Ann -- The opinions are all over the place on this, but I chose to remove the old (original) spare from my trunk. And precisely to Peter's point it was done so that my wife could carry plenty of luggage. If you're interested then below is the link that will take you to a website where photos of my modified trunk (sans spare) are posted. The way my guys did this the mods can be easily stripped out and the trunk returned to original should that desire strike. And as you are probably already aware, some new cars now come without spares...but do include a can of Fix-a-Flat and a small compressor. After hauling my old spare tire around for over 2 decades without ever using it I figured if it's now good enough for some M-B models then it ought to be good enough for me.
So if you're comfortable with the idea, have a good set of tires and a cell phone, then I say go for it.
http://index.php?topic=4440Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced
