Better than usual: ’75 Mercedes-Benz 450SL

If you are regular readers you might recall we talked about unusual colors making some cars look just really special. The case yesterday was a ’86 Porsche 911 Carrera in Isis Blue. Today’s find is a very popular 450SL that you usually see in silver, white, red, blue or brown.  This one is an absolutely exceptional example of a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 450SL roadster with only 120K original miles in a rare special factory ordered ‘Stone Pine Green Metallic’ (Code 862) color paint with ‘Parchment’ MB Tex (Code 165) interior and a matching Parchment color soft top and original matching ‘Stone Pine Green Metallic’ factory hard top! It is a Sounthern California car from day one with service records up to date.  Read More

Rally anyone?: ’69 Mercedes-Benz 280SE

From the Mercedes-Benz Club Buyer’s Guide: Stylist Paul Bracq rose to the challenge of designing stylish luxury cars on the same chassis and wheelbase as the sedans not only by smoothing the top of the rear fender and eliminating the fin, but also by subtly rounding the lines over the top front fender and slightly reducing the height of the distinctive vertical radiator. With the freedom afforded by the lack of rear doors, Bracq removed the B-pillar and increased the C-pillar and rear window angles, lines that generally echoed in the convertible top. Inside, the changes were more obvious. Instead of the vertical speedometer and utilitarian instrument panel, the coupes and cabrios had sporty round speedometers and tachometers on either side of a central stack of telltale gauges. Moreover, there was considerably more wood inside, a luxury amenity for the day, now a challenge for restorers. Extensive hand finishing assured high quality on these prestige cars.  Read More

Battle of the Bads: ’93 Mercedes-Benz 500E

The 500E has been surfing under the radar for years. Just recently it made a list on Yahoo Auto of cars that you need to own which triggered a second round of Mercedes vs. BMW here on Mint. The 1st round between the M3 and the Mercedes 16V Cosworth resulted in the sale of the Mercedes. So lets see what happens with the big guns. The M-B 500E is a freaking German hot rod in the Pontiac GTO tradition. It looks plain on the outside but watch out. The press called it “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. How unimaginative. It’s Walter White from Breaking Bad. When his wife , Skylar, asked if he was afraid when someone knocks at the door. White responds “I am the one who knocks”. How cool is that line! Read More

Bam! Mint sold another one – First Salvo: ’86 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 16V Cosworth

Just in! We received an email from a reader who just alerted us to his purchase of this 16V Mercedes. Congrats to Andrew and hopefully a story will follow.

Jimmy Carter gets the blame for a lot of things but you might want to tip your hat towards Plains, Georgia for this one. The unassuming jewel of a Mercedes-Benz, the 190E 2.3 16 Valve, was engineered in response to Carter’s threat to increase fuel economy and emissions standards to ridiculous levels. The skunkwerks at M-B called the folks in Northampton England at Cosworth Engineering to come up with a killer, fuel-efficient engine to put into their 190E body. The results were spectacular. Read More

Call Us Crazy: ’85 Mercedes-Benz 300CD Turbo Diesel Coupe

This featured car we are presenting raises a couple of strategic questions of car ownership. It is somewhat polarizing but we need not go to war over it. The car we present is from 1985 and it is a Mercedes-Benz Coupe powered by their venerable Turbo Diesel powerplant. Although these Coupes were built in smaller quantities and have incredible build quality, they certainly aren’t collectible – yet. They are just gorgeous and very useable as a daily driver. Read More

Grandma’s: 62 Mercedes-Benz 190SL

You have to love stories like this and hope, of course, they are true. Allegedly, Grandma drove it back and forth to work 2 miles in each direction. But we have a good feeling about this listing. Remember the stunning black Porsche 356B with 31,000 miles? Well, this is the Mercedes-Benz equivalent. It looks like Grandma may be long gone sadly because this car isn’t as detailed and sharp as the Porsche. But that doesn’t matter. Read More

Battleship: ’89 Mercedes-Benz 560SL

If you have ever had the pleasure of driving an R107 Model Mercedes SL you probably came away thinking it was an elegant, beautiful car built like a battleship. Some say it is one of the last great Mercedes Benz automobiles with impeccable build quality. They were built nicely but they weren’t without fault. Read More

Possibilities: ’62 Mercedes-Benz 220SE Coupe

At the 1959 Frankfurt Show, Mercedes-Benz introduced four new models, including the 220SE Coupe.  All four models shared the same basic unit-body and were fitted with an independent suspension at all four corners. The 1962 Mercedes-Benz Coupe is a hand-built Mercedes and a true example of German engineering and craftsmanship. The build quality is exceptional as are the details. There is an enormous amount of wood inside and in this case it needs to be refinished. This isn’t as hard to do as it may seem. Read More

Its Got Klasse: ’95 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet

Internally, one of Mercedes-Benz most enduring and long running models is referred to as a W124. Regular people called them E300s or E320s. Either way, the W124s were the safest Mercedes-Benz cars built, with the last cars featuring dual airbags, traction control and an automatic roll bar on the cabriolet.  Read More