Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ray White]

https://carsonline.bonhams.com/en/listings/mercedes-benz/250-sl-pagoda/ed597214-70d2-47a6-ae80-f7e75e003424

Since first seeing a 'Pagoda' Mercedes (W113) glinting in the evening sun I have lusted after one...but they have always been beyond my pocket and seemingly - like the E Type Jaguar and DB Aston Martins - are immune to dips in the market.

Famously, a sublime example of Paul Bracq styling, these wonderfully constructed sports cars are usually offered in pristine condition and tend to fetch eye watering prices to match.

This example however caught my eye as a nice, sound... but far from pristine car and one which I could happily tinker with to my heart's content.

Is it possible that the normally pedantic buyers of these cars will be put off by the rather obvious rust on the front wing and generally tatty engine compartment?

I shall be following this one.

[bjacko]

Be very careful of rust on the underside of SLC and Pagoda models. A friend bought a beautiful looking SLC450 but did not look underneath and when he put it on his hoist was horrified at the thick rust on the underside, and this was an Aussie delivered car (no ice on the roads so no salt) so maybe someone used it at the beach? Took him months of cutting out the rusty floors etc to fix it up.
_________________
1938 Morris 8 Ser II Coupe Utility (Pickup)
1985 Rover SD1 VDP

[Ray White]

[ukdave2002]

looking through some of the 339 pictures , the car has only had one owner in the last 25 years, and has had not insignificant amounts of money spent on it each year, zero advisories on any of the last 10 years MOT, the only fail being a windscreen washer! Only covered 2000 miles in the last 10 years.

No sign of attempting to cover up repairs, it looks quite an honest vehicle to me

[Ray White]

[Ray White]

As if to demonstrate how nervous sellers are in today's market, the reserve has been lowered to meet the current highest bid of 47,500 GBP while there is still plenty of time left on the clock.


I think there must be dealers in the game who see this as a quick flip. A short stay in their body shop and a going over by an engine bay detailer and the car could be back on the market with a big mark up.

The SL250, of course, is the one to have. It was blessed with a completely new 7 bearing engine and from contemporary road tests it apparently handles nicer than the later SL280 . With this car benefiting from being one of the rare RHD models; generally sound and with a good provenance I can see it topping 50K.

Too much for me... but I can dream.

[Ray White]

Ah well; it went for nearly 64K. Quite a bit more than I expected considering it needs some tidying up...but not unreasonable for what it is.

Probably regarded as an investment by some...