By Greg Kachadurian
A reader of Hooniverse and personal friend of mine in Florida snapped this photo on his way home from work the other day, and right away there are a few things that stand out about it.
Firstly, that’s a famous/infamous Mercedes-Benz 600 sitting unloved on the back of a car carrier in the rain. Secondly, that said 600’s door is cracked open in the rain. And finally, there’s also a classic 300SL “Gullwing” sitting just in front of the Pontiac, also in the rain.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that these two classics are seeing the right side of the garage door, but there has to be a better way of doing that than this.
If you want another cringeworthy photo, click past the jump for a closeup of the 300SL.
It’s important to note that a pristine 300SL “Gullwing” can bring up to million dollars or more at an auction.
[Images used courtesy of Brad]
Antti Kautonen 
Joel Strickland 
Kamil Kaluski
There's probably more of those in the world than running Morris Marinas, so why should they be treated any special?
Because reasons.
There ain't enough pianos.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/XS5LK.gif" width="350">
In such weather conditions, there's surely more running pianos than Marinas out there!
As a Marina fan, I resent that statement.
“Marina is a word like rubella—it sounds far nicer than the thing it describes.” – Jonathan Raban in a sailing magazine, per http://www.morganscloud.com/2010/01/19/sailing-in…
😉
First, I like the placement of the Hooniverse logo in the second pic.
Second, I had my Spirit shipped cross country on an open carrier once. I didn't have the cash for a closed, and it's not like it's worth that cost anyways. But it definitely picked up a few nicks from rocks and such on the trip. No more than you'd expect if you drove it 3,000 miles, I suppose, but still. I can't imagine having the coin to own a 300SL and still being such a cheapskate that you won't drop an extra grand for a closed trailer.
My thoughts exactly. I'm way too paranoid about my car as it is and I can't imagine I'd be sleeping well if I knew it was on an open car carrier, let alone a 300SL.
And thanks 😉
You haven't ordered your Hooniverse-branded replacement mirror yet? What are you waiting for?
It adds 2hp!
…also rust…
I was promised 5 hp & and anti-rust protection! Should I not have trusted that guy with the trenchcoat full of mirrors?
No, man… you've been had. You're supposed to buy it from the guy selling them out the back of the El Camino-ed Volvo wagon.
I won't do business with him any longer. Pissed me off when he wouldn't sell me the Volvochero.
50hp for small block Chevys.
I ordered my Hooniverse mirror when I was at 85 points. Overnight, it put me over 100p.
sonofabi… I'm still waiting!
Hooniverse may be closer than it appears.
I gasped out loud when I saw the second picture. Why would anyone with the dough to afford a Gullwing be so cheap with transport costs?
Repo? Bulk car theft?
Somebody ordered a Grand Prix?
Speaking of Grands Prix, years ago (sometime back in the '80s), I was on the way home from work in my Vega, and in front of me was a tow truck pulling a burgundy '77 Grand Prix, picked up from the rear on a sling. I could tell the driver's door wasn't closed well (remember those 900lb GM doors, and how the hinges would sag over time and not close properly?), and I knew that wasn't a good thing. Anyway, this was on a four-lane undivided street (Abrams Road in North Dallas), and all of a sudden, the driver's door swung open, just in time to get picked off by a fire hydrant, in the grass parkway between the road and the sidewalk.
I was right behind them, and because of the traffic, I couldn't get around, so I got to enjoy the festivities. The fire hydrant smashed into the door, pulled the door around backwards, and broke the glass. The driver must have heard/felt the impact, because he stopped the truck, walked around, and tried to straighten out the door. About that time I was finally able to pass him. Unreal.
Maybe it's a Grand Prix GXP?
Why? It's not like it's a British car above leaking oil all over the Gullwing, it's actually offered a lot of protection there!
Maybe it's a copy, or a 'movie car'…it might not be the real thing.
Somebody once tried to make a reproduction Gullwing…
<img src="http://www.mercedesheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forklift.jpg">
…Once.
<img src="http://www.mercedesheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2008DIG29283.jpg">
http://www.mercedesheritage.com/2012/mercedes-ben…
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/23/daimler-crushe…
I hate how a company can basically say "we did something once 50 years ago, we won't do it again, but nobody can" thanks to copyright laws.
The open door is a crime against automobiledom.
I wonder where those photos were taken. I've only seen one 600 sedan in the wild, and it turned in to an exclusive community near a park in Tarpon Springs. It was also that same color…
I took it heading southbound on the Sawgrass Expressway around the Coral Springs FL area. I nearly passed it without much thought because it was raining pretty heavy that day (we had flooding all over the place) and at first glance it looked like a truck just carrying an old Merc, Hyundai and Pontiac it wasn't till I saw the antique plate on the 600 that I slowed down and then noticed the SL wedged underneath.
Also, both doors to the 600 were open, and you can't tell from the picture but there were a few times a door would swing wide open, surely soaking the whole inside.
The odd thing was the Hyundai had pretty serious crash damage (the whole passenger side was caved in) and was likely totaled. It doesn't make much sense that two cars worth over $1m would be on a truck with a totaled Accent and a Grand Prix.
Welcome to Florida.
They're cars. They're meant to travel in the out of doors.
Out of doors, yes. With open doors not so much.
Depends on the car really.
<img src="http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv184/JF2160/Vietnam%20Jeep%20Club%20Sunday%2025th%20July/Binhbeer02.jpg" width="500">
What doors?!
Is that a strap swinging against the 300? It kinda looks like it.
The trunk on the 600 doesn't look to be properly closed either. I'm willing to bet it has something to do with the hydraulics not working.
Pretty much everything in the 600 is powered with hydraulics, doors ant trunk are pulled shut by this system also.
On the other hand there should be another way to operate those parts in an emergency.
MAYBE they are headed for restorations. At least I hope they are. No point in paying for an enclosed trailer when you are about to drop six figures on a little freshening up. The doors on the 600 might have something to do with funky hydraulics and a clueless truck driver that loaded it up.
"Objects In Mirror Are From Another Hooniverse."
In the mid 90's when I lived in Detroit I once saw a truck load of new Firebirds traveling west on 696 in a driving snow. The last one on top was loaded tail up and somehow the hatch had gotten open. At every overpass I cringed thinking that hatch was going to bite it. After it didn't for a few bridges, I got to thinking about how much snow was piling up inside that thing.
Someone waved him over after a bit and I kept driving.
Noticed that all the parts falling off the two benzs are of genuine german manufacture. Also the air suspension on the 600 is down. Should be fun watching that get unloaded off the truck.
well, apparently the owner doesnt give a damn, and those cars are tougher than what you credit them for, thats why classic cars rock