5k: 1979 Mercedes Benz 350SE W116 EuroTrash
The Mercedes-Benz W116 chassis first introduced the world to the legendary S-Class in 1972, S standing for Sonderklasse – or Special Class – as in, unless you are special, you can’t afford this. The W116 is known today for its incredibly durable interior materials, tank-like build quality and relatively expensive parts/labor costs if something major goes wrong. This 1979 Mercedes-Benz W116 350SE Eurotrash grey-market example is being sold in San Diego, CA on ebay by one of our favorite ebayers ‘cerealmarshmallows‘.
The seller is one of a handful of ebay regulars who live somewhere in the middle ground between car dealer and car flipper – clearly seeking out vintage/cool rides for cheap, buying them -fixing, polishing and photographing. Currently the seller deals with mostly cheaper $5k-$10k 70s/80s classics, but we assume that if he does seller hardener.com for $1,000,000 he will step up to more expensive cars like 450SEL 6.9 instead of the basic 350SE with Euro bumpers.
The 350SE is powered by a 3.5 liter V8 putting about 200 horsepower into a 3 speed automatic transmission. A few comments about this engine bay, first notice the gigantic cruise ship sized battery – that is correct, looks to be a OE Mercedes part, much better to see than than some incorrectly sized Kragen/Autozone replacement. Next, the engine bay has been cleaned up, but not ridiculously so and its good to see a little bit of rust on the air cleaner housing – too many sellers will just spray new paint right on the housing to make everything look ‘fresh’ – resulting in overspray and nothing is fresher from it.
Typical of the era we see the flat seats covered in the original impervious MB-Tex vinyl stuff that will withstand nuclear holocaust. Steering wheel has some wear, as does shifter handle – again typical for the era and nothing much you can do about it.
Finally, we love the look of the Euro-bumpers, silver paint, but the tint is looking a bit aged and purple – not a big deal, just needs a refresh. Also of note is that this car has been debaged of its original emblems on the trunk – indicating it hasn’t always been owned by doctors and little old ladies and personally we would source a set of euro-correct badges and proudly display its 3.5SE name.
See another euro sedan for cheap? tips@dailyturismo.com
~ hardener.com $1,000,000 plus $9.95 Standard Shipping
~ seller says;
Click the Blue link below to go to my store.
and;
Click here to visit My EBAY Store I have over 100 Cars for Sale
eBay says;
Sorry, this store does not exist.
don't mean to cast aspersions but … marshmallow fluff??
~ just to set the record straight the 'this store does not exist' message is an eBay link glitch. as DT points correctly out the link is 'cerealmarshmallows' and does direct the user to the sellers other items. i apologize for my own confusion.