Use it or lose it!

The garage is for parking, not storing your car!

Back in 1993 (nine years ago at the time or this writing), Bernard purchased a breathtakingly gorgeous, early Mercedes Benz 380SL Roadster, ostensibly as his "daily driver." He was searching faithfully for the "right" car and finally settled on a low-mileage, original-paint example that he acquired from the original Lady owner in Beverly Hills.

Being a perfectionist, Bernard proceeded to eliminate all the evident (and even some not-so-evident) flaws he could find on his new toy. After a short time, the SL almost looked like it had just been driven off the showroom floor. He all but stopped using the car, though, since it was so pretty and he wanted to make sure it would remain without a rock chip or supermarket parking lot ding. The car was permanently parked in his garage, driven only a few times a year, mainly to the local Starbucks and back.

Mistake!

In 1994, the horrible Northridge earthquake hit Los Angeles. During all the shaking, Bernard's equally preserved motorcycle, parked next to the SL in the garage, was catapulted into the SL's passenger door. He had almost never driven his car and now he had to fix it! Of course, an all-metal finish and partial re-paint was done to the highest standards by Porsche guru Pino, cost being no object.

A year later, Bernard, while house-sitting in the desert near Palm Springs, spent his summer vacation cleaning the underside of his prized possession--literally--with a toothbrush. Although the place was equipped with a hoist and a steam cleaner, it took him a good week-and-a-half until he was 'almost' satisfied with the result.

Then, he installed special European headlight inserts--not the one everyone has, mind you--but Bosch units that had to be ordered and assembled piece by piece. He always documents improvements photographically, and he's proud to point out that he had polished and waxed the area behind the headlights before re-assembly.

Over the next few years, he got more and more carried away, babying this car. He installed very rare factory heated leather seats (with relais, switches, and wood-modification a 2-week affair!), a factory Kindersitz rear bench in leather (also imported from Germany), ultra-expensive Campagnolo magnesium wheels, a burlwood kit (hey, you only have to completely take apart the dashboard to perform this operation!), Michelin redline tires, a Nardi steering wheel, and other options, too numerous to mention.

Bernard kept an immaculate log of all his expenses on file. In the end, his total investment on this relatively mundane SL had reached $38,000.00. He still loved his car, but he just did not have the heart to drive it very often. The car had covered less than 500 annual miles during his ownership.

How did this story end?
After almost a decade of ownership, a moment of financial reality hit him. Afterward, he realized that he had lost interest in the car and would have to sell it for market value. Since at the time my wife expressed her desire to drive an R107-SL, Bernard sold the car--for about half his total investment--to me. The future ex-wife chauffeurs our little daughter to Kindergarten in a Benz now. The canvas top (that was special-ordered and lovingly installed just a few months ago) has not been up since early June, and the whole family enjoys cruising around Santa Barbara in this brilliant automobile. The car may have acquired a couple of door edge nicks already; however, the pleasure of driving a fine convertible every day is unparalleled.

As for Bernard, having learned his lesson, he purchased "Keefer," an old VW Bug, a wonderfully patinated California black plate car from an old lady in Santa Barbara, a car that he could drive without having to worry about little imperfections. Now, nine months later, he has probably driven his new toy less than 1,800 miles, and the computer file already totals three times his original investment!
Guess some day my daughter is going to drive a red Über-Volkswagen to college . . .