1982 Mercedes restoration is pure satisfaction | Timelapse rebuild 

I wonder if Hollywood knows that there's a surfer in Ireland working on his cars who's producing more accomplished stop-motion films than they are? 😂

I just have to write this regardless if anyone reads it. A bit more than three years ago, I bought a rusty old Merc 280CE. Luckily I didn't fully realise what I was getting myself into at the time, otherwise I doubt I would have bought it. What started as a simple brake job turned into a full on restauration. It was your videos and your tenacity and attention to detail that in no small part motivated me to keep going. I taught myself to weld in panels, to refurbish the axel components and to braid fuel and brake lines along the way. Only two weeks ago, I went to MOT "Freddy" and he passed with flying colours. So here's to you and your channel and the invisible community you provide. I couldn't be more grateful. Many thanks for your videos. Keep on trucking and greetings from Luxembourg.

Lost for words. Amazing how much work went into restoring this poor MB with Ireland's relentless climate AND editing an 80 minute stopmotion masterpiece. Seriously George....much respect. Hope you can do stuff like this in a proper workshop of your own sooner rather than later. I know all too well how difficult it is to buy anything in Ireland, especially since pure greed seems to have reached peaklevels nowadays. Seeing a video like this takes my mind off of this struggle a bit, so thank you.

I've been watching you with fascination for years, keep up the great work. The amount of time and effort to do a 80 minute stop motion video (while working on a car, or other productive endeavor) is mind boggling. Thank you for this treat.

This isn't your usual Soup update. This might be the most well produced, artistic and mind bogglingly talent filled video anyone is likely to watch on RU-vid. I cant even think how much time and effort went into producing this, never mind the effort that went into the Merc. This is George on the top of his game.

Thank you for the kind words, feedback and support! Please share with your local page, group or club!

My man. Love it

10:30 The fact that you can flare a line while shooting a stop-motion video, and STILL not forget to put the fitting on the line first proves that you are an exceptionally talented person.

Just mega! Well done George

I spent last evening watching and fell asleep (had a LONG day, and was THRILLED at a new Soup upload!!). But man it’s such a soothing video! Rewatching it again right now for my 2-hour afternoon break. This is better than reading stupid news and reddit. Such wonderfully and oddly entertaining and satisfying to watch again!!!

Thanks for the amazing work. I've been watching you for about 5 years, I started with a range rover. I myself am engaged in professional body repair, but watching your work is a pleasure. Greetings from Russia! Спасибо за потрясающую работу. Смотрю вас около 5 лет, начал с рендж ровера. Сам занимаюсь проффесиональным кузовным ремонтом, но смотреть ваши работы это наслаждение. Привет из России!

Awesome as always. And forever grateful that there is someone else out there as obsessed as I am about cleaning, fixing and painting parts that you can’t even see!

This whole series was a Godsend while I was working on my 280E, love that it's in one big video now!

The 123 series is a brilliant car and every single one deserves saving if possible. Your standard of work is second to none. Well done for a good job.

Hey, I clicked this when it said "no views". That's a first. Well, anyway, I never get sick of these love letters to old cars, thanks for taking the time to make them.

About an hour and 20 minutes ago I thought to myself there is no way I'm going to watch an hour plus restoration video. I was wrong Absolutely amazing!

Absolutely too class videography and restoration, the attention to detail in both are a credit to you George. I shudder to think how much time and patience was needed to produce this content

This is a brilliant video of brilliant work. Particularly the way you saved things or made them instead of just ordering endless new stuff. The way you show how to fabricate repairs has taught me a great deal.

No superlatives can describe how I felt when I first stumbled upon this channel. Absolutely outstanding! Thank you very much.

This is truly the best car restoration video ever! Professionally done. Thank you.

This is like one of most faboulous automobile engineering, body work craftmanship, camera work and editing combined in one. edit: omg you have other projects too!!! I'm gonna love this channel from here on

George, your patience, application and creativity defies belief and leaves me feeling guilty; I watch your videos instead of getting on with my own jobs. This is by far the most intelligent and utterly facinating channel on RU-vid. How it is you don't have 10 times as many subscribers as you do is a mystery - there is truly no justice in this world. Good luck, keep the faith and stay stuck in.

To be able to perform all this high-quality work without a lift and a proper space is so damn impressive! I want you to have a nice space to continue your fantastic work, I really want that for you. If only you were here in the states. A few years back I shared my space with a lad who moved here from Glasgow and did his apprenticeship in The Netherlands. I watched the way he approached extensive rust in a cars never regions, and I now realize you’re also working right out of that playbook. I’m more mechanics then body restore, but I’m getting better every day. Thanks to videos like this. Cheers!

I hope this one goes as viral for you as the Range Rover video. Great work! Proud to be a patron.

Inspiring. Mesmerizing. Hypnotic...and sooooooo Satisfying! Can't wait for the straight six!

Sir! This is a masterpiece and you are a true inspiration!

Best car resto vids on YT - not just for the “no talking, no bullshit” but also for the fascinating cinematic work. 👌🏻

One of the most epic RU-vid videos ever! Mercedes are you watching?!!!

Crazy amount of work, both on the car and in the video production. Bravo! The Benz is just about the same color as the ocean water there at the end.

This video is amazing. All the time you have invested in filming in stop motion creates an extraordinary result. That's without talking about the car, or should I say the tank you have restored while filming. Extraordinary results. Cheers.

Even after watching all the episodes of this build, seeing them all together is quite satisfying to watch. Awesome job as always!

The level of details is bar to anything seen before !! Thank you.. this is a different level of restoration

hahaha oh man I remember that entire series of update videos you did on Patreon for the cruise control mechanism. Wasn’t even part of the original car but you really had to have it and you made it work. That was insane determination that you got it to go!

Yes, such clips are enjoyable, and as I said earlier, you are the king of filming and montage.. The important thing is that you completed the fiber class car that you spent a long time repairing and exhausted us with you, and the clips were not enjoyable with it.. I work as a Mercedes and BMW mechanic. I own a garage for repairing and modifying these German cars, and I thank God that the work is good, and people in my country love German cars, in addition to American, Korean, and Japanese cars. Each garage specializes in a specific type. He is a specialist and has a degree in mechanics. I contacted the German embassy and they asked me for a language and I do not have time to learn the German language. I contacted the Australian embassy and they sent me a form to fill in. A long time has passed and there is no answer. It seems that they do not give residency to those who work and benefit the country. Your country.. In any case, the work is good, and I thank God, and I do not need anyone, only God alone.. Back to our subject, my friend, keep repairing these German cars, as they are fun and beautiful. The way you photograph and your method of repair is the same as mine. I repair w123 & w124 & w126 &w140 & w210 & w220 &c180 & c200 & c220 w212 Greetings to you from the country of the oldest civilization in the world (Iraq 🇮🇶) Your friend Mr. wrya 🌷

Title checks out. A true masterpiece.

I sold my 230ce now I'm crying. This video is a work of astounding genius!

If I were able to give this a thousand likes, I would complain I can't give it 10 thousand likes. George, thank you !!!

That was nothing short of a therapy... THANK YOU!

Top quality finish, sublime videography. Truly an honour to be given the opportunity to follow along.

I asked my old car to watch this video. For inspiration. Now I'm observing and waiting already for days but nothing happens.

Crazy craftsmanship & video editing skills. Watching from africa kenya🇰🇪🍿🍿

I applaud your efforts and dedication in restoring a worn and badly rusted W123. I live in Australia and I'm convinced I wouldn't be able to find a W123 with a quarter of the rust that yours had. I must also apologise for my tears of laughter courtesy of your ‘playing matches’ antics - very humerous, although it could of ended in a different form of tears. Hats off to a wonderfully produced video.

You have a great work ethic, can’t imagine the hours you put in every day. Love popping in here every now and again to see what your at… Keep going, and thank you ✨✨✨👍

The best car restoration video in the Universe 👑

Was going to say something like: "At loss for words" - but then I just typed out words there so.. Also: I literally jumped from my seat and cheered when you got away from the flux core. F'n A mate. F'n A. Cheers from Wisconsin !

I never comment but this video is amazing....I've never seen anything quite like it. Everything about this is enjoyable. Thank you

Wow! Very accurate work indeed. Congratulations on the manual skills with welds and blocked bolts. The animation is also very nice! In addition to your skill, the great quality of the Mercedes parts of the time also comes out!

What a way to showcase your talents! Watching your restoration projects really released the dopamine in my brain! Thank you 🍺👍👍

E P I C . . . Gives me inspiration to continue wiggling and moving forwards on my several projects. Thanks for sharing George…

Superb 🎉

Phenomenal animation. Your patience will be rewarded.

Worth 90 minutes of anyone’s time to watch. Just wonderful!

Absolutely no-one in the Automotive space makes content this real, cathartic or as artistic. Literally the only channel I am a Patron of. Masterful.

Thank you so much for this, we all really appreciate all the effort you put in to making these videos. They are unlike anything else.

Very cool to see an old car magically repair itself.

This is not restoration - this is extraordinary - this is art...

brilliant work! This is just the right amount of restoration, a solid job that will make the car go for a long time. At the same time not going overboard, not replacing every fastener, no sand blasting and powdercoating, reusing everything that can be reused. I try to fix my cars the same way. Only thing I do is lube all the suspension component bolts and screws, I use graphite grease. Lots of salt on the roads here, and the suspension rusts bolts corrode really fast.

That was absolutely beautiful to watch. And I absolutely loved the tuck Pendleton inner space reference. Whoever does the camera editing is a genius

If I never see another one I think I've seen the best.

As a kid I always wanted to build/restore cars. As an adult I have neither the skills, patience or tenacity to fulfill that dream. So I will let you fulfill it for me, while I sit here in my sunny garden with a chilled beer, watching it all unfold in glorious (and often excessive) detail. Thanks

Simply the best car video I've ever seen, absolutely mesmerising. The stop motion idea is utterly genius, wonderfully executed and incredibly original (at least, I've not seen a restoration filmed like this before). I've watched the Range Rover one too now, and this one twice! Having worked on old cars, and played around with a very small bit of stop motion with Super8mm, the mid boggles as to how you had the patience to do this. I love the way the restoration is sympathetic, not throwing masses of new parts at it. And to top it all, there is an underlying story too: it's quite emotional to see the car being used at the end. Thanks for making this!

Oh man, this is just beautiful. The engineering, the stop motion, the video cuts, the music... Pure art! I can imagine this working really well to a back drop off a music band at a festival. Just a thought. Well done sir, I can't wait to see your other work and I really hope you hit millions of views.

It absolutely made my day to see this uploaded, been following you since near the beginning of this restoration and every video blew me away. And somehow you saved the best for last! Awesome work sir! About to start paint and bodywork on my 83 300SD and this is the perfect motivation. I have no excuses since I have 5% of the rust to fix as yours and no stop motion to record. 😅 Again, congratulations, we're all proud of you!

The W123 is Mercedes most classy car (followed by the 6.9 SEL) by far and a wonderful example of what Mercedes once was. Not this awful plastic laptop crap for the masses on finance that we see now. It has more presence and glamour than a carpark full of new C-Classes. They’re dreadful. This is true engineering and class and I’m so happy to see it restored by Soup and saved. Wonderful video, enchanting music and of course a beautiful car ❤

Wow, I am impressed, excellent restoration, excellent video, BRAVO 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😀

At ten minutes in I fully Subbed with bell and liked of course! This work that this man or people have done is BEYOND!! The stop motion must make the work take four TIMES as long to do! And it's done so excellently!! THANK YOU for this incredible work and the time it must take to create! I had a 1973 Mercedes 280SE and I sold it after it became riddled with body rust and other things. It was one of the greatest cars I've ever owned and I WILL look for another similar one if possible in Canada were I live!!

is it just me ! i found this so relaxing and calme

George, thank you for the incredibly well-made refresher of the 240 journey! You did the restoration process justice with a video to match the painstaking reconstruction of so many complicated little rusted out areas. It makes me laugh to think of what a stop motion journey of the past 6 years of my G8 GT would look like-rusting, undercoating, various repairs, gradual paint and interior wear, more repairs, an occasional mod, more rust, and for the finale, a nice obnoxious check engine light appearing on a beautiful sunny night. I still love that car though :)

I don't know if it's the best car restoration video ever, but it's the most enjoyable to watch. Well done and congratulation for all the work.

I have watched the entire process, the longest I have ever spent on a single YT video, but you must have spent hundreds of hours... Hats off to this level of dedication, skill and artistry.

A journey of a thousand steps. It didn't feel like you did that much work on the W123 week to week, but boy oh boy did you ever! Well done George :)

Respect from Taiwan.

This is a meditation in motion. Hats off to you Sir. To say genius I feel is an understatement. Thank you.

Absolutely stunning work, both the video editing and the craftmanship!

This is definetly not a car video, but pure art.

Is there anyone else who'd like to buy this man a beer (or two) Sometimes the algorithm gets it spot on !

And the Oscar for best stop motion restoration video goes to ...... SOUP CLASSIC MOTORING. Absolutely amazing. No resto video compares to this. EVER! This is as long as the longest Wallace and Gromit stop motion movie and equally entertaining but way more jaw dropping.

Thank you. This is what happiness in life looks like. Focus on gratitude and the moment, enjoy the process and fuck instant gratification. I will always remember you, when i work on my projects

You are worthy of laser cutters, cnc's, blast cabinet, powder coat equipment, hydraulic lifts. And that's just the mechanics. Production side you deserve serious recognition. Imagine if this was the end credits of a movie about the hero car. (Obviously edited down to 4 minutes)

this is so enjoyable to watch, and 1 hour 20, you really outdone yourself this time mr. soup

Man I've done stop-motion before and I cannot fathom how long this took you. Such an insane amount of passion went into this project, and all your others, and I thank you for sharing it all in such a cool way!

Thanks for the video and stay safe ✌️.

The videos, soundtracks and of course the restoration of the car are impeccable.

Epic! Will have to watch a third time there is so much to enjoy and learn from. Thank you for producing something so stunning and inspirational. The colour and stance of your 230 just looks fantastic. M103 conversion is very exciting- a unit I have loved in both R107 and my current W126

Simply amazing! Thank you!

Absolutely brilliant......

This makes me so happy

У меня нет слов от восторга! Вы большой молодец!!!

Georgie, yours has got to be the most enjoyable videos of any that i know of on this forum. Your dedication to giving us top quality content with the stop action combined with your humour and video artistry deserves a hearty 'Thank You!' I'm constantly amazed at the amount of time you must put into editing let alone actual metal fabrication. I honestly shake my head in wonder as to how you manage to get those segments of welding patches with what appears to be a continuous set of glowing beads of weld on some of those pieces. I know how you do it, but to manage to do it knowing how much of a PITA it is makes me thankful you do what you do. I've been watching for a while and seeing some of the old segments of restoring the W124 in this vid actually gave me a feeling of nostalgia. Those 'oh yeah, i remember that' moments that sort of makes you feel like you had some small part in your process. I could go on but i want to finish watching the rest of the vid. Just felt i had to chime in and say Thanks! and Cheers! from Eastern Canada. Stay stuck in lad!!

In a word - magnificent.

Just pure art

This is just fantastic, what a video! Thank you!

This was freaking epic. Top work!

Best video ever. Changed the title. Very talented fella, all the videos are excellent. Thank you .

This is as good as Hegerty's engine timelapse videos, and that's saying something. Great work.

Sublime. My resting heartbeat is just about on tick over and I’m in a velvety zen like cotton wool palace

I cannot begin to imagine the time and effort you’ve put into the filming of this restoration….never mind the actual work on the Mercedes itself! Mind blown at the level of achievement.

Amazing video George. Brilliant!!

An absolute masterpiece 👏

Great video! Thanks for your hard work!