As far as auto aficionados go, I wouldn't call myself an avid one.
While
I was
growing up, my brother and I would eagerly await the new models each year,
and run out to get the latest brochures of the most exciting ones. Given that a
lot of them had fins, you can guess the era of my childhood. My dad wouldn't
hear of putting whitewall tires on 
our cars (they weren't good enough quality),
but he let us talk him into putting on those wide add-on white walls, which were
pretty bad! That didn't last long.
Until I bought my first Mercedes, I wasn't a real car nut, although I did try to take good car of the ones I had. I used to wash and wax them regularly, which was more important to me than learning how to change spark plugs or the oil. One day when I was again washing my car, my neighbor Harvey Milk walked by and said, "Wouldn't it be easier to get into grime!" I guess it would've.
My
sports car phase didn't last too long. Perhaps if I hadn't had one that
fell apart so easily, I would have continued to drive one longer. This was
my TR-250. Pieces fell off of it regularly!
What great cars Mercedes are! Your mileage may vary, as they say--but I've enjoyed the two I have. They tend to be expensive to repair when they need it, but hold up really well, and the fit and finish couldn't be better. My '87 looks nearly new, and most people don't believe it's that old. The one that was the most fun was my 1961 220SEb, a two door sedan. I have now sold it, but the neatest thing about it was that it gets a lot of attention when I'm out washing or working on it. Of course, I translate that as "I get a lot of attention!"
