 1950s all the way into the early 2000s with the last of the R129 chassis cars.

This 1955 300SL alloy bodied car that will be auctioned at the Gooding and Co. auction in January is certainly one of the rarest of the breed. The auction estimate for this car is $2.5 to $3.5 million. Seeing how one of these hasn’t come up for auction in the past five years, and who knows when the next one will become available, it wouldn’t surprise me if this car sells handily in that range next month in Arizona. I suppose it wouldn’t surprise me if it went beyond that estimate, but it would certainly be all the money, as this estimate is easily twice the price of a perfect 300SL to this point… but hey, Where are you going to find another? If the right two bidders want this car bad enough, who knows how far up the price will go?

Looking for a Mercedes-Benz wagon? Looking for something that nobody else has? This is an extremely rare 1968 200D fintail (Heckfloss) Estate wagon. A very limited number of 200 series Mercedes Benz sedans were converted into “Estate” form (wagon in Europe) by the Belgian firm, “Universal” in the mid to late 1960s, this is one of those cars that was brought over to the United States.

There is really no way to tell how many of these even exist in the United States. Bidding just ended on this car on eBay today, it was bid up to $25,000, but the reserve was not met. According to the seller it is in original, unrestored condition with a patina that makes it look the part. The exterior color is a light gold repaint (so much for ‘all original’), the interior is brown and trimmed with stainless steel and mahogany wood accents.

Even the Universal wagon conversions got the rear facing seats in the 'way back'.

While a 200D is never going to break any land speed records, this would be an awfully fun car to cruise around in during the Summer, and if you decided to take it to a German car show you can be sure you wouldn’t see another one!

Have a look at more photos and a complete description from the seller by visiting the (now ended ) eBay auction, just click this link.

It’s unusual for me to be able to work different Pulp Fiction quotes into the Dave Knows Cars blog in the same week, but with this entry, I guess I did it… from the scene when Vincent Vega (Travolta) discusses his displeasure with a vandal who keyed his car after it had been safely stored for four years while he was in Amsterdam with Lance (Eric Stoltz), his Heroin dealer.

The short article below has been bouncing around different websites since last week when, apparently, John Travolta‘s 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL was stolen. One account quoted Travolta estimating the car’s value at about $35,000, other reports call it a $100,000 car. I’ve got to believe Travolta is much closer to the actual value of his car than the Hollywood reporters.

According to Hollywood media reports, “Swordfish” actor left stranded in Santa Monica, California, as his car was stolen. A thief took 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL, and it was worth $100,000.

He was at Jaguar dealership for a short visit, but as his car got stolen, he returned back to dealership and waited for the cops to make crime report. Reports also say that  no suspect has been identified yet. Motoring enthusiast John, 57, has a large collection of cars including a Rolls Royce, and a Jaguar XJ6 as well as vintage Ford cars.

He said in 2007: “I have a 55, 56 and 57 Thunderbird – American Fords in the great old tradition. I love the fact that they could achieve speed and distance with such style. I don’t use them for long journeys any more, but to just enjoy the drive.”

This pristine 1957 Mercedes Benz 190SL was recently restored by Bruce Kelly’s Lake Country Classics in Minneapolis Minnesota, it was just listed on eBay this evening. This particular 190SL is black with a white leather interior. It has been in the same family for more than 35 years. The owner of the car started a complete restoration more than 25 years ago, and as with so many projects, it was started and stopped and started and stopped. Eventually the owner of the car passed away. At that point it was given to his grandson who commissioned a complete restoration by Lake Country Classics in Minneapolis.

Over the past 18 months the car was restored, inside and out. Today, the car runs and drives beautifully. It’s smooth and effortless, I’m always amazed how Mercedes-Benz cars from the late fifties don’t feel at all like other cars from the same period. This was a much easier car to drive, in my opinion, than Jaguars of the same period, and it’s certainly a nicer car to drive than just about anything American made in the late 1950s.

The collector car world has noticed the same things I have when it comes to classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles. They start when you want them to start, they’re reliable, comfortable and generally good, easy cars to live with. As we see prices of the A list Mercedes classics climb into seven figure territory, as we’ve seen regular steel body 300SL Gullwings do recently with 300SL roadsters not too far behind, now well into the $600 – $700k+ territory we’ve seen 190SLs increase in value as well. A rising tide does lift all boats in the vintage Mercedes roadster market.

While 5 or 10 years ago a 190SL like this one might have been a $30,000 – $50,000 car on a good day, it is likely to bring almost double that in 2011. There is a finite number of good cars left, restorations are staggeringly expensive (and getting more expensive everyday thanks to parts price increases and fewer and fewer marque specialists who can actually do the work. The restorations also take a lot of time, time you could be out enjoying a car. If you can find someone else’s completed project, and as long as it’s been restored correctly and to a high standard by a marque expert, like this car, you might just be able to buy it for about the price of the restoration and save yourself the time and headache.

Have a look at the eBay auction by following this link, there are almost 100 photos of the car there and a complete vehicle description.

I’ve been combing classifieds recently for a W108 Chassis Mercedes-Benz sedan and came across one of the most eloquently written Craigslist ads I’ve ever seen. (link to the actual Craigslist ad from Lakeside, CA, near San Diego HERE)

It was for a 1972 model W108 chassis  Mercedes-Benz. Built between 1965 and 1972, these cars were the S classes of their day. They were big, imposing, comfortable, and powerful if fitted with the right engine, the right engine for me would be the 4.5 liter V8 that, even today, can keep up with modern day traffic just fine and propel the vehicle it’s mounted in well over 100mph for long stretches without really breaking a sweat (or anything else for that matter), after all, it does pack 230 Horespower… and that’s back in 1972!

Today, these cars are easy to find, and based on their high cost when new, most were taken pretty good care of. Many show up when folks pass away and leave them to a chile or grandchild who then realizes that they don’t need an ‘extra’ 40 year old car or they go to start it up and realize what a car that’s been sitting in storage for the past 15 years might need to actually get running again and they decide to sell the car.

LOTS of these cars are showing up on eBay and Craigslist these days. The right example can represent an incredible value, as it’s a lot of car for not much money. The sedans will always be less desireable than coupes and convertibles to teh collector and psuedo collector crowds. People usually want the top on their extra car to be able to go down on nice days. As a result, these cars are incredible cheap at the moment, not old enough (or more likely, rare enough) to be true collectibles and not new enough to be regular daily drivers with the usual creature comforts we’ve come to expect.

The seller of this particular car has quite a way with words, and while I’m not really one for giving someone the full history of the production and design of a car in a sales description (I figure if someone’s seriously looking, they already know, or should already know, what they’re looking at) this guy writes extremely well. He must be well educated or have some sort of educational background heavy in literature and letters. There is just the right mix of information and sense of humor, never taking himself too seriously.

While for me, this car isn’t quite right (this light ivory / light beige color just doesn’t do it for me) I’m tempted to take a closer look just based on the great description from the seller… hey, at least he’s out there having fun with the sale of his old car!

This 450SLC was purchased by Sears Imports from an older gentleman who was making some room in his garage, he is a long time Sears Imported Autos customer. This 1978 450SLC is in exceptional condition, inside and out. It is metallic brown (sort of a dark copper color) on the outside, it has cognac interior which is original and in excellent condition. More expensive than an SL Roadster when new, these are fairly rare cars today. There were lots made… about 63,000 in this body style from late 1971 until 1981 when the SLC was replaced by the W126 sedan based 500SEC… but few good, survivor cars still exist today.

The Sears Imports body shop performed a very high quality repaint on this car, in the original color. It was extremely well done. It is a dry car.. there was no rust or rust repair, the paint was just ready to be done after more than 30 years. The interior upholstery and carpet is all original and, frankly, in better condition than some of our other SLs that are 10 year newer than this car.

The 3 speed automatic transmission shifts easily, no clunking or jerking. I’ve driven a number of cars like this one and owned several similar cars with the same drive train and this, very honestly, is one of the nicest I’ve driven. Everything works… the electric windows, electric passenger’s side mirror (driver’s side is still manual), electric sunroof, even the clock on the dash. There are no dash cracks in this car, it’s just an honest, original car. It has just over 89,000 original miles on its odometer and is ready for another 89,000 more.

Get in today, turn the key and get on the road. Priced to move at $8,995, Sears Imports stock#19873. Give me a call, come on in, drive it, make an offer, we’re looking to move this vintage cruiser before the end of the Summer.