I like how Neville is just a voice in this. It could be a portrayal of a scene that only exists in Johnnys imagination, only he's forgotten to imagine the other person as a physical being, just the conversation he would be having.
Kudos for respecting Neville’s wishes (once again) to remain off camera - but there’s a glittering career in audiobooks or narrating ahead of him if he wants it!
I'm not a Merc or AMG fan personally but this car is something else. The build quality and 340 hp back in the 80's, mega. Cheers Jonny and also thanks to Neville again for letting us have a peek at his hidden treasure.
I remember seeing this car at pinewood studios. We would leave the workshop just to go see it, often parked outside the main admin building. Love the videos JS.
@@TheLateBrakeShow Thank you for the name. I spent 15 minutes googling around, just to find that The Producer is uncredited for that particular movie 😀 Fun times 🙂
This is an absolutely brilliant "barn find." I watched the original video with Nev's collection, and loved it. The idea that he then told you about a neglected 1985 500SEC Hammer sitting in another barn as an afterthought is mind boggling. I was totally cheering when you guys got the monster started. A triumphant barn find video is always pleasing. But to have a rare 32 valve AMG V8 come to life after sitting for 17 years is flipping AMAZING. I love your work mate.
All time iconic 80’s Merc, i remember how “in” wide body SEC’s were in London back in the mid 80’s, more so than 930 Porsches. Nakamichi was THE brand back then and yes they were mega money. Fantastic video Jonny
A friend of mine has got a Nakamichi head set with matching amp & front speakers, with Infinity 6x9's and celestion subs in a S1 RS turbo. Hell of a set up. The head set alone was crazy money
The completely unplanned, mad dash style of this episode just made it better, and the history Neville provided on it was really interesting as well. Great video!
Amazing to see a this car again , all your facts are fantastically accurate for the AMG. I was one the body shop guys that converted this car at the old mill at Stratton, the engine conversion was up the hill in the goldfish bowl. Trim wash done next door to the body's shop. That AMG I believe if my memory serves me well was next to a 512 BB being restored and a super california.
Hats off to you jonny , I love these barn finds , we are the boys who pushed our corgi /matchbox cars around as kids , such passion for these beautiful cars
I've been looking forward to this since the first video starring Neville's collection. Not disappointed. Edit: Personally, the unpreparedness is part of the fun, it's always a rollercoaster ride and brings back my own younger memories of trying to get vehicles to work whilst having almost no resources to call on. I'm always happy after watching an episode.
One of my favorite cars. Ron Stratton was my sister’s godfather so I got to ride in many crazy cars growing up and always loved the wide body SEC’s. Brilliant video, thanks Johnny - but please can you bring back wheeling every car out of the garage and giving them a good wash so we can marvel at the whole car not just trying to start the engine please? Otherwise, love it, some of my favorite content on RU-vid, keep up the sterling work! Thank you.
@@adamt3332 my mate had a baby blue mk2 escort 4dr with a 1760 x flow race engine from probably a illegal source and it had a Ron Stratton decal in the back window. I knew Ron in Knutsford on the roundabout did rollers Ferraris lambos and astons as well as the AMG stuff so how that decal got there I dunno. Anyway back in the day you could do laps around chester city centre and he came from lookers hoole towards the city centre and flattened a traffic light and bounced off it then hit it again as he never lifted ..bye bye Ron 🤣
Hi Jonny, firstly thanks to Neville for allowing access to the car. What an 80's icon, and in fantastic condition. Out on the street would still garner LOTS of interest out on the street and at events. Brilliant video guy's. Alex.
Quality, quality and once again quality, content! Your RU-vid has to be one of the best petrolhead channels on any platform. Why its not been snapped up by one of the mainstream channels is beyond me, their loss is definitely our gain keep up the excellent work and keep them coming
Andy, that is most kind. Thank you for these words. We strive to make engaging, authentic car content and when it is appreciated then that's the best feeling. 👌🏽
Johnny another belter. The Hammer is just such an 80s icon and a prime example of the German were at the peak of their game by then and into the mid 90s. The SEC is to me, mainstream high volume cars wise, peak dashboard style. One of the later ones, in lighter colours like cream or even tan with the wood work, such beautifully done and easy to read well organized clocks, as well as the tapered central console... oh man, is just awesome!
So awesome how those old mercs sitting for decades just starting up. Even more impressive if you think on the complexity and the amount of parts which have to work to run those engines. ❤
Great stuff. I have a 1986 500SEC in my garage that's not done much in the last 10 years, due to rust at the bottom of the rear screen. It's a common fault on these cars. This has inspired me to get my finger out and get it back on the road. All the best.
In my 20’s I had a cosworth 190 and had the same pioneer wooden stereo with the remote !!! Wow… Memories … and of course I now regret not holding onto that car 🤣
What a treat this was for a Sunday night, Neville's got some amazing Silver Arrows in his collection, but this is so rare and cool. I hope this renews some interest for him to get it through an MOT and driving. would be a treat to see it at a Classic car show. Anybody else thinks he sounds like David Jason?!
Neville has a great voice for narration! This car is incredible and must be worth a bomb these days. What a collection he has. Seems a shame to let it sit like that in such dire need of a detail but to each their own, it's his car. So glad we got to take a look at it, thank you!
I remember seeing these SECs at Hughes M-B in Beaconsfield, and there was a white 560 SEC that lived in Gerrards Cross, owned by someone from the film studios at Iver.
Every time I get a notification about a new video from @thelatebrakeshow it makes me get off my ass and go finds cars in my city. One day I will find that gem. Thank you Jonny. You do what you love and people love what you do.
Thanks Jonny - for all the hard work. Your barn find videos are solid gold and this is the mother lode. Neville was great, and the car is one mean, glorious 80s bastard 👍
Great work Jonny. Especially when you didn't plan it. You two should have gone down the Pub in it. Holding on to the petrol can obviously. Awesome 💪💪😎😎👍👍
Thank you very very much for what you doing!! Showing the art of 80 and 90 AMG cars bring so much happiness to my self!! Great great work and thank you again 🙏🏽
If someone told me 30 years ago I'd be spending 30 minutes of my life watching videos of 2 guys trying to start a Merc from the 80s I would have not believed them! 😂
Great work Johnny, a guy my brother worked for had a brand new 500 sec saloon in gold, with the AMG conversion, number plate was AMG12. It was a beast, just kept pulling, did not matter what speed you were doing, it just wanted to go some more.
I love this episode. I watched it a few times. The joy in your face Jonny. It just goes to show you, a quality product that was serviced well just needs a fuel pump and it would be on the road. I love love love that....
Incredible story and find - as these widebody versions are stunning looking cars by today's standards with such a rich & deep history from the pre-merger AMG days when they were a seperate tuner to MB. The early production 32v engines in the Gen1's had issues with cams snapping near the sprocket. This was later rectified with thicker diameter shafts produced. The earlier versions also had issues with the heads which were sand cast and not of high quality alloy and prone to oil leaks and the oil drain back to sump was not great which was also rectified in later versions. The biggest headache is you cannot gets parts for these 32v engine heads anymore unless someone can custom make them which is difficult. The bottom end/blocks is no issue at all For a car enthusiast I can't believe he just let it sit for so long (+10yrs) without regularly starting it and dribing it and swapping out old fuel for fresh and adding inhibitor to the fuel and getting a radiator flush at least (& brake fluid) and placing a dust cover over the coupe and some rodent bait traps & fixing the broken window to keep the moisture out of the barn ? Such is life is suppose
The fact you got it running at all is mighty impressive. As a Merc specialist I had my reserves about the fuel head being in working order after being parked for so long. If you're ever messing with classic mercs and want some info or help, get in touch.
When I was in Germany in the mid-eighties, this was the most desirable car of that time. White with white interior was super classy. Silver and dark blue were also popular before anthracite black became the new trend.
Nice guys! The Bosch CiS fuel pumps will seize up during storage and fuel drying inside the fuel distributor gums up the piston/slits….you can see the air metering device moves very little with throttle….so it’s crazy RICH😂
OMG! I would be driving that on a regular basis…..what a treasure! The worst thing you can do to an old merc with that injection system is to let it sit unused….there are few of us left who even know how the system works…..🙀
What an über cool car and it’s history. The Munich based Ferrari dealer, König, created some of the most outrageous wide body kits. I’ve seen both Merc as well as took pictures of one Testarossa wide body on the autobahn in 1989 or 90. It would be like coming across the holy grail if you could find one of those.
I love these episodes where you co present with Neville the ghost and his ectoplasm easy start, great content! 😀 Good stuff as ever Jonny, what a motor!
Jonny, that was epic, honestly, I really enjoyed it with the mysterious Neville in the background (who incidentally, had a great V/o voice!) keep up the good work!!!!!
This car is super-cool - I've always loved wide-body 560 SECs - but the AMG Hammer was built on the W124 chassis, so even if that engine is from a Hammer, does that confer the name onto the whole car? Hammer-equipped might be more accurate. Regardless, I always appreciate these videos because we need to preserve as much information about these old cars as possible.
Correct, though when AMG and Hammer are mentioned together I think of what defines the w124 Hammer and that's the engine. And though the actual "Hammer" was released later than this car (gen 1 w126c) they share the same heart more or less. The 500e has this heritage, and would be the one I'd prefer given the choice, the m119 was one of Mercedes greatest engines. Japan has the best collection of bonkers AMG's from this era E.g. 6 litre Frankenstein m117/119s.
These just get batter and better! I love the old Mercedes! Wanted to see her drive out for a better look!, Surprised you didn't all collapse of asphyxiation :D
OMG! Im just in awessnes like i was as an 14 year old auto neerd back in the 85. :D been looking for a classic merc awhile now, but oboy the prices... :(
Always love the 'I have an idea' when relating to putting petrol down the throat in a wooden garage. Bravo for the effort on both your parts and to not give up. The fumes clearly got to JS and Nev in their quest to tame the beast. Was worth it through........
Oh, how many people on here were on here going "Come on...! COME ON!" Every time that ignition key was twisted...? That was worth all the "wrong" exhaust smoke in the world. Jonny... Nev... well done both of you.
Just watched this and it’s another great Barn Find episode well done Johnny. Neville sounds like a top bloke also 👍🏻 Off to watch the episode on his collection now 😀
What a wonderful, wonderful car. Don't think Neville wanted to ever shut it down again once it was running. Love his passion. And love Jonny's commitment, as always.
