OUR CLASSICS
SECs were the car of choice for F1 drivers Ayrton Senna and James Hunt not to mention discerning pop stars Ringo Starr and Tom Jones. It’s no surprise, then, that Richard is rather smitten with his…
1990 MERCEDES-BENZ 560 SEC
I drove a black Mercedes 500 SEC AMG belonging to a friend of mine who had more expensive toys than me back in 1984. I’ve wanted one ever since, smitten as I was by its elegant, svelte lines.
My dream came true in 2015, some 31 years later when I handed over £5500 to become the apprehensive new owner of a pearl grey metallic 560 SEC with an Orion grey interior.
All that grey could have made it look a bit bland but I’d already bought a beige interior from a breaker in Birkenhead and this would, I felt, add a bit of kerb appeal.
The car had covered a modest 120k miles in its 25-year life but there were rust bubbles and scabs warranting attention. Mark Plant, the breaker in Birkenhead who’d sold me the beige interior, also restores SECs so I drove ‘Prudence’ (so-named after its registration number) north to him a month after buying it.
Mark’s assessment wasn’t a surprise – it needed new front wings, sills, rear wheel arches and more. Rust at the base of the rear windscreen is one of the W126’s Achilles’ Heels, whether it’s a saloon or a coupé.
A previous owner had already repaired this area on Prudence but I’ve discovered that this can be a recurring issue; water seeps through the rear windscreen seal and gets trapped because these aren’t bonded screens.
Mark’s optimistic prediction of completing the job in a few weeks turned into months but I wasn’t particularly concerned because it was winter. What I was concerned over was whether a full re-spray might be needed because so many panels needed repair and painting.
To this day I don’t know how Mark did it but he re-sprayed everything except the roof for a bargain price. And it was a good job, too. Collecting Prudence in January 2016 I was relieved to see that the replacement cream beige interior had provided the opulence that I’d imagined and hoped for and headed back to London.
Then I thought I detected uneven running once we were up to the legal limit on the M56. Slowing down improved matters but my heart still sank – I’d expected my ‘new’ car to be perfect.
There’s a range of possible causes on V8s of this era, from leaking vacuum hoses to a worn fuel injection system. Exploring the cheaper possibilities yielded no improvement and I wasn’t convinced by the expensive options either because there was no certainty. Eve
