For those who asked...
The car was originally purchased in New Jersey in 1974...really owned by an older couple who drove down to Florida (Tampa Bay Area) in the late 70s/early 80's to retire. They kept meticulous records of everything done on the car...all by Lokey Mercedes on US 19.
The husband died and the woman sold the car to my father in 1988...in 1994 my father gave me the car as a gift. Of course, at that point the car had
never had any major repairs--only oil changes, general maintenance, etc. Then I started driving it all over--I was in the Army stationed in Ft. Sill, OK (made that trip a few times)...drove all over the country...slowly but surely the car started to break down...little by little. Oil pump, water pump, engine mounts, brakes, clutch, everything rubber that carried a fluid, etc....never all at once, couple hundred here, there...Fortunately, I've never had to repair anything twice and it's been over a year since it's needed any work (I think I've replaced everything that may have worn out)...mechanics would always carry the part that broke to show me with a bit of reverence, "This is the original <part>...amazing" Then again, I was a good customer for a few years there
I've actually took some dig. pics a few days ago that I could post if anyone was interested.
Boy, this has got to be my longest post ever. I'll wrap it up now...
~AJ