First, the insanity. I bought this car off eBay. Yup. What a dope, you say. Well, you're right. I have owned a few cars over the years, and I have helped several people shop for autos, new and old. I broke every rule in car shopping and let my heart, and not my head, make this purchase. I thought the eBay listing was fair and complete, and the pictures seemed to substantiate that this was a very good example of Mercedes' Grosser.

And so, with the pressing of the enter key, I was the owner of this car, with 29 seconds to spare before the auction ended. I was a very happy guy, for the moment...

The seller, a car dealer in northern New Jersey, had listed the car as running and driveable. Great - I'll just have a friend drive me up and we'll pick it up. I fired off an email to the dealer to get the ball rolling. Remember, I have had no communications with the seller to this point.

About an hour later, 'Chuck' calls me from the dealership to get my payment info and to arrange for the pickup. No problem, I say, I'll come up on Friday and drive it home. Uh, that's going to be a problem, says Chuck. The left rear airbag blew out during a test drive earlier in the week - the car isn't driveable.

Airbag? What's an airbag?

I know, you're saying, 'Jeez - this guy's a real idiot... he didn't even personally inspect the car, and he doesn't know about the mechanics of the vehicle.' And you'd be right. Buyer's remorse kicked in real fast. But my luck was about to change.

Okay, I've just sunk (an apt term when talking about a 600) close to what I made my first year out of college in a car that can't be driven and can't be taken to the local Pep Boys for service (or even a Mercedes dealer, for that matter - more on that later). I've got to find a mechanic and a way to get it from point A to point B, wherever that may be.

Lucky break #1: I call Gary Goodman of Goodman Radio for advice. I've known Gary for twenty years. In fact, that silver 600 that I saw in 1980 was at his shop. Over the years I spent a good fortune with Gary and, according to Rich, his chief installer, I am well beyond being a customer (that's good, right?). More to the point, Gary knows a lot about rare and expensive cars. He suggests that I call a friend who works at an exotic car dealership, which I do. I ask the friend, "who can work on Mercedes 600?".

"Karl Middlehauve," is the reply...