Retro Gangsta: 1988 Mercedes Benz 300E

Normally I steer clear of dealer listed CL ads.  The incompetency of what they are selling and the literary wooing & schmoozing leaves a die-hard car affection-ado with a bad taste in the mouth.  But sometimes...one in a while...I stumble across a vehicle that is worth the attention and a quick rinse with the strongest mouthwash I have on tap.   Find this 1988 Mercedes Benz 300E for sale at a dealer in Seattle, WA for $4,900 via craigslist.

The W124 series production run started in 1984 and ran for 12 years.  Some would say these were among the best cars MB built. This model, affectionately known as 124.030 by those reckless Germans, was built from 1986-92 and was considered the middle of the pack in both size & luxury.  One thing they are known for is durability. With this example displaying a sparse 68K miles (131K kilometers) since new, you could easily drive this until the new world order takes over and cars are banned completely.

The 300E came equipped with a 3.0L in-line 6 producing 177 HP.  Coupled to the automatic transmission, long journeys were gobbled up with ease with a reasonable MPG number.  Powertrains were tank-like in nature, 500K miles is not unheard of for this generation of E-series.

Black on red is unique as most of these interiors were a lovely shade of paper bag brown or cargo pants khaki.  In all honestly, the gushing & spewing in the ad may hold some of it's weight as the pictures do portray a well maintained example.

Another thing I am not fond of with dealers is the aggressive pricing strategy designed to include possible trade values.  Certainly there is room here for street market bartering, and possibly a heck of a steal considering the intrinsic value and life left in the car. Now, if I could just find a nice MB/Porsche collaborated W124 500E in similar condition...    

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When not receiving complaints of "distracted by cars...again" from his wife, Glenn can be found in the kitchen whipping up exotic cuisine and nourishing nosh.