Parts and Recreation – A scavenger hunt through Europe in a 1990 W124 230TE
Article Gary Anderson
Images Blue Nelson
Blue Nelson makes his living buying and selling classic cars – and the parts for them – focusing primarily on vehicles from Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. As interesting as Nelson’s job might sound to you and me, like any other occupation, the work can become a series of boring chores, so he changes it up once in a while.
To do that, Nelson has a routine that he follows at least once a year, designed to remind himself that his business is built around travel, friendship and the excitement of facing and mastering the unexpected.
His basic rules are that he finds an interesting old car in a place far away, goes there with no advanced planning, buys the car, drives it for a month or so using only maps and directions he gets along the way, does whatever maintenance and repair is necessary to keep the car on the road, and then brings it home.
While traveling, Nelson takes photographs of his trip to enjoy later. He pays for the trip by looking for rare car parts that he knows his clients need for their projects. In his experience, he almost always comes home with some money in his pocket, a new car in his own stable or for a client, and always with new friends, great memories and a fresh outlook on his work.
1. Facing page: Blue Nelson’s odyssey began in Sheffield, England, with the purchase of a 1990 W124 230TE estate from Conrad Giggenbach.
2. Within half an hour, his first score: Nelson (left) found NOS W123/124 headlights at a Sheffield car breaker’s yard.
3. The overnight truck ferry to Dublin.
4. First vintage W123 spotted at the ferry dock, leading to drinks at pub with new friend. 5. Dublin has neoclassical government buildings.
6. The Church of St. James.
7. The gates of the Guinness Brewery, home of Ireland’s famous Black Gold.
8. Sightseeing, as here along the rocky Irish coast near Dublin, is part of the joy of travel.
9. Friend Richard Ingram frequently travels with Blue Nelson on his automotive adventures.
10. Fields of canola were in glorious golden bloom.
11. Sadly, W123 Benzes in this condition are typical of Irish breaker yards; the headlights are worth picking, but the rest of vehicle is a rusty carcass.
12. Road signs in Ireland are in both Gaelic and English, here indicating a location between Kiltealy and Kilkenny on Ireland’s east coast, south of Dublin.
13. Back in Sheffield after Ireland: New friends at the breaker’s yard; the restored W115 sedan is the owner’s (left) personal car.
14. Nelson found correct wheel covers for the 230TE at Mercedes Mark in Liverpool, the largest Mercedes parts and dismantling business in England; the covers that came on the car were a year too new.
15. A young collector near London sold Nelson a pair of rare cargo boxes, perfect for the 230TE.
16. Near the London Eye Ferris wheel, Richard Ingram repaired a loose fan clutch with a piece of wire found on the street.
17. Arriving at Dover for the Calais ferry.
18. Port scene in Calais.
19. Next stop, Luxembourg: A logbook goes in the glovebox of each new car, filled with trip details for the next owner to enjoy; taking a picture at each country border is one of Blue Nelson’s rules.
20. Local color in the city-state of Luxembourg.
21. View from hotel window in the picturesque town of Diekirch, Luxembourg.
22. Hand-carved “Maibaum” (maypole) portrays Diekirch’s traditional crafts.
23. Period-style travel decals from each place visited commemorate the trip.
24. Entering Garmisch-Partenkirchen near the Swiss border, the Alps looming in the background.
25. The Bug Box in Chiemsee, Germany, an international source for classic Volkswagens – like this 23-window VW Samba bus – was an essential stop.
26. The German name for the split-window Beetle is “Bretzle Fenster” (pretzel window). 27. Interior of The Bug Box.
28. While in Chiemsee, riding mechanic Richard Ingram tightens up the make-do repair of the fan clutch done in London; it will last until the correct part can be obtained.
29. On the shore of the lake after which the Bavarian village of Chiemsee is named.
30. German W123 Club warehouse in Chiemsee; members strip unrestorable vehicles for parts.
31. A club member’s red ex-fire-assistance vehicle.
32. Though Blue Nelson’s car is a W124, members of the club – many of them employees of Daimler in Stuttgart – pitched in to fix minor things like shift bushings.
33. How many Euro headlights, rare in North America, would you like?
34. Historic town fountain in charming Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
35. Cars normally can’t park in front of Stuttgart’s Mercedes-Benz Museum – easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
36. Historic racecars in the museum.
37. Of course, when in Nürburg, one would take a soccer-mom station wagon with roof carriers on a lap of the Nürburgring; many enthusiasts were not amused.