240 Avantgarde Auto Convertible

A comfortable and nice looking car, and a joy to drive, particularly with the top down

I bought this two year old rag top to recapture the youthful fun I'd had with an Alvis 12/50(1931) and Morris 8 (1932), both soft tops in the 50's. It has certainly lived up to my expectations;
It had done 11K miles when I bought it, and it performed admirably until I got to 33K. At this stage, the gearbox suffered a well publicised failure due to the radiator coolant leaking into the gearbox thus requiring major attention. The local MB dealer made an attempt to fix it with washing out the gearbox, but to no avail. It packed up again but this time, I was on the outside lane of the M25 travelling at 60mph when I lost complete drive. MB were totally unsympathetic showing no appreciation of the disaster that the failure could have caused. MB refused any goodwill but quoted £1,200 for an investigation to the cause and if required another £4,500 to change the gearbox., I got the gearbox completely rebuilt HJ's recommendation at a specialist gearbox engineering firm.
At the time I was totally disappointed with MB and vowed not to buy MB again. However, 11 years (and 50K miles) on, the vehicle (and the rebuilt gearbox) has given me many years of good service, and is a joy to drive particularly if you like a convertible. My view has mellowed over the years .
Corky

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