For a German car nerd like me, listings like these make me suddenly forget all of my other financial obligations and begin looking for cheap transporters heading northbound. I need another project car like I need multiple root canals, but that doesn’t stop me from getting punch-drunk on the prospect of rescuing a forgotten GT car like this sorely neglected Porsche 928. The listing is primarily about the seller’s large assortment of Mercedes -Benz projects, and I’m guessing we’re looking at the remains of a repair shop that kept a cache of parts cars on the property to address the inevitable NLA part. Find the listing here on craigslist where the seller declares he’d like to sell the cars in groups of three or more.
That’s an encouraging sign when the seller wants to sell in batches. See, he’s not trying to unload it all at once, which always strikes me as a guy who doesn’t really want to sell anything. But the desire to package a few cars up tells me he’ll wheel and deal to put together a deal for perhaps a decent car to restore; an excellent parts car; and perhaps a third, non-matching vehicle just to sweeten the deal and get another dead Euro-pile out of there. If it were me, I’d be grabbing the 928, a 300TE wagon, and one of the E28 BMW 5-Series sedans he has in the stash.
There’s the wagon and the 5-Series that would be coming home with me, but take note of the W126 in between the two with the European-market headlights. The seller doesn’t specifically call out if he has any gray market cars in his stash, but it’s almost impossible not to find some overseas market cars in a stash like this. The seller confirms both of his E28s are 535i models with the preferred 5-speed manual; the 928 is an automatic, which is pretty typical, but is also a bit of a bummer as a cheap 928 5-speed makes some sense but the auto ‘box is harder to justify. We don’t know whether the wagon is a gas or diesel model, but I’d assume it’s the former.
The collection does include some older models, like this very desirable 1965 220SE coupe. That’s another possible combination work exploring if you can get it cheap enough: buy the coupe in an effort to cover your costs for restoring one of the R107s if that’s more your bag, or if you wanted to put the 300CD turbodiesel back on the road (mentioned in the listing but no clear photos). Overall, there’s a lot of potential in this hidden Orlando, Florida lot, and if you’re a Mercedes-Benz fan, there’s enough potential here in the form of a project or a parts car that it’s likely worth checking out in person. Thanks to Barn Finds reader T.J. for the find.
I’m so glad this is across the country. I’m trying to say no but BarnFinds says what about this? I look at that stash and think of all the fond memories. Many of those cars I have owned and driven over the years. I did put a bug I a local Porsche shop owners ear for the euro 928 5-speed with pasha interior that’s languishing in his storage area. That would be fun.
928 is a beautiful car, but the troubles and expense of fixing them is legendary.
928 is the perfect car to admire in someone else’s garage.
Quite expensive I had a 77 frog eyed little bugger cost me an arm and a leg.
Jeff, sorry to hear you’re having dental problems. I’m sure your local endodontist needs an update to his swimming pool and will gladly help you. Now, I’m not a M-B specialist but didn’t the diesel models of the E-class cars have little horizontal slots on the passenger side quarter panels?
Those air-intake slots on the passenger front fender only appeared on W124s equipped with the turbo-diesel OM602 and OM603 and the non-turbo OM605 and OM606 engines, not on the other diesels nor any gas engined cars.
This treasure trove is a real barn find. Wish I could buy them all.
I believe this may be a German automotive paint test facility
These are German money shredders. All in one convenient spot!
There in Florida I can hear them rusting from here that’s to bad because I would love to get some of those Mercedes back on the road
Batches!?….BATCHES?!!….Oh Senor, we don need no stinking batches!
There was a lady whose brother had passed away
who had 20+ cars on his property.I offered to help her
sell them (for no compensation,just wanted to see them-
saved from the crusher).There were a number of ’80’s
Mercedes diesels there,all non-running.There were also
a number of other interesting cars there,but none in finished,
running condition.
When I asked her to give me a price on any of them,
she’d say “Make an offer,& we’ll let you know”.She didn’t
want anyone on the property,& didn’t want to put them on
craigslist,etc.
I finally gave up,as I hated relaying everything between parties.I have a bad feeling that they almost
all ended up getting crushed,as the property was to
be sold.
And I’ll bet her brother was always just about to “get them up and runnin’.”
Actually,her brother did really nice work on them,but it
appeared that he would work on one for a while,then go on
to another.
Seems as if there is a very fine line between having a “Collection” and a “Scrap Yard”. I’m sure the Florida climate has not been too kind to these cars.
I’d love a 450SLC.
I hope that some of these get saved.
All I can say is that there is a reason that each and every one of these cars was parked and it wan’t because the owner thought they would appreciate. My guess is that since the owner doesn’t mention titles, they were insurance cars with branded titles, if there are titles at all. I collect cars and love both BMWs and SLs, but restoring one of these as a first project or without a good car to use for reference is something I woul dnot wish on anyone or anyone’s wallet.