THE MIGHTY MERC - My 63: February 2009

Ever sit down and actually write out all of the things you need to do to your car just to get it stabilized. I wouldn't recommend it. Just let the sweet sweet fog of ignorance roll over you.

With the Merc it's even worse as the value IN never equals the value OUT. Maybe i can get some government bailout money. The first thing i would do is give myself a raise for dealing with all this stuff. Next would be body, paint, trans, carb, etc.....

My car looks good in a photo. Looks great in evening light. But man up close it's a mess. I am having a paint and body guy check out the car soon to see if i can start the process going. Say goodbye to the old merc and say hello to the mildly hot-rod merc. Well...will see.

The Tale...

This page will be the ongoing story of my Merc's rise to power and fall from grace. It will document my never ending struggle to keep this car on the road and out of my driveway.

Strangely my story doesn't start the usual way. I didn't have a father who was into cars. I didn't grow up idolizing Steve McQueen. In fact, at the time i knew nothing about cars. I didn't even have a Hot Wheels collection until my early thirties. All i had at the time was a love of taking the road less traveled and a cinematic vision of carving down mountain roads with the top down on my late 60's Triumph TR6. WTF? So how do you get from a 2 seat convertible British sports car to a heavy lumbering slow American made Detroit cruiser? Good question.

Well, after looking at over five TR6's i decided that the tubular frame rot that comes with those cars was going to be a pricey undertaking. Even as a novice car enthusiast with no mechanical knowledge i knew my money was better spent on a pint at the local pub.

So, What about the Merc? One morning on my way to work I spied an old heap of a car at a local train station in Mt. Airy outside of Philly. It was in rough shape. The train station had been converted into a bookstore and the shopkeep was interested in unloading the car for $800 bucks! Keep in mind that an average to poor TR6 sold for around $5000 at the time. I thought i had found the deal of the century.

It wasn't what i was looking for, in fact, it was the complete opposite. Looking back on it i'm not sure why i decided to buy it. I think it may have been the tail fins. Many a man has been blinded by a good set of fins. I guess i am no different. A handshake later and a signed check and the car was mine.

The first time i climbed into the musty old front seat i knew i made the right choice. The second i saw the big white sticker on the dash that said "Old Man Car" i had second thoughts. The shopkeeps daughter thought it would be funny to name the car for her father. "Old Man Car" was not what i pictured in my head.

New Carburater?!?! Damn!

The Tale...

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