jay

Stopped at a gas station tonight, and what pulls up to the stop light directly in front of me? A brand new coupe, black w/ blacked out windows, body kit (looked like Lorinser) and huge wheels (19" at least...), and a hell of a thump coming from the speakers.... At this point I am in love because I'm thinking..."Hey, there's my car....but with major add-ons" Not that I would do any of it..but still pretty nice....

The next thing I hear is what sounded like an air ram shooting off.... THE ENTIRE VEHICLE POPS UP BY AT LEAST A FOOT! Then the rear drops back in place, and then up again. For the entire red light, this guy (I presume it was a guy...see windows above) is dancing his brand new C230 coupe to the thump coming from his car....

OH MY GOD! my jaw dropped. The woman filling up next to me looked at my car and couldn't contain the laughter. I got the look of "well, buddy...what can yours do?"

Just then, I felt a sudden realization that I now own a car that every 19 year old is going to own in the next year or two....

Now, this is in no way a statement of me wanting to be better than anyone. OK? Just shock....that's all.....shock...

I'm going to bed.....

Jorel C320

Yup....Teenagers these days do make alot of money. Alot of money and no responsibilites means more money for my car. Now.... no girlfriend means even more money for my car!

I gotta see that car....i wonder if he's in this forum but might be to scared that he'll get flamed...hahahah

gab

what about basketball player Shaq 's silver S class with chrome rims and "superman shaq's" logo on the headlight

Fuzzo

i would have loved to see that coupe... i am facinated by the whole hydraulic thing in cars... that would have been a cool sight to see... if you own this car that jay is talking about. please post a pic or 2.....

and speaking of shaq...he has superman-ized all his rides.... it's crazy...

MB-BOB

1) Too much time
2) Too much money
3) Too little appreciation for either

I don't know. It must be me. When my dentist tells me I must learn to do it, I simply tell him there are three things in life I refuse to do, and "flossin" is one of them.

Bling, Bling!

KJ-TypeR

I find there is a prevailing attitude of ignorance when it comes to younger people who drive nicer cars.

Don't always assume that young people don't have responsibilities because they do. Maybe they've saved up their money a long time before they could buy their car.

Maybe they did really well in school and found a great job after graduating.

It's hard to know these things, that's why people shouldn't judge others before they know the truth.

If he worked hard for his money, he can do whatever he wants with it. You may or may not agree with what he did, but that doesn't mean that what he did was wrong. Just different.

MB-BOB

Trust me, there is no prevailing attitude of ignorance. After all:

I've been there... I've done it, too... And I remember it... So, ignorance is not part of the equation.

Further, I was not suggesting that there was anything wrong with this. However, experience will teach you with age to appreciate it another way... Not an appreciation that's better or worse than yours, just, as you say "different." That's all.

timorgan

I guess you could call me one of those teens then.

I started saving this January (2002), and I plan on purchasing a C320 this fall when the 2003 model comes out.

I've wanted a Mercedes as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I used to drive around Maisto MB models while playing Lego. Those Lego people probably never saw a nicer car! A two-tone Silver exterior/Charcoal interior 500SL. What a beauty!

Enough memories; back to the topic. I'll be paying for the car TOTALLY out of my own pocket. That means no help from parents, friends, illegal measures, etc. When I do buy it, the only modification I plan on doing is putting on some classic AMG Monoblock wheels. Any other modifications will be extremely subtle (ie. adding one subwoofer because I'm an audiofile). I too cringe when I see cars ruined by excessive add-ons. Most teenagers don't know a thing about elegance or class, which is what Mercedes' exude.

Enough of that.

As you can imagine, I'm peeing my pants with excitement in anticipation of my first car, my first Mercedes.

Tim

(It bothers me to see teenagers whose parents buy them a nice car, and then they totally don't appreciate it. I like the feeling that I'm paying for it on my own.)

BrabusCClass

Airbags on a C coupe....nice. Im jealous. I considered it but I would not be able to drive hard anymore. Hmm. Must be crazy thou.

Boo2

While I can relate to your situation, I don't fully agree. This too was my first car, that I bought with my own hard earned money. However, since I was younger I have always been exposed to nice cars. Appreciating a car depends on taste, and taste changes as you get experience. I used to be a street racer and loved fixing up cars, at the same time I was also able to appreciated my dad's cars and the fact that little or no modifications are needed to make them better. I still like fixing up car and will continue to do so. The trend seems to be that the more expensive the car, the less you have to do to fix it up. Unless you are spending more that 85k for a car, there is nothing less classy or less elegant about adding modifications in moderation. In the end, who cares it's your car

pixmation

My 2 cents...

Most of us like to be unique, be different from everyone else. It may be done in a subtle way or bright showy way, that's up to the individual's preference.

Some people think a car is a car is a car and as long as it takes you from point A to point B, then it's fine.

Some of us like to add mods just for the look. Some of us add mods to get more performance. Some of us do both in between. Some of us add every mods available on the market plus some more home made mods.

Some like it the more the merrier, some prefer less is more.

On being unique and different from others, the more expensive the car is, the fewer you will see the same car around. With less expensive cars, some may like to add more mods to it to differentiate his/her car from the others.

Personally, I like to add mods little by little over a longer period of time, it's kind of renew the feeling for the car time after time.

And finally someone like myself, type a whole bunch of words without really saying anything.

P.S. enjoy your car.

cbenz

Same here. I'm currently driving a 1987 Toyota Corolla and soon, a benzy for me.

MB-BOB

Thanks, Boo2, I think you've said what I've been stumbling around trying to say, and from a younger person's perspective, too.

Back in the day when I had ZERO money to spend on cars, no one had more pinstriping on their '70 Plym Duster than me. Looking back at it now, I simply have to laugh about my attitude for mods at the time, not to mention marvel at how tolerant my own dad was of me, as he held the pink slip.

Boo2

That's not really your fault, but more of what was "In style" at that time. I remeber when i was younger, my dad would pinstripe both my mom's and his cars.

revstriker

LOL!! I can picture zippin around in your duster!! You've come a long way, eh?

MB-BOB

Yea, Rev, that's the ticket. Except mine was even more distinctive than that Duster in your picture if you can believe that. I had pinstriping over every body crease, wheel arch, tailight recess, etc. Can't remember if I used 3 rolls, or 4.

Today, I'd have to be slightly drunk to be coaxed into talking in detail about the vinyl, leopard-skin pattern dashboard appliques. And those seat covers, whoa!!! (OOOPs, what am I doing? I'm not drunk... hush, Bob, hush!) Ahem!

See what I mean? Once you get over thirty (or pick any age) and realize that you really DON'T want to die before you get old, you start looking back at all the silly things you did when you were younger in a quest for individualism, and you just gotta laugh. For me it's impossible to do anything else. :o :o

MarkL

Hey MB-BOB, I had a decent amount of striping on my '70 Challenger as well!

I've now moved away from pinstriping, even the "subtle" kind that many cars have. My MB dealer was pinstriping every car that came in, and I had to "force" them to be sure their sub-contractor guy did not put them on my C240. IMO, sometimes a stripe will disrupt the subtle lines of a car. Also, many times, they pinstripe a car "straight" which takes attention away from any curves.

revstriker

I remember installing my vinyl and tweed seat covers in my 71 Chevelle to cover the ugly green ones. I then installed some used plush baby blue carpeting (someone in the neighborhood had remodeled thier living room, and I "scored" this wonderful addition to my ride) to cover the holes in the floorboards My favorite "mod" was a collection of earrings that I used to stick into the dash. All my "conquests"! :p

jay

Now that we've all traveled down memory lane..... I'm lucky to have seen that car....

I guess I am just as guilty here. I grew up in the 80's when 'mini trucks' were all that. I was one of the first in my town to take my 86 Mazda B2000 and slam it to the ground, and put anything I could in the back to made it louder..(speakers, mufflers, etc.) I had a friend who gave me a pair of "18" Cerwin Vega concert speakers from his dad's club, and we hooked them up to my cassette player (the last one I had..by the way) The 250 watt amp I had pushed those things louder than what should be allowed. Sounded like S**T, but it was LOUD! I had a snug top shell, with a carpet kit in the back, so those things fit perfectly. I had every 30 something guy filling up his truck at the gas station looking at me like what are you doing to that perfectly good truck

.... well you get the picture... I guess what comes around...goes around....

Jorel C320

I remember two years ago when there was a flood blocking my street. I thought my Supra could swim...guess not. After it died out on me....there goes my phone call to my dad at 3am. Fortunatly the Nissan Frontier was strong and high enough to pull me out. That's why i probably bought a Sporttrac.

NEWAYS....that guy with the airbags must be in this forum. He must have had some questions for us!

jay

Come out ...come out...we want to talk!!

jpgroom

There was a newspaper story here in Phoenix about some 50 year old lady that wanted to teach her grandson about respecting money and life. So she sold most of the land she owned to finance his stereo truck for the world championships. They had to put in special windows and the truck was not street legal but this kid won a pretty nice trophy. All it took was $176,000 and the ability to make a truck stereo as loud as a 747. What a waste of money, he could have had a used Ferrari, a used Rolls Royce, a new Harley, a condo, and a new pickup truck for the same $. Now he has a 2 year old show car with next to nothing for resale value. Am I missing something here or is there a point to doubling (or more) the price of a vehicle in custom options?

columbus

You don't UNDERSTAND! You've obviously never had any money to **** away...neither have I

benzomonterey

I think probably the whole point was you never know when your time is up. We all have something that drives and motivates us. His was the stereo. For you it would be the Ferrari, the rolls, harley and so forth.

Remember "Not all who wander are lost"

SoCal240/6

What the hell was the lesson about "respecting money and life" in that story?!?

That you should enjoy YOUR life by wasting OTHER PEOPLE's money??

I don't understand the "lesson" there.