Monday, January 14th, 2013
Strong Money
Found this here 500 Benz at Kapa International, a purveyor of "airplanes, yachts and automobiles" over on the Westside.
What's remarkable about this specimen is that it's a 1998...with the same mileage as my car when I bought it...and the asking price is almost double what I paid.
Now, there are two key elements here that would drive up the price of any 500 Benz.
The first is those monoblock wheels that I keep going on about. They're present, they look nice, and that's worth a little extra, even though the Sport body kit is missing (which means they weren't the original wheels for this car).
Then there's the panoramic hardtop. All glass when you look up. If you see one in the wild, you'll know it from afar by the weaksauce rounded corner at the B-pillar; the regular hardtop, which came with my car, has a properly creased B-pillar corner that is considerably more manly. Anyway, the pano top wasn't offered till 1997, it cost a bunch from the factory, and even today you'll see them going for like $3,000 or even more. So that makes a difference.
Also, this is a one-owner car.
But still.
I bought my accident-free, three-owner '98 with 67,000 miles for $13,200, and I actually think I paid too much.
Viewing this ad, I felt like I'd entered a parallel universe in which the 500 Benz had finally come to be appreciated for what it is: a truly accomplished and entertaining piece of engineering that deftly straddles the line between vintage and modern, hauls the mail when you punch it, and should therefore command strong money. Future-classic money. Near-911 money.
Oh, it was glorious.
But the reality is, that's a $16,000 car, tops. Welcome to the remarkably depressed market value of the 500 Benz.
posted in: Classifieds
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