Today’s Nice Price or No Dice 300 CE is a grand touring coupe with a tasteful mix of elegant style and just enough engagement to make things interesting. Let’s see how interested we all are in its asking price.
Shakespeare’s play The Tempest features intrigue, betrayal, and the spirit-summoned squall from which the play takes its name. The 1962 Pontiac Tempest we looked at yesterday suffered from no such drama, having only a small oil leak and some seat upholstery issues with which a new owner might have to contend. A $6,500 asking price sealed the deal for the majority of you, with the Tempest’s final act concluding in a solid 81 percent Nice Price win.
No German playwright is quite as famous as Bill Shakespeare, although out of the many Deutsch dramatists, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is considered the best known. Goethe died in 1832, just twelve years before the birth of fellow famous German Karl Friedrich Benz. Had the two been more contemporaneous, it is possible that Goethe would have penned an ode to Bertha Benz, Karl’s uber-supportive wife.
It was Bertha who, in the early hours of August 5, 1888, motored off in her husband’s Patent-Motorwagen three-wheeler for what now is considered to be the world’s first automotive road trip. Bertha Benz had planned her trip to visit her mother, unbeknownst to her husband, as a way to demonstrate publicly the ability of Karl’s auto to make such adventures possible.
If you would like to emulate Bertha’s Benz stunt but in a more modern and capable manner, then today’s 1993 Mercedes-Benz 300 CE Sportline could be a most excellent way to do so. That’s owed to the rare Sportline suspension package that adds a more assertive feel to the W124 coupe’s ride and handling, plus some fun badges.
The car’s performance is also imbued by the M104.992 3.2-liter straight six laying in wait behind the traditional Benz grille. In U.S. guise, that DOHC engine is factory-rated at 217 horsepower and 229 lb-ft of torque. While earlier cars were available with a clunky manual, this car is equipped with the more apt and far smoother four-speed automatic.
The Benz looks to be in very good shape, wearing all its extensive and very ’90s cladding and the special Sportline badging on each flank and the shift knob. AMG Monobloc wheels add a bit more panache to the car’s already classic stance.
There’s more to like in the cabin, which features solid-appearing leather and wood. It’s very airy and open due to the coupe’s pillar-less design that allows for all four windows to roll down. Making for both convenience and a great party trick, the front seat seatbelts are delivered, butler-style, via automatic presenters from just behind the doors. The car sports a reported 69,900 miles on the ‘ol ticker as well as a clean title.
On the downside, the ad is disappointingly light on both the details and the car’s past. It does mention that it’s a 2-owner ride and has an accident-free history. Of concern, though, and again going unmentioned, is some fading in the paint and what looks like a good bit of rust eating away at the driver’s side door sill. The pictures don’t do the latter any justice, and hence, it’s hard to tell if that’s in a cap or in the rocker itself.
To be fair, the rest of the car looks untouched by road rot, and the under-hood shot shows no similar malarkey. Either way, a good look under the car’s skirts would be warranted for any potential buyer.
That might also influence enthusiasm over the car’s $13,500 asking price. The Coupe’s are among the rarer members of the W124 line and have a small but solid following as a result of their semi-unique nature and classic good looks. This one seems to have a number of pros and cons based on its description and appearance. How does that all pan out when consideration is taken on that $13,500 price?
What do you think? Is this 300 CE worth that much, as it is shown in the ad? Or do the potential cons outweigh the current cost?
You decide!
Jacksonville, Florida, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Eric & Christie W. for the hookup!
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