Lloyd's of High Point is the Best Place on Earth 

"Jack Does Cars" (jackdoescars) 01/17/2016 at 21:36 • Filed to: mercedes

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Upon entering Lloyd’s of High Point, a classic Mercedes specialist and dealership, conveniently located in the The Woods, you are immediately greeted with this stunning China Blue 1979 Mercedes 300SD. And that is when you know you will be in for a treat.

You then look to the left of the 300SD to see a moderately sized line of other classic, diesel, Benzes. Starting off the list is a beige 1978 240D with a blue fender, a black 1979 240D with more bondo than actual steel, a different shade of blue 300SD, and the car I was there to see: a black 1991 300D.

Overall, this diesel is in good shape, with its 2.5 liter, 5-cylinder turbo running perfectly. The exterior is in really good shape, as is the interior. The interior did smell a bit weird, and the wood trim was cracking a bit, though.

Next to that 300D, was a very classy 1979 300SD. As you can see, the passenger window is stuck half-way up, and that means the interior has not fared well. Leaves. Sticks. Mildew. Insects. Various other things that are considered, “organic,” and, “earth.” That’s what mostly makes up the interior of this vehicle.

Ah yes, the two 240D’s. These were interesting group. The beige one looked to be in immaculate condition, other than it’s blue fender. I did not get a photo of the fender, because I just looked the car over and did not really pay much attention to it. I was just really bummed to see it that way.

Then there was the black 240D. Like I already said, there is probably more bondo than actual metal on this car, and that is truly a shame. At some point, someone added a blue and white pinstripe down the side, and then smoked approximately 14,000 cigarettes in it per week. Needless to say, it did not have the World’s Most Pleasant Odor attached to it, but what was I expecting for a $1,500 Benz...

You see this white 1986 W124 300E? Looks normal, right? Just your normal, run of the mi-WRONG:

This one has a five speed manual transmission. 1986 was the only year Mercedes imported a manual W124 to the U.S, as it was slated to compete directly with the E28 BMW 535i. Sadly, American buyers thought that Mercedes was too much of a, “luxury,” brand rather than a, “performance,” brand, and the manual 300E was discontinued for the 1987 model year. According to Lloyd, the owner of Lloyd’s of High Point, Mercedes only managed to sell less than 800 of the three pedal cars in that year.

Speaking of extremely rare U.S bound Mercedes, I bring you the final hurrah of the W201 chassis: The 1993 Mercedes-Benz 190E Sportline. This particular example is number 499 of 700, making the Sportline the rarest model to ride on the W201 chassis. It was supposed to commemorate the end of 190E production, by featuring things which no other Mercedes has ever had.

It was the first Mercedes to include carbon fiber instead of wood, it was the first non-performance oriented Mercedes with Recaro seats to be sold in the U.S, and some were even sold with the dogleg manual transmission from the Cosworth. This particular example was an automatic. It was really cool to see such a rare version of a (at one time) really common car. They built almost three million of the things.

This 1991 300CE was probably the cleanest car on the entire property. I mean, it only has 39,000 miles on it. The paint still shined in the dim lit garage, the semi-electronic seatbelts worked with zero fault, and this car was simply in really good shape. The pillarless design of the W124 coupe is simply stunning. A pillarless coupe is something that only Mercedes can pull off, and I think the W124 is towards the top of the list.

The W124 Coupe actually cost more than the 300SL back in 1991, which made it a slow seller. But why did it cost more than the two seat roadster of 90's legend? It was handbuilt. That’s right, every single one of these coupes was grafted together by the hands of perfectionist German coachbuilders. These had to be made strong, too, because AMG was turning them into the infamous AMG Hammer Coupe.

Lloyd had some wreck on his property, too. These were used as parts for his, quote, “real projects,” and will definitely never be seeing the road again.

Apparently, this 1998 E300 Diesel ran after it was wrecked, but when Lloyd started removing parts from the car, it stopped working. Obviously.

Lloyd’s of High Point has numerous rare Mercedes, all of which are actually for sale. Like I said towards the beginning of this article, I am seriously interested in that black 1991 300D. There is one car at Lloyd’s that is so rare, it does not officially exist.

Mercedes started manufacture of the W126 chassis in 1979, and in the U.S got the 380SEL until 1983. But Lloyd has a 380SEL that was not built in 1979. Nor was it built 1983. It was built in 1985. Wikipedia will say that Mercedes did, in fact, build the 380SEL in 1985. They’re right, Mercedes did, but from 1984-1985 sales were not intended for the U.S market. Therefore I will make list in attempt to explain it.

It is a grey market vehicle, which is unlikely because it has that, “This vehicle applies to all federal emissions regulations,” stickers that are only applied for U.S market vehicles. It also has the much loathed five MPH bumpers, which were not found on the Euro model.

The owner is lying, and this interesting vehicle was in fact built before 1983.

This was some sort of custom ordered vehicle, that someone spent too much money to get. If that is the case, one could easily get the more powerful 500SEL.

Whatever the case may be, and if this is in fact a one-of-one car that should not exist, then it is a goldmine. A Velvet Goldmine. Actually, that is not really the case.

Best of all, though, Lloyd wants $12,900 for it. $12,900 is not only a good price for a potentially one-of-a-kind luxury sedan, but it is also a really good price for a 46,000 mile W126 chassis Benz.

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To reiterate, Lloyd’s of High Point is probably the best place on Earth. If you are an old Mercedes enthusiast, you’ll love it. If you take artsy Instagram pictures, this place will totally appeal to your aesthetics. Even if you know nothing about cars, the iconic shape and style of 1980's Mercedes will interest you for hours on end.

While not every car in Lloyd’s inventory is in concours condition, 99% of them are not, that is okay. I was not expecting it to be. But I walked away happy. I walked away knowing that Lloyd, a passionate Mercedes mechanic who has been working on these cars since 1985, was not selling anything he wasn’t. Lloyd knew what he had, and was completely transparent about that. He shared an anecdote about how he brought home his daughter in that China Blue 300SD, at the top of this article. That same car is up for sale, at a mere sum of $7,900.

I felt like I actually trusted a car salesman, and I honestly don’t know how to feel about that. Because of that, I think that I am going to go back to Lloyd’s of High Point soon, and really check out that black 300D.

(To be continued, maybe)

roflcopter > Jack Does Cars 01/17/2016 at 21:41

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Don't the SDs have the square inner headlight thingies? The double rounds were just Ds right?

Jack Does Cars > roflcopter 01/17/2016 at 21:43

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U.S W116 chassis cars had double rounds too, because regulations.

dogisbadob > Jack Does Cars 01/17/2016 at 22:13

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this one is my favorite

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Jack Does Cars 01/17/2016 at 22:21

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You can thank MB for the 25 year import rule since they lobbied Congress for it since they lost money to the grey market.

Jack Does Cars > dogisbadob 01/17/2016 at 22:29

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It wasn’t so nice in real life. But they only want $3,900 for it.

Jack Does Cars > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 01/17/2016 at 22:31

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It was because of the W126, specifically. Americans were pissed that Benz didn’t offer the more powerful 500SEL in the U.S, but rather the less powerful 420SEL (blaze it), so we started importing the 500. And that’s a very vague story on how Mercedes lost money to the grey market.

Frenchlicker > Jack Does Cars 01/17/2016 at 22:31

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Before your description I want it. Still want it but I'm not that brave.

Jack Does Cars > Frenchlicker 01/17/2016 at 22:55

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The other blue W116 is far, far nicer. I’m not sure which shade of blue this more rough 300SD is, but I prefer it.

I like that China Blue 300SD so much, I made it my wallpaper:

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Jack Does Cars 01/17/2016 at 22:55

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I like to call the 420 “the hitler blazer it” model. I don’t know if BMW lobbied congress but I know they didn’t bring the turbo 745i e23 to the us officially.

Jack Does Cars > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 01/17/2016 at 22:59

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They also didn’t bring the E21 323i here officially, nor did we get a lot of the 6-Series models we see for sale on Craigslist, but we have a bunch of those.

mattoverdrive > Jack Does Cars 01/18/2016 at 00:10

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Yay!!! I love it. I literally just bought a 1979 300D yesterday for $100.

AndyG_UK > Jack Does Cars 01/18/2016 at 04:31

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My next door neighbour runs a Mercedes specialist, tends to service and repair mostly older models like these but does dabble in the newer ones more these days, they also restore cars for customers and sometimes they buy ones to restore and sell themselves. He’s always coming home in cool old Mercs of varying condition, I should start taking pics of the cooler ones I guess!

Cé hé sin > roflcopter 01/18/2016 at 04:46

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The rest of us got oblong lights matching the grey shape around the lights but North America always got four round lights.

Frenchlicker > Jack Does Cars 01/18/2016 at 06:07

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There’s just there's just something about dark blue cars for me.

Jack Does Cars > mattoverdrive 01/18/2016 at 07:54

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How...

mattoverdrive > Jack Does Cars 01/18/2016 at 08:49

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It was sitting in a guys yard for a few years, and he was finally getting around to hauling it off. The junk yard was only going to give him $75, so for a hundred he hauled it to my house instead. I’m told it ran, but it didn’t have a battery so I couldn't verify that. I’m sure it’ll cost me quite a bit more in the long run.

Evan Corey > Jack Does Cars 01/18/2016 at 09:19

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I sold them my 1982 240D. It was blue with a blue interior and a stick shift. Slow but quite nice. There is a bio-diesel seller in Greensboro too.

Jack Does Cars > mattoverdrive 01/18/2016 at 09:45

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Nonetheless, its a great buy.

Jack Does Cars > Evan Corey 01/18/2016 at 21:36

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A whopping 65 hp, the 240D. So you sold a car to Lloyd, but would you buy one from him?

Justin T. Westbrook > Jack Does Cars 01/19/2016 at 00:47

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Sadly, American buyers thought that Mercedes was too much of a, “luxury,” brand rather than a, “performance,” brand, and the manual 300E was discontinued for the 1987 model year.

Did you start running out of breath, or

Jack Does Cars > Justin T. Westbrook 01/19/2016 at 08:47

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Probably. I actually don’t remember writing that.

functionoverfashion > Jack Does Cars 01/20/2016 at 21:05

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I took a nice 1979 300D in a similar shade of light blue - perhaps even the same “China Blue?” - to prom in high school. It was awesome.

Jack Does Cars > functionoverfashion 01/20/2016 at 21:17

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I want one so bad.