I feel like Janis Joplin!
February 19th 2008 13:36
Janis Joplin always wanted one, the Beatles owned them and just about every Taxi driver in Berlin has one so tonight I join them, sitting my driveway is a Mercedes Benz!
This particular version, the lowly 180E, was the tax break version that Mercedes released to beat the threshold of the Luxury car tax. Yes it is basic, with wind up windows but the thing that amazed me on driving this car was the build integrity / quality. As we all know, cars, as they age begin to feel, sloppy for want of a better word. The 15 year old mobile bank vault under my house is probably as strong as the day it left Sindelfingen, the doors shut with a satisfying thud, the seats havent sagged and everything mechanically feels right with no untoward noises.
I think the major reason for this, is the 180E-190E was a scaled down version of the E and S-Class, all built in the days when Mercedes Benz made real cars, not plastic coated five door hatchbacks that couldnt get out of the way of a decent Elk, Hit one of them at the right speed in a proper Benz and the animal is sliced, diced and duly delivered through the sunroof as Steaks!
The worst roads in the world are generally considered to be African roads, time has shown that over time the only vehicles that survive longer than ten minutes are Toyota Landcruisers, Peugeot 504-505 and the old E-Class Benz. The reason is they are built like Panzer tanks!
Merceds Benz decided to sacrifice quality at some stage probably in the early 1990's to increase the level of profitability, Nein!, this did not work and the loyal buyers complained as they found their latest shiny Benz just fell to pieces, unlike the last seven!
I admit I do like this old 180E, now call me old fashioned but if it dont have chrome, it just aint a proper Benz, one look at the 600 Pullman limo and the 300SEL 6.3 will tell you exactly what I mean.
This particular version, the lowly 180E, was the tax break version that Mercedes released to beat the threshold of the Luxury car tax. Yes it is basic, with wind up windows but the thing that amazed me on driving this car was the build integrity / quality. As we all know, cars, as they age begin to feel, sloppy for want of a better word. The 15 year old mobile bank vault under my house is probably as strong as the day it left Sindelfingen, the doors shut with a satisfying thud, the seats havent sagged and everything mechanically feels right with no untoward noises.
I think the major reason for this, is the 180E-190E was a scaled down version of the E and S-Class, all built in the days when Mercedes Benz made real cars, not plastic coated five door hatchbacks that couldnt get out of the way of a decent Elk, Hit one of them at the right speed in a proper Benz and the animal is sliced, diced and duly delivered through the sunroof as Steaks!
The worst roads in the world are generally considered to be African roads, time has shown that over time the only vehicles that survive longer than ten minutes are Toyota Landcruisers, Peugeot 504-505 and the old E-Class Benz. The reason is they are built like Panzer tanks!
Merceds Benz decided to sacrifice quality at some stage probably in the early 1990's to increase the level of profitability, Nein!, this did not work and the loyal buyers complained as they found their latest shiny Benz just fell to pieces, unlike the last seven!
I admit I do like this old 180E, now call me old fashioned but if it dont have chrome, it just aint a proper Benz, one look at the 600 Pullman limo and the 300SEL 6.3 will tell you exactly what I mean.
| 59 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
