My question is why would a proper restoration stop you from driving the car at all?
quote:
I've been debating the idea of a strip repaint/ retrim expensive restore which would stop me from driving it at all. Thoughts?
1. How many miles/year have you been driving it the last couple of years?
2. How many miles/year do you intend on driving it moving forward in time without a complete restoration?
3. Are you limited in ability to insure it after restoration?
4. What's the difference in costs or ego between a fender bender in it's current condition and when / if you restore it?
In my perspective... restoration is either dominated by the pride factor or by econonomic return factor. The latter is only achievable AFTER an extended period of additional appreciation, since, as best I can determine, a complete restoration can't return the cost of doing it without an additional appreciation factor (or specialty factor... "car won best of show at concurs d'elegance"... or "previously owned and driven by Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, & JFK").
A lot is written on this site that promotes daily driving since most of us and most others who intend on owning DO want to drive their W113's for general pleasure and, to varying degrees, the prestige of being seen driving it.
There are a couple of things I would say should be borne in mind...
1. These cars (W113's) will appreciate with time at either close to the rate of general inflation (if not well maintained and accurate), or a higher rates of appreciation the more they retain correct appearance and originality.
2. The more one is driven the more miles goes onto the running gear/engine... the more likely some of these will therefore eventually need replacement/rebuilds at future inflation and reduced availability prices.
3. The more they are used for daily drivers the greater the proportion of them will end up in serious enough accidents to render them incapable of future restoration with numbers matching components, or having only parting-out parts value.
4. The more 2) & 3) occur, the more the others (that are driven less frequently and retain originality... whether repainted, re-upholstered or not) appreciate in value.
Frankly, it makes good long term economic sense for my W113 to be driven as little as possible, retain total originality, and let others drive their's 5k or more miles/year... the more the better. Statistic's of automobile accident rates (both fault and no-fault) will benefit the value of my vehicle. Add to this the increases in costs of wear & tear, and fewer and fewer W113's will be maintained.
Note, for example, that only ~50% of the non-exported 280SL's were still registered in GErmany in mid 1990.... if this is extended to the entire volume of 280SL's produced then only ~12k remained in some form of use / potential use in 1990. That was only roughly 20 years after the 280SL's were produced. It's now been another 16 years since 1990... so one could surmise that the rate of loss since then is at an even greater rate... say for example an 80% reduction over the last 16 years... hence fewer than 10% of original production might be a reasonable estimate of the number remaining in 2006, or ~2400 280SL's.
Similarly, there were only ~30% of the 230SL's and 250SL's still registered in mid 1990 in Germany, and if extended to total production then only ~ 6k 230SL's and 1.7k 250SL's would have been usable in 1990. Extending this to the present at a guesstimated 80% loss rate since 1990 would say that there are only ~ 1200 230SL's available now and only 350 250SL's available at current time.
You can't extend the loss rate going forward at the same rate as over the last 16 years... it would tend to be a lower loss rate as fewer and fewer are driven less and less... but a finite loss rate will continue moving forward in time. Of those still in use at this point in time, how many are able to still be restored to original condition?... 80%? 50%? 20%? How many are still in original condition?... repainted, reupholstered, rechromed, but still all correct?
Do you know, for example, that only ~1/2 the 250SL's were produced before they made several changes which made the 250SL's have many of the appearances of the 280SL's? Matte chrome finishes, different door pockets & arm-rests, steering wheel hornrims, rear view mirrors (internal and external) --- commencing with Chassis # 2980... and that the 280SL's retained the all red rear lights until Chassis # 7938 (Feb 07, '69 production date)? [
Source: G. Engelen's Vom Barock zur Pagode], & I've read that the US Export models of the 280SL didn't use the orange blicker rear lights until even later (owing to US DOT laws not accomodating it 'til some unknown time later).
My point is only that the more the daily drivers are driven, the more the ones still in original correct condition (restored or otherwise) but less driven will tend to appreciate at a greater rate, due simply to the laws of statistic's in traffic accidents and parts use and availability.
The fear factor described in restoring one's W113 and therefore not driving it (as much) perhaps therefore boils down to whether one can overlook the fixes that will inevitably be required in daily drivers without having to expend the amounts necessary for a correct fix... and frequency of fixes required with probably fewer and fewer mechanic's and shops having the familiarity required to accomplish the correct fixes.
As always, these decisions revolve around ones means (disposable income) and priority of the use of means. They are always individual decisions that depend on ones own interests or demands in how they spend their time and income.
Just remember... on average, over time, a W113 that's driven 3k miles/year will have 1/2 the probability of an accident requiring significant costs of one driven 6k miles/year. Wear & tear will be twice as much for the 6k miles/year driven daily driver than the 3k miles/year driver. Think about the 1.5k miles/year driver?... or the 10k miles/year driver? If nothing else, the cars less driven will tend to require lower rates of parts replacements and rebuilds.... all other things equal.
Think about my estimated or guesstimated number of 250SL's still in use at somewhere around 350 of them.... and half of those being the ones built before all the safety related changes beginning with Chassis # 2980... how many of them will still be in restorable to correct condition in 10 more years?... 90%? 80%? 70%? For that matter, how many of them are still in correct condition or restorable to correct condition right now?... 50%? 75% 25%?
You get the picture I think... your decision has to be based on what you ultimately want for your W113, and how much of what you want you can actually afford in execution... over the length of time you intend on keeping and driving the car.
Longtooth
67 250SL US #113-043-10-002163
'02 SL500 Sport
