Car Thread

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Far better looking, though perhaps with a family resemblance .

[webenda]

I asked about the idea of a Mercedes Benz pick-up truck, today, at the dealership. I was assured that not a single one of them had come ashore in the USA, as yet.

Thank you, Murph. At least they seemed to know what you were talking about.

[webenda]

Is that another concept car?
I don't remember anything like that.

It was created by using a 1948 Ford COE cab and a pickup box from a 1947 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up. It is sitting on a late model 1 ton GMC chassis. It has 4 wheel disc brakes. Power steering. All new front end parts. The engine is a rebuilt 350 with after market heads and a slight cam. It will spin the duallys !!. The trans is a rebuilt 200r4 overdrive 4 speed automatic. The rear is a 14 bolt posi with 3.73 gears. It has air ride on the back and springs on the front. It also has a gooseneck 5th wheel connection built into the bed.

[webenda]

It may be "cooler than anything else at Home Depot"--note that the air conditioning
is in full "cool mode" (boy! do I miss those operating wing vent windows!!), but
can you really haul full sheets of plywood in it?? That bed looks slightly short...

The bed of the pickup box is 87 inches long and 50 inches wide. It would have hauled full sheets of plywood with the tailgate down if the dualies hadn't required a custom wheel well intrusion into the box.

[Roy]

On the showroom floor, today, they did have an exceptional looking (black) van-type vehicle (side wide-opening doors) all of which appeared quite stylish, attractive, and roomy, as well as pretty blingy, with seats for 7 passengers, uncramped. It seemed to have some roof height added to its overall profile. It was possessed of quite a presence.

Is this what we're talking? It's called the Sprinter:

[webenda]

Twins

[webenda]

Or, maybe you would like one with the Freightliner grill?

Freightliner.jpg (230.66 KiB) Viewed 4185 times

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I'm not entirely sure, Roy. What I saw (for a few moments) seemed lower and a bit less commercial looking, a little more family-oriented in atmosphere. That may be it, or very close to what I took note of Friday.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I asked about the idea of a Mercedes Benz pick-up truck, today, at the dealership. I was assured that not a single one of them had come ashore in the USA, as yet.

Thank you, Murph. At least they seemed to know what you were talking about.

Yes, and there were two of them, females, at the greeting desk inside the front door, and they seemed to instantly know what I meant. There was no glazed-over look accompanied by a "Huh?" More of an, "Oh, yes, we heard about them," kind of response. They just hadn't seen a single one of them, yet, but didn't seem sure they ever would. I didn't pursue the topic further, having been greeted , then, by a manager who seemed very desirous of being of service.

P.S. Later, I did get to see a Maybach, my first ever in-person. The interior, clearly the most serious outreach to the customer/potential driver or passenger, was the draw, which was like a whole sensual massage to the senses, especially of of sight, touch, with a good sized dollop of whipped-cream confection oozing over every inch and human available nearby or inside. Sooooooooooo far out-of-my-league I'd have to win a lottery - and win big - to even consider it (being displayed as it was near the $100,000 - $200,000 row.) And I'm not sure, even at that, I would ever buy such a gem, considering the mental cases out on the roads just awaitin' to commit mayhem.

AND, man-o-man, talk about "money talks and bs walks," well, facing a broad series of tall glass doors, near where I was sitting, sat a low and unusually (it seemed to me) wide (wider than an "S" sitting next to it,) 2-seater roadster, with a dull/matte pewter-like finish, into which a salesman ensconced himself behind the steering wheel, apparently for the chin-in-hand, jeans-dressed gentleman's benefit standing - hovering - alongside, and STARTED IT UP, causing a loud, deep-throated, low-voiced roar (!!!) Started it up in the showroom, something I had never witnessed before. THEN, a bank of assistants collected around the car and doors, opened them, cleared away vehicles parked immediately outside the doors, and invited the obviously very seriously interested Liam Neeson-looking customer into the passenger's seat, and carefully drove off!!!!!!! When I said (corny peasant that I can be when inspired sufficiently ) to one of the departing assistants, "That car screams - no, roars - money," he responded with, "Oh, that roar is adjustable. You can change it from as loud as you want it to however muted you might like it. Some communities don't allow such a loud roar." The roar was adjustable from a switch on the dashboard!!!!
WOWOWOWee. (I discontinued the bs and walked, since I did not have the money to talk further about such a vehicle.)

[Mitch]

The trans is a rebuilt 200r4 overdrive 4 speed automatic. The rear is a 14 bolt posi with 3.73 gears.

I can't see the 200R4 tranny standing up behind a pumped up 350 feedin' the big 14 bolt rearend. If it's overdrive, it's most likely the 700R4. I remember the days with the metric 200R4 transmission. They came behind 4 cylinders and smaller V6s, and car hauling truckers said that they could barely back them uphill over the racks when unloading. Even the 700R4 had it's woes, but was widely used.

[Mitch]

The Dodge Sprinters were a Mercedes product when Daimler owned Chrysler. Sprinter is gone, and we have the Fiat line of the same type of vehicle. Freightliner and Mercedes rigs are the same vehicle, built by Daimler.

[Roy]

Murph, They're hard to see, but the black Sprinter has large side windows. Another line of Mercedes Benz vans is the Metris:

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Yes! That's the one - the Metris - I saw in-person, Roy. Good researching! Apparently, you understood what I meant by saying that what I had seen seemed more family-oriented and less commercial. Good mind! The upholstery is what I recall seeing and touching, too, plus that full third rear-seat. What I had not recalled with certainty was the sliding door, because the vehicle stood with it open, so I didn't take particular note.

I do, also, remember that aggressive cup/bottle holder arrangement, with its open storage unit underneath it, both at the center of that dashboard, something my new GLE does not sport, fortunately. I'm glad. I don't do much slurping and/or munching while driving, even on extended trips; maybe the occasional Ensure.

I'm not "into" vans, though some might make a good case for saying my current interest in SUV's in pretty darn close to that family, but this Metris I saw seemed a very pleasant version of such a vehicle, one that would please many a housewife or househubby. The whole thing had an air of class to it, in my opinion.
Murph

[MurphOnMillerAve]

What were your favorite cars you ever owned?
Mine were, in chronological order, ignoring plenty of cars among them:
58 Cadillac convertible (the best car ever = plenty of room for 10 of us high-schoolers)
72 Gran Prix
79 Cadillac Seville
84 Trans Am
08 BMW 530
'12 GLK

What's been in your garage, entrusted with your life?

[Roy]

I made this Hot Wheels mod a few years ago. It's a 1914 Model T Runabout:

MT1a1.jpg (40.12 KiB) Viewed 4095 times