Southwestern Coupes With The Same Size Engine: 1970 Mercedes 250C vs 1981 Pontiac Phoenix

For our final Showdown of this short week, we’re taking a look at a couple of two-door coupes from out in the desert – one near Santa Fe, and one a stone’s throw from Mexico. They’re close to the same size, have the same engine displacement, and the same number of forward gears, but nothing else in common.

You weren’t too impressed by yesterday’s cars from Maine, and frankly, neither was I. I mean, I guess I’d take the truck, because I don’t know what I’d do with the Edge, but as trucks go, a Dodge with the 4.7 wouldn’t be my first choice. Or second, or ninth, frankly. But I had to commit to the single-syllable bit, and those are what I found. I’m sure you understand.

I was amused by the tales of rusty cars in Maine, though. It sounds a lot like Minnesota in that regard. I had cars in Minnesota that were so rotten they couldn’t be jacked up anymore, cars that I bought with weeds growing through the floor, even a car that I always had to keep between 1/4 and 1/2 tank of gas; any more would leak out, and any less was too little to reach the rusted-out pickup tube in the tank. The difference? Maine has vehicle inspections. In Minnesota, if there’s enough good metal left to bolt a license plate to, you can register it.

You’ll be happy to know there are no rust worries with today’s cars. “California car” has become synonymous with “no rust,” but the Golden State isn’t the only place to look for cars if you’re trying to avoid the tin worm. There’s a whole swath of the country, from west Texas all the way to the Central Valley in California, that doesn’t get much precipitation and therefore doesn’t salt the roads. Cars there get sun-baked, vinyl cracks and paint fades, but corrosion isn’t something anyone really thinks about. With that in mind, here are a pair of coupes, both with six-cylinder engines displacing 2.8 liters. Let’s see what you make of them.

1970 Mercedes-Benz 250C – $4,600

Engine/drivetrain: 2.8-liter OHC inline 6, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Santa Fe, NM

Odometer reading: 87,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Now this, right here, is a damn fine automobile. The W114/115 chassis cars from Mercedes were built during a time when the company didn’t give a shit about status, or styling trends, or gadgets; the only thing that mattered was making the best car possible. That single-minded pursuit of excellence is what made this car a status symbol; once upon a time, quality was cool. And this is the coolest version Mercedes ever built: the W115 pillarless hardtop coupe. Style may not have been this car’s primary focus, but boy, does it have it.

I was a little confused by this ad at first, because it’s listed as a 250, which should mean a 2.5-liter engine. But the seller clearly states, among many other details, that it’s a 2.8. I looked it up, and sure enough, in 1970 Mercedes used the larger 2.8-liter engine in US-market cars with 250 badges to offset the power loss from newly-required emissions controls. It’s fed by twin Zenith carburetors, and drives the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic. The seller tells us that this is a three-owner car, but the same mechanic has taken care of it its whole life. It runs and drives fine, and the seller is confident it could be driven daily.

It looks good inside, and we all know that M-B Tex upholstery will outlive us all. The seller does say that the dash top is cracked, which is no surprise in the southwestern sun, and it currently has a cover on it. I do like that it’s old enough to have the cool steering wheel with a ring for the horn button, and a column-mounted shifter. It feels more special than the black plastic steering wheel and gated floor-mounted shifter that was so ubiquitous in 1970s and 80s Benzes.

It has a couple of blemishes outside, but nothing major. I do kind of wish it were a more exciting color, but this taupe-gray suits it well. And since it’s a 1970 model, it escapes the indignity of the 5 MPH bumpers that later W114s had to deal with. Oh, and before you ask: yes, it’s a proper hardtop. The rear quarter windows do roll down.

1981 Pontiac Phoenix SJ – $2,950

Engine/drivetrain: 2.8-liter OHV V6, four-speed manual, FWD

Location: El Paso, TX

Odometer reading: 116,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

This one isn’t such a fine car. It is, however, a very important car, at least in the history of General Motors. The front-wheel-drive X-body, introduced in 1980, was a sales success in all its forms, but due to its half-baked design and shoddy construction, it was a disaster as well. Recalls and lawsuits plagued the X-body throughout its run, but GM kept refining and improving the design. The basic architecture established by this car was the basis for GM’s FWD cars for the next three decades. Chevy’s version, the Citation, is the most famous version, but here we have the Pontiac flavor, known as the Phoenix.

This Phoenix has an uncommon drivetrain combination: it has the optional 2.8-liter V6, but with a manual transmission. It’s a four-speed, and if I remember right, fourth gear is an overdrive. In 1981, the V6 had a two-barrel carburetor and put out 110 horsepower, hardly a fire-breather, but pretty good for the time. The seller says it runs “excellent,” but it’s being sold by a dealer, so don’t expect any history with it.

Inside, it’s in surprisingly good shape. The upholstery is faded, in a specific pattern that makes me think it was parked regularly in the sun in the same place. But everything is intact, except for a couple of cracks in the dash top. The seller makes a big deal out of pointing out that it has air conditioning, which leads me to believe it works. Otherwise, why draw attention to it?

This two-door notchback coupe style wasn’t offered on the Chevy Citation; it was strictly a Buick/Olds/Pontiac bodystyle. It’s all original and rust-free, but the paint is hammered. That hot desert sun really does a number on cars. This looks like a good candidate for trying out a DIY paint job, if you were so inclined.

These two are a classic example of how two cars can be similar on paper, but completely different in reality. On one hand, you have a finely-crafted example of German engineering, and on the other, a classic exercise in GM badge engineering. One has a smooth inline six driving the rear wheels, and the other has a V6 with a stickshift, making the front wheels torque-steer. It sounds like an easy choice, except that the Mercedes probably doesn’t have air conditioning, and it costs considerably more. You’ve got a whole three-day weekend to decide if it’s worth it.