Yer, it's surely an interesting beastie. Almost a 'collectable classic', so worth hanging on to. At some point I'll relegate it to 'backup car' status, on Historical Vehicle Permit [allows up to 90 days use per year in Vic], rather than full rego as it is now.
One thing about it, though; it does demand an owner with a fairly high end skill set, to carry out the maintenance/repairs and parts sourcing for the 'minor system' faults. That, or deepish pockets, and access to a really proficient independent Merc workshop.
Things like rubber/plastic parts that that have gone brittle and failed; electronics developing 'dry joints'; instrument repairs [odometer internal gear failure in this case; the clock wasn't running, but suddenly decided to come back to life one day!]; the list goes on...
The major stuff like the driveline is pretty bulletproof on this model [touches wood as he says this] - it has the 12V SOHC engine.
The early versions of the later 24V DOHC 3L I6 engine had a propensity for dropping valve guides, apparently.
