As regular readers may remember, I’m in the happy position of owning a mini-garage of three German classics – a 1972 Porsche 911T, a 1975 BMW 2002tiiLux, and a 1984 Mercedes 280CE. I love them all and have enjoyed attending numerous events through the summer with them, but the recent ownership experience has been problematic, I have to say.
Let’s start with the BMW – the acquisition of my dream 911T last year meant die Zitrone wasn’t going to see as much use as it deserved, so I decided it was time to let it go. I wasn’t expecting to still have it at this stage, having made not one, not two, but so far three attempts to sell it – twice via online auctions, once in the classic classifieds. So far it seems to have only attracted the digital equivalent of tyre kickers and general time-wasters offering to pay amounts well under what I think it’s worth. Now I’m well aware that anything – car, house, artwork, whatever – is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, but at the same time, we can all do our research, comparing the prices of similar items and work out where we think our own sit in the marketplace, and when I see £50,000 being asked for mint condition tii’s, I’m holding out.
Anyway, long-ish story short, I still have die Zitrone and some of you may have seen it reappear in some features as I started using it again – a car needs to be driven, not sit unused in the garage, so it’s been to Bicester, Bibury and Goodwood in recent weeks adding over 500 miles in the space of three weekends. Although it is still currently for sale, it’s so much fun to drive that I might end up keeping it…
The 280CE has been my daily driver in most conditions for the past two years and most recently completed a 1550-mile round trip to southern Germany. It completed that trip as you might expect a Mercedes to do – comfortably and reliably. However, a few weeks later, the needle on the temperature gauge began to rise very rapidly. I’d had this once before with the Benz, the radiator had lost much of its coolant but a top up and some Radweld solved the problem then. This time, I got the car to my sister’s – about 10 minutes away – and sure enough the radiator was almost dry. A top up with water and I got it home without further ado and booked it into Templar Classics for a new radiator – and some attention to the heater controls – a few days later.
It transpired that not only had the radiator drained itself, but in trying to get it home, the cylinder head gasket had sprung a leak. While the gasket itself is not particularly expensive, the replacement of same is a laborious job, and on getting to the gasket, it was clear that the cylinder head needed skimming…on top of which, the heater had stopped working and new controls and cables were needed, so after about a month waiting for parts, these jobs plus others were done and I was presented with a bill for over £5k, 80% of it labour…and over winter there is probably the same amount of expenditure required for paintwork as the wheelarches and doors, plus the area at the bottom left corner of the windscreen are all showing corrosion…is it worth it, I ask myself, spending probably the same amount again on a car that isn’t actually all that valuable? In the meantime I got the Benz back last week and it’s driving beautifully again, and it’s such an elegant car, so maybe…
Last but definitely not least, the 911T… all was well until about three weeks ago, after a short (5km) journey, I saw a trail of oil on my drive and a pool of the black stuff on my garage floor; the car had basically leaked all its oil, and as the leak was on the opposite side of the car to where I sit, I didn’t see it until it was almost too late. Thankfully I had got it home already but obviously couldn’t drive it anywhere else, so managed to find a local Porsche specialist and had it transported there, praying that this was no more than a slipped hose and in the event, that’s what it was. Luckily it wasn’t something major. Instead of just having the hose refitted, however, which risked the same thing happening again, I arranged to have a connecting pipe properly attached, but the part has yet to arrive as I write.
So it’s been a strange summer with my classic garage – I’ve tried, and so far failed to reduce it from three to two; I’ve had two unpleasant and unexpected surprises with the 911 and 280CE…and yet despite the expense and at times, the stress, these three old German cars still give me enormous joy, even just by looking at them…perhaps that’s the answer, don’t use them, just look at them…
Obviously that’s not the solution – my cars, like all classics, are meant to be driven, and while I still think I should unload the BMW, as long as no-one wants to make an acceptable offer, I shall make sure it gets used at least a little. The only one of the three that will see much use over the winter, however, will be the Mercedes while I try to decide what to do about the paintwork…
