In 1963 the new "Pagoda" W113 230SL was introduced to the public. Its new beautiful design by artist Paul Bracq was groundbreaking and worlds ahead of the previous 190SL in looks and performance. The detachable hardtop with its concave upper surface was the source of the famous "Pagoda" nickname. In 1967 the 2.3 liter six cylinder engine in the 230SL was replaced by a 2.5 liter engine in the 250SL and finally in 1968 the wonderful and powerful 2.8 liter six cylinder engine was introduced and the 280SL was born. Compared to the anemic four cylinder 190SL, the 280 is a whole different ball game to say the least, especially with the very rare 4 speed manual gearbox.
THIS CAR is the greatest culmination of the W113, a 1971 280 SL Pagoda with both tops and the extremely rare factory 4 speed transmission. A U.S. delivery car sold new at Mercedes Benz of New York City and lived all of its life in Westport, Connecticut. This is one of the very very last 280SLs, produced in January of 1971 and delivered to the U.S. In fact the original owner went to the NYC dealer late in 1971 to look at the some of the new 1972 model cars and this was a left over from 1971 on the showroom floor so he bought this instead. This is one of only 830 280SL's imported to the U.S. for the final model year and one of only a few with the rare 4 speed manual gearbox. On top of that it is only a two owner car from new. This car also has factory air conditioning, both hard and soft tops, original tool kit, original books, factory data cards and the rare optional third "kinder seat". It has only 75,000 original miles from new and is signal red color. Most of the paint is original to this car! The best of its kind; a two owner original car from new, final model year, factory 4 speed car, signal red, factory A/C, original Mercedes text interior, kinder seat, this car is the best of the 280SL's so if you are going to own one this should be it! Fully serviced and ready to be shown and driven! Contact us today for more information.
