MarrsCars

It really was more of an unrestored car than original, you could see heavy brush strokes from a previous paint job, but still a sight to see and I'd be happy looking like the rich uncle to the Munsters rolling around in that.

Even tho this is from a 220 I managed to get a closeup of it's Karosserie badge this weekend and it shows the same flathead screw fasteners. (I must have spent the last 45-minutes searching the various Benz forums trying to find this thread, only after a google image search did I realize it was on the AACA forums. Doh!!!) Here's the full photoset from the concours this weekend where I snapped that pic: Forest Grove Follow-up

The car in my Avatar is older than me, and my only current collector car. Surprisingly, I used to not like these coupes very much, thinking the nose was too droopy for the elegant pillarless side view, but then I fell in love with the Facel Vega coupes (that many believe Paul Bracq was "inspired by" when he designed this Benz coupe) but couldn't afford one, so these seemed like the next best thing. By the time I finally found one I wanted to buy, I was smitten by all the fine detail and design work and can't imagine enjoying another car any more, aside from possibly an Aston Martin DB2 or V8.

If I may suggest something in layman's terms that may be of use to some, the new site will load slower the first time you visit each page because the old site was already "stored" in your system via cookies, etc., to allow quicker load times. Ever notice how a new site you have never visited before seems slower than ones you use commonly? That's why. After navigating around a bit, you should see things return to at least the prior level of speed, tho as mentioned it may still be slow in general due to server limitations. Also, I use Firefox and have no problems, and in fact also use the adblocker plugin which really speeds up forums for me since it prevents all those little random ads from loading before I can view the page. On most sites the ads have to be loaded before you can view the content, this is done to ensure that companies buying ad space get their money's worth in terms of exposure to the public. Try it out if you use Firefox and I'm confident you will be happy with the results. It's free, easy to install, easy to turn on and off or remove later, and it blocks most ads on all sites not just forums. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

So do you slather yourself up with olive oil and stay out of the weather to maintain that natural patina?

Also drill from the bottom-up rather than floor-down to avoid any chance of hitting fuel lines or wire routing. Use thick heavy duty washers and bolts that have been treated for strength and maybe even a wide backing plate to help spread the force of an accident, a bolt with a washer will simply rip through the floor since energy will be focused on a small area. Use lock washers, locktite, and anything else you can think of to make up for not being welded in place. I was surprised to find that my '62 had hard mounting points with receiving nuts already welded in place even tho seatbelts would not be mandated until 1968. Save yourself some trouble and make sure yours doesn't have something similar first.

Don't you just hate those kinds of memories? I have my own "missed opportunity" at Kruse from the early 90's and it still hurts to think about. I now use the mantra that all antique dealers and collectors live by when encountering something rare, "the time to buy it is when you see it" because you can always sell it on later if it just isn't right for you. Of course then we all have stories of the item we owned but sold only to regret later, so sometimes you just can't win!

Add my vote also for the light oil coating, it's really the best way to preserve any antique finish without altering it and you get the added benefit of preventing further deterioration. The type of oil recommended varies from lanolin, which I hear is among the best, to veggie oils and coconut oil which has an extremely low melting point, 76 degrees, so it works in well at hand temperature. Spray oil if possible by loading into a spray bottle you buy at Home Depot or a beauty supply shop if you don't have one laying around, then "dab" it with a no-lint microfiber cloth so you don't remove any more paint. I even go so far as to buy brown cloths in case paint chips, burrs or cracks in wood veneer on some items pick up a tiny fuzz-like strand, you don't have to go in hunting them all down with tweezers since brown is almost invisible. Any clear coat will eventually turn yellow or itself peel or flake off.

I love that show as well, you also catch a few older and newer episodes on youtube so it's one of the few car shows accessible to anyone with internet. There is still some false drama, but it's all "cheeky" as Mike Brewer would say. My favorite episodes are the ones where he travels to Europe to buy a car and they do not appreciate his English way of dealing, they can get quite offended at his low-ball offers! I've actually also learned several very useful tips about auto repair from this show because they actually go into great detail and cover lots of ground per episode. The Morgan episode on youtube is really quite impressive.

Beautiful car, wow, what a lucky owner! Skimmed your blog a bit, very entertaining and I love that you mentioned Jarmusch's "Mystery Train." Great movie! PS: I added you to my links from my own blog, I think my readers will enjoy your stories.

Go to Mercedesheritage.com and find "Gerard" the seller of several vintage Benzes located in Milwaukie, OR. He always has a handful of 190SL's in all stages that he represents around the country, so check that section to locate his info, he may know of the right one for you.

Where are you located?

This helps:

Again, AACA forums prove what a small world it is! That's just wonderful, I especially loved this set because it reminds me of the Lucy & Desi movie "The Long Trailer" which is still funny to watch today. Great work, I really admire this sort of craftsmanship. So tell me, does he create all new sand molds from masters he carves/creates or are they based on existing models made by other companies from the past? How many does he make a year?

I miss this event, Nic Cage usually had one of his vintage Ferraris there and one year we met a pleasant Aston Martin DB5 owner who chatted us up for 1/2 hour or so, clearly loved the attention we lavished on his car. Great people watching too. I really loved the now defunct Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills "Classics for Charity" show. Great pics, funny too because I was just last week describing to a friend the RR Phantom picnic setup with the seats that fit onto the overriders and tables that mount on the hood. I hadn't seen one in 20-years like that until your photos!

I just finished this piece about Kidd's Toy Museum in Portland, I hope you will enjoy it! Moto Arigato: Kids and Adults Will Love Kidd's Toy Museum

Being a former Hoosier I believe these were Indiana/Canada built cars, you posted in the German section, unless I overlooked something. Good luck with your search.

Probably a "wind break" used in midwestern, western & southwestern regions, planted along property lines to eliminate gusts of wind from eroding soil, ie: the Dust Bowl, or along roadways to prevent high winds from disturbing traffic in open areas or in valleys where winds concentrate and could blow a vehicle off the roadway.

Those are some really impressive "models" and skills to create them. I am humbled by this. Did you read this about the '39 Chevy sedan?!?!?! "This car is a solid 1770 lbs. and will cruise at highway speeds with ease. Ernie’s '39 Chevy Dwarf has been on the road for sixteen years and has 54,000 miles on it to date."

Check out the Forest Grove Concours d'Elegance this year if you want to see this historic MB in person. The Concours is celebrating Mercedes-Benz as a marque this year, and it's always a great show. Forest Grove Concours d'Elegance to Celebrate Mercedes-Benz

Not the same model but this thread has a couple of BMW-oriented folks judging by the replies, maybe you can reach out to them in a PM for assistance. Member "RU22" referenced the 501 in a reply. http://forums.aaca.org/f190/38-bmw-313452.html

Antique Alley running alone Hwy 40 from Centerville (huge mall there w/ lots of dealers) all the way to Indy gets you passing through cool little towns like Knightstown are worth a stop if you enjoy antiques. I'm not sure when the last time you've been to Metamora was but two summers ago I stopped by with a friend on a visit back home and it has really changed. Lots of "craft store" junk like factory made painted ducks and windchimes, and less of the historic/antique vibe, very sparse w/ tourists (some may prefer this but I don't like being one of a dozen people at an event, it was during their Strawberry festival at that), prices for food was very high and, quite oddly, we were even physically threatened by a food vendor who seemed to be on some mind altering substance based on his words to us. There was still a couple of old favorites like the canal boat and steam train rides, but I soon realized most of the other people around us were residents and business owners, even in a competition where they paid entry fees only to get their money handed back afterwards, felt kind of like a scam to me, like they had to have locals pretend to be part of the contests to lure us tourists in. It was a bit too surreal and left a bad impression.

Can you re-upload the photo?

I think when the gates finally open up between our two countries (and they will) we will find a population that is every bit as fanatical about their automobiles as we are.

I see a few possibilities; a) As stated, some people may fail to subscribe to the post and not see the answer at all. I have been guilty of this on other forums, seeing a reply a year later to a thread I posted that didn't get any replies for the first couple of months, not realizing that someone answered me 5-months later. If I subscribed to every thread I'd never have an empty inbox. In the case of parts, they may have found what they need, or maybe spoke before really giving it thought, we all have "want lists" and sometimes people ask for something but then realize they don't have the cash available right now, etc. I've responded to some folks looking for very rare items, thinking they would be ecstatic, but get no response at all. Same goes for sellers too mind you, I've had people contact me with everything from spares to parts cars and even when I am interested, they promise photos and prices, then nothing. c) Internet communications are always-changing, that's the nature of technology, and younger members often accept an answer as the end of the conversation because texts and emails are handled that way. When text messages used to be pay per text (some still are), it was considered rude to send a message saying "ok" or "thanks" since it might cost the person money for a trivial reply. Same goes for signing your name to emails or even forum posts, older folks tend to sign off, younger people do away with salutations because it is clear who the message is from and to by the email address. Sure, we all like a "thank you" but on some forums you are discouraged from adding too many replies to threads, this was more prevalent when bandwith was a bigger issue. It's not right nor wrong in my opinion, it's just how things are done in some age groups and in a modern online society. Adaptation keeps you young in spirit.