It seems fairly common practice in Britain to subsidize the running costs of a classic car through hiring it out for weddings and other special events. And as long as your car is reasonably reliable, and your passengers are not too intoxicated from their party, there are certainly worse things than driving around in your classic car all day. While the regulations surrounding transportation of passengers until recently seemed to prevent this practice for all but established limousine companies, that may be changing with the advent of services like Uber and Lyft. Check out this 1973 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 for sale for $3500 in Sonoma, CA.
Alternately, for less than the cost of many a wedding dress, you could buy this entire car for your own wedding, sell it afterwards, and basically have a classy arrival/getaway car for nearly no cost. Unfortunately, the photos don’t give a lot of insight as to the condition of the car – a white car photographed in the sun is overexposed, so the only thing you can really tell is it doesn’t have giant patches of rust, or missing sheets of paint.
That said, what the photos and description do show is good – clean interior, decent wood on the dash, working air conditioning, heat, and windows, and a strong, trouble-free engine. It also has a recent fuel pump and filter. The seller describes it as a commuter car, so there should be no bugs from long periods of storage, and service records back to 1973 are included. On the down side, the upholstery on the driver’s seat has issues, the turn signal stalk doesn’t stay on, gear indicator has failed, and the horn and wipers need their fuses replaced (which could indicate something more significant).
When new, the M117 4520cc V8 was good for 225hp and got itself to 60 in about 10 seconds, which was considered acceptable for many sports cars of the time. Here’s an opportunity to save by buying the sedan – while W111 280SE 3.5 cabriolets and coupes have been going through the roof, the sedan is far more attainable, and even available with a larger engine. Would you use this as the foundation for your own classic car service?
Rusty But Trusty 
Leave a Reply