What Will The Neighbors Say?: 1979 Mercedes 450SL vs 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Good morning! We’re kicking off this week with a pair of cars that are sure to get your neighbors asking questions when they see them parked in your driveway. Which one causes less embarrassment? That will be up to you.

We ended Friday’s experiment with an Isuzu and an Oldsmobile, and I kind of figured that you all wouldn’t go for that Calais. It put up a better fight than I was afraid it would, though, getting almost 40 percent of the vote. But even with a stickshift, there’s no way a forty-year-old GM car with no keys was going to win. I knew that. But I liked it, so I had to feature it.

Between those two, for me, it would come down to intended usage. As things are right now, all I’d be looking for is a toy, something to putter around with and drive to the beach on nice days, and the Amigo is the obvious choice for that. But if I needed a cheap beater just to get back and forth to work, I’d head straight for the Olds. Basic, reliable, easy to get parts for, and invisible to nearly everyone – that’s what I want in a daily driver.

Now then: The make, model, color, age, or condition of the car you choose to drive shouldn’t matter to anyone, but of course it does. We all judge people on their vehicles, and us car folks are probably worse about it than others. But those of us with a thing for cheap, old, weird cars sometimes have the opposite problem; we get self-conscious about our hoopties, and sometimes feel like we have to justify them – hence the popularity of “Don’t Laugh, It’s Paid For” bumper stickers.

The truth is that most of our cheap old cars probably fly under the radar of the general population, at least if they’re in presentable condition and not obnoxious. Neighbors can and do complain about certain cars being in driveways, but usually that has more to do with the neighbor than the car. Our two choices today, however, might raise some eyebrows in even the most tolerant of neighborhoods. Let’s take a look.

1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SL – $3,900

Engine/drivetrain: 4.5-liter overhead cam V8, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Culver City, CA

Odometer reading: 171,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives “pretty decent”

Almost no car in the world drops in both monetary value and cachet as quickly as a sporty Mercedes. New, they’re status symbols, sexy, state-of-the-art cars to be seen in. After a few years and a couple of owners, however, the bloom fades from the rose quickly, and they start to seem – I hesitate to say “trashy,” but yeah, kinda. Think of it this way: Jennifer Hart drove a Mercedes SL, but so did Ordell Robbie.

R107-chassis SLs have been bargains for a lot of years, but the value of nice ones has started climbing. Not-so-nice ones are still pretty cheap, but they are not without a certain stigma. I think it’s the modifications that work against it; the ground effects, AMG badge, lowered ride height, and aftermarket wheels just make it look less like the car of someone who solves crimes and more like the car of someone who commits them. But the good news is that these are stout, well-built cars, and there’s nothing here that can’t be undone.

It looks pretty good inside, and the aftermarket steering wheel is actually a big improvement over the ugly stock Mercedes wheel. The dashboard wears one of those carpet toupees, and I’m sure it’s hiding at least a few cracks. The other question is the condition of the soft top; remember, the SL is a convertible.

It could use some paint, especially on the hood. It’s too bad someone painted it flat black; if it were still burgundy and just faded, you could probably get away with calling it “patina.” As it is, I think a paint job is eventually in order. I think it’s strange that someone went to the trouble of installing Euro-style composite lights, and those weird ground effects, but left the gigantic 5 MPH battering-ram bumpers in place.

2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse – $3,700

Engine/drivetrain: 2.4-liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Hayward, CA

Odometer reading: 170,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Whenever a new version of a beloved car comes out, there are bound to be complaints. Even if the new generation turns out to be a vast improvement, it has to prove itself to the faithful who love the previous version. Sometimes, however, the criticism of the new car is valid, especially when it comes to size and weight. Such is the case with the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The original was everyone’s darling, the second generation became a movie star, and after that it got fat and mushy. This fourth-generation Eclipse weighs something like seven hundred pounds more than an equivalent first-generation would have.

The standard engine in this final generation of Eclipse was a 2.4 liter four with Mitsubishi’s MIVEC variable valve timing system. You could get it with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic; sadly this one has the latter. It runs and drives well, the seller says, and everything works fine. It just completed both a smog inspection and a road trip to Reno, both of which speak highly of its mechanical condition. It does have a salvage title, from that little bonk on the nose. It doesn’t take much to total a car when it gets this cheap.

It has held up well over the course of 170,000 miles, and the seller says the air conditioning and heat both work well. My biggest problem with the Eclipse is that it feels a little dark and cave-like inside. The beltline is so high, and the windows are so small, that it feels smaller than it is inside.

We do, of course, have to mention the color. Mitsubishi has made some strange decisions, but never once did it offer the Eclipse in Pepto-Bismol pink. It’s a wrap, and the paint underneath is a far more subdued burgundy. You could remove the wrap, I suppose, or you could just embrace it.

You shouldn’t care what the neighbors think of your car, of course. But there are limits to what one is willing to explain. One of these used to be a respectable car until someone made a bunch of tacky modifications to it, and the other would blend into the scenery if it weren’t the color of Hubba Bubba. Either one can be put to rights, but in the meantime, you’d have to park it in your driveway as it is. Which one would you rather see out the window every morning?

(Image credits: sellers)