Instead of posting this on the mercedes or corvette forum i figured it's better to ask here for unbiased advice.
Situation is the following...
We have a 1989 Mercedes 560SEC since about 8 years now.
It was used mainly as a weekend car, mostly highway miles and regularly serviced at mercedes benz.
Recently paid 5k at the dealership (mercedes benz), then switched to an independent shop specialised
in classic mercedes where another 5k was spent because mercedes did crappy work and was basically ripping us off.
Car got new camshafts, timing chain such as other stuff done.
After this major service we changed it over to historic plates which means cheap insurance & taxes.
The car is in turn key condition, i regularly drive it 500miles on the weekends with no problem.
Its not perfect though:
- Previous owner reimported the car from the united states back to stuttgart, germany (I live in germany. Good thing is this means lots of options & no rust)
- Has been repainted by the previous owner in germany (I was told pretty good but not perfect. Normal people seeing the car on the street wont notice)
- You can see some wear from the sun (I think the car came from california but need to check documentation again) mainly on the front seats and armrest
-- I got this "detailed/repaired" though and it looks good, but you can see it if you look close
Some pictures:
https://abload.de/img/img_1020w1krl.jpg
https://abload.de/img/img_1038x4kid.jpg
https://abload.de/img/img_0541bbj8u.jpg
So much for that.
We also have the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T that i bought last year and a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (my very first car).
All those are pretty similar being luxury coupes with V8, RWD & automatic.
For my personal taste the mercedes is the least impressive of the bunch. Still a nice car, though.
Lately i'm craving for really good handling and acceleration, a real sports car.
If i had the money i would build a pro touring car out of the cutlass.
The level that i want (schwartz performance chassis & all) is WAY out of my (basically non existent) budget, though.
So the best i was able to find is the 1990 Corvette ZR-1. (It has to be a classic american car)
So now (for quite a while actually) i'm thinking about selling the 560SEC in order to buy a ZR-1.
I do not really want to sell the mercedes but i do not have the money & space for both.
I also think/fear its now or never looking at classic car prices lately and this one not yet exploded in value. (I think/fear it will soon)
Then there is politics and electric cars trying to kill the gasoline cars...
On the other hand i fear i could regret replacing the 560SEC with a ZR-1.
I know the ZR-1 is no imperial but i want to sit acceptably comfortable with enough legroom and not having backpain after every ride.
Note that i would take the ZR-1 for 500mile trips quite frequently.
That's what i want it for: Being able to cover wide distances as fast as possible on the german autobahn!
So what would you do?
Keep the mercedes or buy the ZR-1?
Also what is your opinion on comfort and future prices of both?
Situation is the following...
We have a 1989 Mercedes 560SEC since about 8 years now.
It was used mainly as a weekend car, mostly highway miles and regularly serviced at mercedes benz.
Recently paid 5k at the dealership (mercedes benz), then switched to an independent shop specialised
in classic mercedes where another 5k was spent because mercedes did crappy work and was basically ripping us off.
Car got new camshafts, timing chain such as other stuff done.
After this major service we changed it over to historic plates which means cheap insurance & taxes.
The car is in turn key condition, i regularly drive it 500miles on the weekends with no problem.
Its not perfect though:
- Previous owner reimported the car from the united states back to stuttgart, germany (I live in germany. Good thing is this means lots of options & no rust)
- Has been repainted by the previous owner in germany (I was told pretty good but not perfect. Normal people seeing the car on the street wont notice)
- You can see some wear from the sun (I think the car came from california but need to check documentation again) mainly on the front seats and armrest
-- I got this "detailed/repaired" though and it looks good, but you can see it if you look close
Some pictures:
https://abload.de/img/img_1020w1krl.jpg
https://abload.de/img/img_1038x4kid.jpg
https://abload.de/img/img_0541bbj8u.jpg
So much for that.
We also have the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T that i bought last year and a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (my very first car).
All those are pretty similar being luxury coupes with V8, RWD & automatic.
For my personal taste the mercedes is the least impressive of the bunch. Still a nice car, though.
Lately i'm craving for really good handling and acceleration, a real sports car.
If i had the money i would build a pro touring car out of the cutlass.
The level that i want (schwartz performance chassis & all) is WAY out of my (basically non existent) budget, though.
So the best i was able to find is the 1990 Corvette ZR-1. (It has to be a classic american car)
So now (for quite a while actually) i'm thinking about selling the 560SEC in order to buy a ZR-1.
I do not really want to sell the mercedes but i do not have the money & space for both.
I also think/fear its now or never looking at classic car prices lately and this one not yet exploded in value. (I think/fear it will soon)
Then there is politics and electric cars trying to kill the gasoline cars...
On the other hand i fear i could regret replacing the 560SEC with a ZR-1.
I know the ZR-1 is no imperial but i want to sit acceptably comfortable with enough legroom and not having backpain after every ride.
Note that i would take the ZR-1 for 500mile trips quite frequently.
That's what i want it for: Being able to cover wide distances as fast as possible on the german autobahn!
So what would you do?
Keep the mercedes or buy the ZR-1?
Also what is your opinion on comfort and future prices of both?