<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"NAME: PETER LACE AGE: 58 LIVES: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA VEHICLE: 1977 MERCEDES-BENZ 450SEL 6.9, MILAN BROWN OVER BAMBOO, ONE OF JUST 1816 SOLD IN AMERICA     I&amp;#039;ve always liked the idea of a &amp;quot;sleeper.&amp;quot; The 6.9 looks a lot like a diesel S-class, and what&amp;#039;s more innocuous than an old diesel Mercedes?        The 6.9 was known as &amp;quot;the banker&amp;#039;s hot rod,&amp;quot; as was the 6.3 before it.        Parts for these rare beasts are not cheap and never have been, and skilled labor is hard to come by. You can find a beater for $5000 or so, but you&amp;#039;ll want to spend well over $10,000 or $15,000 for one in good condition.        A woman at the car wash who owned a 6.9 when the car first came out approached me and said, &amp;quot;Can it still do 150?&amp;quot;        Gas mileage is a joke. I get 15 mpg freeway and less than 10 mpg on the hills.        It has ridiculously tall gears meant for high-speed autobahn cruising. You can kick it down into second at 80. (The 6.9 does 65 mph in first gear, 103 mph in second. \u2014Ed.)        This is my second 6.9. My first now resides in Sweden. Apparently there&amp;#039;s a large market for California 6.9s in Europe.      There&amp;#039;s a scene in Lost Highway where the Mr. Eddy characgter pistol-whips a guy for not following the rules of the road. My license plates were personalized to match Mr. Eddy&amp;#039;s car, and the director David Lynch was gracious enough to autograph one while in town for a DVD signing. As he signed the plate, he quipped, &amp;quot;I hope you follow the rules of the road.&amp;quot;  Refresher Course: The 6.9 is a top-of-the-line 450SEL with Citro\u00EBn-style hydropneumatic suspension, a dry-sump, and a 6.8-liter V8. In September of 1975, we called it the &amp;quot;fastest, best sedan in the world.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a4950/go-car-culture-its-my-daily-driver-1977-mercedes-benz-450-sel-69/>