Even in my love for cars I'm not normal. I've always had a thing for Mercedes Benzes. My especial pet was the 350SDL. MB only built 2,425 of them in 1990 and 1991; in ten words or less, they are the diesel version of the 420SEL. When we came into a windfall a couple of years ago, Her Imperial Majesty said, "It's time. Get your dream car." So I scouted on the Internet and over a couple of months found four 35SDls out there. As I said, they aren't common, even by Mercedes standards.
One was in Maryland, but after reading the Autotrader listings and checking with Carfax (as I did with all of them), I discovered it had been owned by a drug dealer, been confiscated, and then sold at auction by the police. I didn't like the karma of that one, so I let it go by.
Another was in California, with low miles. It sounded good, but Carfax said it had been in three accidents. That eliminated it.
One was in Texas. It sounded like it was in good shape mechanically, but the interior was a total disaster, and I don't have a Sue Martin standing by to yell at me that "You always bring me junk, Ass Monkey!" So that one I passed on too.
Then I turned one up in Indiana. Mechanically sound, the interior in pretty good shape, a color I liked, and after some negotiating, at a price I could afford. Got her here via an auto delivery service like you see on Chasing Classic Cars (only not so fancy), and had her inspected. The ball joints were not up to snuff, but once they were replaced she was fine.
I've done some more work on the Empress (Her Imperial Majesty pinned that moniker on her, claiming that she was a big, fat pig like the Empress of Blandings; I prefer to believe it's because she is a dark royal blue), including having to rebuild the rear deck speaker grills because I can't find any replacements at any price. It would have been a lot easier if all the plastic bits from the broken grills were there. I wound up having to rebuild sections of the covers with bondo and repaint the whole thing. Replacing the radio (a gift from my wife's uncle, who thinks he owes me big because I drove him to a bunch of doctor's appointments when he was sick while I was suffering from kidney stones and wasn't in good shape myself -- hey, isn't that what family is for?) will be done by professionals. And pretty soon I need to replace the glow plugs and the injectors. My car guru says I have more skill than I think I do and could do it myself, since MB understands the concept of owners who like to work on their cars, but I may have that done by a professional diesel mechanic. I'll buy the parts, but I am genuinely not sure I can change the injectors and the glow plugs myself.
Still, when I was persuaded to go back for my 40th high school reunion, quite a few of the guys I remembered as gearheads were astonished when I pulled in driving the Empress. They were even more astonished when I told them she had 335,000 miles on her and got about 32 mpg on the highway.
Okay, so she doesn't have the flash of a '69 Corvette Manta Ray or a '68 Jaguar XKE 2+2, two other cars I'm fond of. She's not going to come off the line with tires screaming and go from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds. On the other hand, my Empress rides so smoothly that she will sneak up to 100 mph on the straight and level if you don't watch her -- she's done it to me more than once. And she'll still be cruising down the highway when the fancy muscle cars have to pull off and fill up again. The longest run I've ever had her on was five hours up and five hours back to Cape Cod; 10 hours of highway running, and she was only down to the 50% fuel mark. In theory, I could drive her from here to North Carolina before I'd have to refuel. I'll take the long cruise over the fast launch any time. I would look silly behind the wheel of a Shelby Cobra or the General Lee; but I look like I belong behind the wheel of the Empress.
One was in Maryland, but after reading the Autotrader listings and checking with Carfax (as I did with all of them), I discovered it had been owned by a drug dealer, been confiscated, and then sold at auction by the police. I didn't like the karma of that one, so I let it go by.
Another was in California, with low miles. It sounded good, but Carfax said it had been in three accidents. That eliminated it.
One was in Texas. It sounded like it was in good shape mechanically, but the interior was a total disaster, and I don't have a Sue Martin standing by to yell at me that "You always bring me junk, Ass Monkey!" So that one I passed on too.
Then I turned one up in Indiana. Mechanically sound, the interior in pretty good shape, a color I liked, and after some negotiating, at a price I could afford. Got her here via an auto delivery service like you see on Chasing Classic Cars (only not so fancy), and had her inspected. The ball joints were not up to snuff, but once they were replaced she was fine.
I've done some more work on the Empress (Her Imperial Majesty pinned that moniker on her, claiming that she was a big, fat pig like the Empress of Blandings; I prefer to believe it's because she is a dark royal blue), including having to rebuild the rear deck speaker grills because I can't find any replacements at any price. It would have been a lot easier if all the plastic bits from the broken grills were there. I wound up having to rebuild sections of the covers with bondo and repaint the whole thing. Replacing the radio (a gift from my wife's uncle, who thinks he owes me big because I drove him to a bunch of doctor's appointments when he was sick while I was suffering from kidney stones and wasn't in good shape myself -- hey, isn't that what family is for?) will be done by professionals. And pretty soon I need to replace the glow plugs and the injectors. My car guru says I have more skill than I think I do and could do it myself, since MB understands the concept of owners who like to work on their cars, but I may have that done by a professional diesel mechanic. I'll buy the parts, but I am genuinely not sure I can change the injectors and the glow plugs myself.
Still, when I was persuaded to go back for my 40th high school reunion, quite a few of the guys I remembered as gearheads were astonished when I pulled in driving the Empress. They were even more astonished when I told them she had 335,000 miles on her and got about 32 mpg on the highway.
Okay, so she doesn't have the flash of a '69 Corvette Manta Ray or a '68 Jaguar XKE 2+2, two other cars I'm fond of. She's not going to come off the line with tires screaming and go from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds. On the other hand, my Empress rides so smoothly that she will sneak up to 100 mph on the straight and level if you don't watch her -- she's done it to me more than once. And she'll still be cruising down the highway when the fancy muscle cars have to pull off and fill up again. The longest run I've ever had her on was five hours up and five hours back to Cape Cod; 10 hours of highway running, and she was only down to the 50% fuel mark. In theory, I could drive her from here to North Carolina before I'd have to refuel. I'll take the long cruise over the fast launch any time. I would look silly behind the wheel of a Shelby Cobra or the General Lee; but I look like I belong behind the wheel of the Empress.
