Probably about time I posted some words about The Best Car I Ever Bought...
At some point in the mid-90s a wise English man stationed in recently reunified (West) Germany decided to have a car supplied via his local MB dealership. Being a sensible (read: tight) sort he opted for the manual diesel, without any of this new-fangled turbo nonsense. Being English, he also opted for a right-hooker, since overtaking is an irrelevance anyway in NA smoker spec. He chugged cheaply up and down the Autobahn until 2002, when he retired to sunny Wiltshire and brought der Botschafter (the Ambassador) over to enjoy the sedate twilight of both of their lives.
Flash forward to summer 2009 and evidently the raw power of this elderly German was too much, as he had found his way onto a friendly local dealer's forecourt as a trade-in. Following an ill fated relationship with a recently deceased K10 Micra, I was after an inexpensive car with doors, windows, and an engine that worked. Der Botschafter was brought to my attention and 1700 quid changed hands. He had just over 100k on the clocks and was pretty clean, albeit with a short ticket and the usual sold as seen warnings.
Flash forward to summer 2011 and between myself and SWMBO we've added over 50k miles. In that time I've replaced the cat and mid section, the rear discs, the rad, some brake pads, tyres... fluids... and, er, bulbs. That's it - total parts spend less than a grand. It's breezed through two MOTs with barely an advisory. Everything works exactly as it did two years ago, including the 'remote control' full closure remote central locking and bizarre auto-fold headrests. Everything comes apart and goes back together as it did when it was built. Massively over-engineered, absurdly comfortable and returns 40mpg all day.
The downsides? Well, it's slow as hell. I mean, seriously slow. It's like driving a lorry - you do not want to lose speed at any cost, but it'll get there eventually and you can load it with people and stuff and it drives exactly the same. It's developing some ominous rust which I've been chasing around but probably needs some proper attention if I can ever prise the keys out of SWMBO's hands. It's also a bit large for 'some people' as the bumpers will testify. He's not the best when it turns snowy due to his stereotypical Teutonic weight problem - although rwd fun until you get stuck
Might be investing in some chains for this coming winter.
Future jobs include treating all the rust before it turns into speedholes, and trying to get it blown over for a decent price. Towbar would be really useful for towing my bike to trackdays but they are a pain to find for the saloon. Toying with lower/stiffer springs too as it's getting even more wallowy now. Maybe some rims if something nice comes up.
I occasionally consider selling him for something more fun to drive, but with the mileage we do I know I would just regret it. It owes me nothing at all at this point so I'm tempted to see how many miles I can actually rack up... I'd go out and get some better pics but he's gone shopping this afternoon
At some point in the mid-90s a wise English man stationed in recently reunified (West) Germany decided to have a car supplied via his local MB dealership. Being a sensible (read: tight) sort he opted for the manual diesel, without any of this new-fangled turbo nonsense. Being English, he also opted for a right-hooker, since overtaking is an irrelevance anyway in NA smoker spec. He chugged cheaply up and down the Autobahn until 2002, when he retired to sunny Wiltshire and brought der Botschafter (the Ambassador) over to enjoy the sedate twilight of both of their lives.
Flash forward to summer 2009 and evidently the raw power of this elderly German was too much, as he had found his way onto a friendly local dealer's forecourt as a trade-in. Following an ill fated relationship with a recently deceased K10 Micra, I was after an inexpensive car with doors, windows, and an engine that worked. Der Botschafter was brought to my attention and 1700 quid changed hands. He had just over 100k on the clocks and was pretty clean, albeit with a short ticket and the usual sold as seen warnings.
Flash forward to summer 2011 and between myself and SWMBO we've added over 50k miles. In that time I've replaced the cat and mid section, the rear discs, the rad, some brake pads, tyres... fluids... and, er, bulbs. That's it - total parts spend less than a grand. It's breezed through two MOTs with barely an advisory. Everything works exactly as it did two years ago, including the 'remote control' full closure remote central locking and bizarre auto-fold headrests. Everything comes apart and goes back together as it did when it was built. Massively over-engineered, absurdly comfortable and returns 40mpg all day.
The downsides? Well, it's slow as hell. I mean, seriously slow. It's like driving a lorry - you do not want to lose speed at any cost, but it'll get there eventually and you can load it with people and stuff and it drives exactly the same. It's developing some ominous rust which I've been chasing around but probably needs some proper attention if I can ever prise the keys out of SWMBO's hands. It's also a bit large for 'some people' as the bumpers will testify. He's not the best when it turns snowy due to his stereotypical Teutonic weight problem - although rwd fun until you get stuck
Might be investing in some chains for this coming winter.Future jobs include treating all the rust before it turns into speedholes, and trying to get it blown over for a decent price. Towbar would be really useful for towing my bike to trackdays but they are a pain to find for the saloon. Toying with lower/stiffer springs too as it's getting even more wallowy now. Maybe some rims if something nice comes up.
I occasionally consider selling him for something more fun to drive, but with the mileage we do I know I would just regret it. It owes me nothing at all at this point so I'm tempted to see how many miles I can actually rack up... I'd go out and get some better pics but he's gone shopping this afternoon
