It’s been quite a while since I started wanting to take on the care and rehab of a classic car. It has finally come to pass and I want to chronicle the experience here. While researching what car to buy and what I’d have to do to get it running and looking the way it should from various states of distress I found that there was a lot of basic information missing and I hope that by keeping track of  my progress that maybe I can fill in some gaps.

About two years ago I had a 1994 Mercedes C220 returned to me (I had loaned it out to help someone – no good dead goes unpunished) with a blown head gasket, torn seats and a myriad of other issues. I was faced with either sending it to the wrecker or restoring it. After looking at what was available in new and relatively new used cars I decided that there really wasn’t anything I wanted to replace it with. It’s now pretty much the perfect LA car. After having the top end of the engine rebuilt, the shocks, steering systems and bushings renewed, the brakes and wheels came next. C36 rims and brakes front and rear were installed then the interior was replaced with an all black leather interior from a C43.

It now has amazing stopping power, a really comfortable interior and I think makes a hell of a lot better environmental sense to fix a car up than to buy a Prius.

The first place that I discovered was the Mercedes Classic Center in Irvine and that just about everything for classic Mercedes Benz cars was available  through them. Having a resource like that in my backyard would surely be of benefit. When the 250SE crossed my path earlier this summer I decided that it would be the perfect candidate for my first classic. I took delivery July 20 of this year.

Since I’ve never restored a classic before I’m hoping that a few people will follow my postings here and help point me in the right direction. Hopefully this will also turn out to be helpful to someone else as well.