Dubbya El Tea One 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 5.7 V8

Let's see, I really love the style of the W108 chassis Mercedes-Benz sedan, but I want the driving experience of a Chevrolet Impala SS. What to do, what to do?  Oh...I know, drop an LT1 into the W108 and call it done.  Find this 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 5.7 LT1 V8 offered for $5,500 in Spokane, WA via craigslist.  Tip from FuelTruck.

Special Sauce: 1977 Mercedes-Benz 280SE W116

The W116 Mercedes-Benz S-Class lives in that wonderful depreciated zone of classics where the sting of three figure repair bills overcomes the narcotizing waft of nostalgia.  People haven't forgotten how horrible these cars were when new and it'll be a few years before the inevitable price wars escalate prices to the stupid zone.  But before that happens, pickup a nice W116 like this 1977 Mercedes-Benz 280SE offered for $5,900 CAD ($4,452 USD) in Kitchener, OH Ontario, Canada via Kijiji.ca.  Tip from JohnU.

Aristobarge: 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE W108

Think about what you can buy for $20k these days: a base-model sedan like a Dodge Dart or Ford Focus, a decently nice high-content econobox like the Honda Fit, or the chunk of pure Stuttgart Bracq bossitude that is the W108 sedan. Granted, most W108s trade for far less than $20k, so for that price you should hold out for a real gem. Like this one. Find this 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE for sale in Irvine, CA for $21,500 via craigslist.

10k: From Rags To Riches: 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 4.5 W108, Seller Submission

Two seller submissions in one week?  Conspiracy!  Outrage!  Okay, settle down, drop the pitchforks; we don't get seller submissions very often, probably because sellers are afraid we are going to say nasty things about their car and generally be negative.  So we won't say that this car is slow, gets horrible gas mileage and is too expensive, we'll just focus on why it is cool and illuminate some of this car's particularly scintillating history.  Find this 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 4.5 W108 for sale in Severna Park, MD currently bidding on ebay for $10,200 with 4 days to go.

5k Flash: Potentially Cool; 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE - 4spd?

The Mercedes-Benz W108 is a favorite of the grey-hairs in the Daily Turismo blogging collective.  They are cheap, well-built and sweet looking - and we even did an entire write up on the W108 market last week.  The only violation of the Daily Turismo requirements is that most of them come equipped with automatic transmissions...and it is rare to find one that might be equipped with a 4 on the floor.  Find this 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE with what might be a 4 speed, for sale in Los Angeles, CA for $3,000 via craigslist.

Market Watch: 1970-73 Mercedes-Benz W108 280 SE 4.5: Update on the Bull, the Bear and the BS!

As mentioned in our post of a great looking 1971 W108 280 SEL 4.5 last week, ebay frequently serves only to confuse market watchers, rather than bringing any clarity to car prices. The reason for this is simple; auctions are put up by sellers who are fishing for unrealistically high prices, hoping to catch an overly emotional buyer. As their reserves are never met, the more prudent 'watchers' are left wondering what it would have taken to actually buy the car.

In the case of the (1970-1973) W108 280 SE and SEL 4.5's, it appears that because these are great cars, their sellers have high expectations that these cars will sell in the upper reaches of Daily Turimo's range (at $12-15K) when, in reality the nice ones appear to be in the $6-7K range. While this makes them great candidates for DT daily drivers, many of their current owners may still be hoping to pull a rabbit out of someone else's hat.

So, let’s try this again, but this time with the shorter wheelbase version 1972 W108 280 SE 4.5 which opened up on Ebay with bids of just $1,125 with a week left to run. This is DT, so you know there's a catch...Catch #1 of the day is ... This is at least the second time this car has been offered on ebay. I noticed this car awhile back, just before its auction closed at $6600 on Dec 16, 2012, which failed to meet its reserve. Let's first consider this car, then consider the actual market price for W108's with the 4.5 liter V8.

5k Flash: 1971 Mercedes Benz 280SE 4-spd; Vintage

We don't need to remind you how awesome the W108 Mercedes-Benz is...do we?  Consider this a reminder that there was a time when the tri-point insignia was synonymous with quality, class and luxury - not the crackerjack-box-prize, latest market buzzword chasing appliances it now symbolizes.  This stately 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE with 4-speed manual transmission is for sale in Greenville, SC and currently bidding on ebay at $3,050 reserve-not-met with 5 days to go.

5k Seller Sub: 1983 Mercedes Benz 280SE W126 Sonderklasse

In the mid 1980s Mercedes sold two distinctly different cars badged with the number 280; the 280E/C/CE/TE and the 280S/SE/SEL - the former built on the E-Class W123 chassis and the latter built on the S-Class W126 chassis.  Although engines/trans were shared between the chassis the S-Class is a decidedly larger and more upmarket car. Unfortunately for cheapskate car shoppers like ourselves, the ability to quickly find and differentiate between W123/W126 cars on craigslist/ebay is complicated by the similar and often mis-identified names.  Regardless, today we are going to make things easy on you, and feature this 1983 Mercedes-Benz W126 280SE Sonderklasse (German for Special Class) for sale in Phoenix, AZ for $5300 or-best-offer. (seller submission from Rob in Phx who seems like a stand-up guy and states that the price is negotiable)

5k Flash: 1979 Mercedes Benz W116 280SE

More good stuff from one of our favorite ebay sellers, pebbleandrock (aka cerealmarshmallows), this time in the form of a W116 - the original version of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class - for Sonderklasse or "special class."  This 1979 Mercedes-Benz 280SE W116 sedan is for sale on ebay for the bargain price of $2,750 buy-it-now in San Diego, CA.