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Love it!!! I have seen silver with grey tops and it looks fantastic. I believe it is somewhat rare. I have a black top. Our silver paint is similar but mine is a little more sparkly. I like that your car is grey on grey on grey, that is rare. Did you buy it new?
And yes, I believe the cheapening of MB around that era included ax-ing the excellent Bose sound systems for crap, off-the-shelf Harmon-Kardon. The Mercedes with the most modern Bose stereos (before the switch) absolutely thumped. The first time I put a rap CD on in a W140 (I was like 14) I swore there was a system in it. I also have a 19 speaker ML system as well in one of my cars, yes it has more fancy and spatial surround sound but it just doesn't "knock" the way the Bose does, doesn't have the punch even though it's 450 watts. I prefer the MB Bose stereo.
Lots of people hate Bose, or hate on it. I have always loved Bose and have been a customer for life.
W140 or W126 your opinion?
And oh, LS430 for life. Maybe not as special but equals or surpasses S-class of the era car for car.. not even close. It's basically a Japanese W140. I haven't even put a grand into repairs into it in 20 years. LS is a disgrace now.
My SL I got in 2021 from a gent that owned it since 2003, he owns his own auto repair shop in one of the wealthiest zip codes of NY. The first owner lives 5 miles away from me and the car came from a dealership that I get parts from, from time to time, also 6 miles away. So in a way the car came back home.
w140 vs w126? 126 design is timeless and elegant. w140 is a brute and just massive in proportions which does not mean its prettier. I think 126 is a better design but as a car w140 is obviously better and newer. Bruno Saccos design language will always be dear to me.
I had a 08 LS460 I specifically chose for ML sound, it was fantastic. My fathers LS430 ML is not even half as good. I am thinking of going back to the last year of LS460 after my S550.
Fathers LS430 drives like its on a cloud. Just a great sedan all around and yes, design is a copy of a w140.
Not a fan of a LS500. Don't like the design and dont like the twin turbo v6. The v6 will never match the reliability of a Lexus V8, which was the best in the industry. I hope they fix the design and LS line continues, although I doubt a v8 will ever come back, sadly. This makes a LS460 the LS to get if you plan on keeping it for a long time. I think that's where the pinnacle of luxury is anyhow and I dont need any more tech than that.
Last edited by Dave 92 LSC; 04-01-2024 at 05:08 PM..
My SL I got in 2021 from a gent that owned it since 2003, he owns his own auto repair shop in one of the wealthiest zip codes of NY. The first owner lives 5 miles away from me and the car came from a dealership that I get parts from, from time to time, also 6 miles away. So in a way the car came back home.
Wowww. So obviously you did your due diligence and got a gem. How many miles?
I was looking for a Silver Arrow for at least 10 years and by then had the money to buy it outright about a year ago.
The stars aligned for me as well, it was a one owner car from Chattanooga which is not far from me. The car was serviced religiously by MB, only 58k miles and already on second set of OEM rotors and OEM top hydraulics. It truly is a 9.5/10 condition. It still blows my mind the condition it's in, and how it drives so perfectly. The salesman was such a good guy, (that dealer had NO IDEA what they had) he held it for me because I was first. They had to repaint a teeny splotch on the bumper so the car was "coming soon" for a while and there were no pics. As soon as it went live he called me and I was down there. The car had been live just a morning and there were 3 couples in line praying I would hate the car, and some guy called from San Diego trying to buy it sight unseen. The salesman could have easily put it into a bidding war and made an absolute fortune but chose integrity and honesty over (lots of) money. So the stereotype that all car salesmen are scum isn't true, of course.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave 92 LSC
w140 vs w126? 126 design is timeless and elegant. w140 is a brute and just massive in proportions which does not mean its prettier. I think 126 is a better design but as a car w140 is obviously better and newer. Bruno Saccos design language will always be dear to me.
I love them both. But W140 holds a special place in my heart. A black W140 S500, nothing is it's equal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave 92 LSC
I had a 08 LS460 I specifically chose for ML sound, it was fantastic. My fathers LS430 ML is not even half as good. I am thinking of going back to the last year of LS460 after my S550.
LS430 ML is TERRIBLE. I have the base Pioneer which is wayyy better. It's not bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave 92 LSC
Fathers LS430 drives like its on a cloud. Just a great sedan all around and yes, design is a copy of a w140.
It's aged really well and the facelifted ones on those Lexus 5 spoke rims still look great. I still can't emphasize how stupid reliable the car is. Jump our R129s, you risk frying the whole car, at least the top. I have jumped my LS430 back and forward, sparks have flown. Gauges and everything electronic went haywire. Restarted the car and all fine, lol this was YEARS ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave 92 LSC
Not a fan of a LS500. Don't like the design and dont like the twin turbo v6. The v6 will never match the reliability of a Lexus V8, which was the best in the industry. I hope they fix the design and LS line continues, although I doubt a v8 will ever come back, sadly. This makes a LS460 the LS to get if you plan on keeping it for a long time. I think that's where the pinnacle of luxury is anyhow and I dont need any more tech than that.
It's a disgrace. Less rear legroom than the ES. I hit my head getting in and I'm average height. That V6 is awful, I've been in one. Lexus LS always held the crown (especially the UZ) as having the world's smoothest V8. Like I said, a disgrace. A 2017 LS460 is a damn fine automobile but my 430 has been with me for so long, it's like a family member. It just drives and drives the exact same, never changes, never breaks...always the same silky luxury.
Wowww. So obviously you did your due diligence and got a gem. How many miles?
I was looking for a Silver Arrow for at least 10 years and by then had the money to buy it outright about a year ago.
The stars aligned for me as well, it was a one owner car from Chattanooga which is not far from me. The car was serviced religiously by MB, only 58k miles and already on second set of OEM rotors and OEM top hydraulics. It truly is a 9.5/10 condition. It still blows my mind the condition it's in, and how it drives so perfectly. The salesman was such a good guy, (that dealer had NO IDEA what they had) he held it for me because I was first. They had to repaint a teeny splotch on the bumper so the car was "coming soon" for a while and there were no pics. As soon as it went live he called me and I was down there. The car had been live just a morning and there were 3 couples in line praying I would hate the car, and some guy called from San Diego trying to buy it sight unseen. The salesman could have easily put it into a bidding war and made an absolute fortune but chose integrity and honesty over (lots of) money. So the stereotype that all car salesmen are scum isn't true, of course.
I love them both. But W140 holds a special place in my heart. A black W140 S500, nothing is it's equal.
LS430 ML is TERRIBLE. I have the base Pioneer which is wayyy better. It's not bad.
It's aged really well and the facelifted ones on those Lexus 5 spoke rims still look great. I still can't emphasize how stupid reliable the car is. Jump our R129s, you risk frying the whole car, at least the top. I have jumped my LS430 back and forward, sparks have flown. Gauges and everything electronic went haywire. Restarted the car and all fine, lol this was YEARS ago.
It's a disgrace. Less rear legroom than the ES. I hit my head getting in and I'm average height. That V6 is awful, I've been in one. Lexus LS always held the crown (especially the UZ) as having the world's smoothest V8. Like I said, a disgrace. A 2017 LS460 is a damn fine automobile but my 430 has been with me for so long, it's like a family member. It just drives and drives the exact same, never changes, never breaks...always the same silky luxury.
My SL I got with 133k. 141 now. It was always garaged and looks great. Mechanic owned.
Yep, at some point selling the LS430 makes no sense . It’s so reliable and good at what it does that every spare car should be like that.
Yep, at some point selling the LS430 makes no sense . It’s so reliable and good at what it does that every spare car should be like that.
It just goes down the road like such a boss. Ripping silk when you gun the V8. More luxurious than most luxury cars today in terms of silence and smoothness, silkiness. So reliable it's stupid. People around here hang onto them too, they're all around on the roads.
Is it just me, that I get the sense cruising isn't totally dead? There are still classic car meetups I hear about in the Chicago area(more in the suburbs though), in summer months. And certain summer festivals like Retro on Roscoe and Eli's Cheesecake Festival, still encourage classic car owners to show off their cars at their events.
I get the sense while it's less talked about today, cruising still exists. Can't forget the Chicago Scottish Fest in Itasca, shows off classic British cars. Finally, not to forget certain fast food stands like the Fox Lake/Ingleside(IL) area Dog and Suds still does classic car keetup events, and others out there.
Last edited by SonySegaTendo617; 04-14-2024 at 04:07 PM..
I started driving, and then dating in the mid 70's. I had a bike licensed on the road before I had a car, when dating, thats only fun for so long. Back then in town here with a population of about 15,000. Here's how cruisin' went. We would go to eat at some burger joint on the main road through town. The 2 fast food places at the time was Hardee's and McDonalds on the main blvd. You had to wait to turn into the places, cars were lined up just to turn in. Once you got to turn in you had to stop, cars were lined all the way around the building, waiting to pull out back onto the road, then the line around the place would move and other cars pulled in. I can tell you, this completely screwed up the drive-thru if you planned on using it to place an order. We pull in, park and I go in and get diner. Eat, sit there and watch the parade of cars go by. After about an hour of eating and hanging out there. You would see the same cars after every 20 minutes or so making the loop.
Down the road, the same thing happening at that joint. Loud music playing, same cars cruising back and forth, down the blvd to each burger joint. In between the two places was a huge shopping center with a large parking lot that was a hang out area, once you got tired of driving around the loop. Sometimes this did work if you were looking for some one. This went on for hours until about 10:00 pm or so. On occasion you would have a rot rod or a street rod mixed in with the crowd. I do remember one 4x4 lifted truck. The whole underside, axles, springs, everything was chromed.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We just had a beautiful weekend, sunny and unusually warm for April. I took the Nova out for a cruise Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There was no destination in mind, just drove along several wooded country roads, hit a stretch of freeway to take it up to 70, and back home. As usual, I got several thumbs-up, and turning heads. At one point a nice 1957 Ford Skyliner convertible was behind me, another time I passed a 1967 Corvette going the other way.
Cruising is dead because of traffic and over policing. When you're cruising even at or below the speed limits. The police just loves to pull over sports cars or any interesting cars. I recognize that the police are just a bunch of leeches, even when you obey the law they just love to pick out cars they think are meal tickets. So a lot of folks just don't like to cruise and resort to late night driving instead. I see a lot of hot cars more often at late nights or in empty roads rather than cruise around popular spots that may have a police presence scanning for violations.
Cruising is dead because of traffic and over policing. When you're cruising even at or below the speed limits. The police just loves to pull over sports cars or any interesting cars. I recognize that the police are just a bunch of leeches, even when you obey the law they just love to pick out cars they think are meal tickets. So a lot of folks just don't like to cruise and resort to late night driving instead. I see a lot of hot cars more often at late nights or in empty roads rather than cruise around popular spots that may have a police presence scanning for violations.
Yeah, that probably is why cruising occurs less today Due to owners of older cars getting very annoyed at cops trying to meet quotas, and ticket enough(to satisfy whatever police department they work for) speeders. I hope cruising doesn't totally die out.
Cruising is NOT dead. We cruised for 4 hours around yesterday in the R129.
That car never has any destinations, it just gets driven around lol.
So yeah, it's a cruiser.
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