Vehicle Description
1976 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Euro Spec - Rare 4 Speed SL - Brought into
the U.S. in 2002 - Recent German Automotive Services tune up - All
Books and Manuals (Please note: If you happen to be viewing this
1976 Mercedes-Benz 280SL on a website other than our Garage Kept
Motors site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many
photographs of the car due to third-party website limitations. To
be sure you access all the more than 155 photographs, as well as a
short start-up and walk-around video, please go to our main
website: Garage Kept Motors.) Supercar status twinned with old
school Mercedes durability makes the R107 SL the thinking person's
sports classic �€" Classic Motoring, August 2011 Classic Motoring
Magazine offered a similar take on these classic Mercedes
sportscars: When it comes to real-world affordable cars, none are
better engineered than a Seventies or Eighties Mercedes. One of the
best was the R107 SL, which was produced at a time when build
quality was all; engineers ruled instead of bean counters. However,
while everyone clamors for its predecessor (the 'Pagoda-roofed'
W113), the second-generation SL offers everything the older car
does �€" and much better value besides. Although these cars were
built up to a standard rather than down to a price, you don't need
the wealth of Bill Gates to buy or run one. Indeed, many of the
mechanical components are surprisingly cheap as they're shared with
contemporary (Mercedes cars). Simple enough for home maintenance,
there's also a raft of specialists out there, ready to help you
keep an SL in fine fettle if you're not so handy with the spanners.
Offered here is a 1976 Mercedes-Benz 280SL (R107 series) in silver
over black. Adding to the car's uniqueness, the transmission is a
4-speed manual rather than the far more common (especially in the
U.S.) automatic. Currently showing 66,395 miles on its odometer,
this proper Euro-spec 280SL (note the Euro headlights) has traveled
fewer than 1,500 miles per-year on average since new. The metallic
silver exterior paint demonstrates the high quality of Mercedes
paint-application in the mid-Seventies. The finish retains much of
its showroom-new appearance. (To best assess the quality of the
paint and trim finishes, be sure to view the close-up photographs
of the car in the accompanying gallery.) There is no damage to the
sheet metal panels; no dents, dings, or abrasions (lower-body metal
shows slight surface rust). In the same way, the chrome
elements-the bespoke front grille (with large 3-pointed star emblem
in the grille, a design the company has relatively recently
resurrected), window surrounds, and body-side trim-all display
excellent shine and an absence of noteworthy damage. The car's
black soft top is also in excellent condition, and a
black-vinyl-covered removable hardtop is in overall very good
condition (including the chrome top-trim details) with slight
deterioration inside at the base of the rear window. Cabin glass
and lighting lenses are clear (including the lower front driving
lights and adjacent amber turn-signals required for U.S.
importation). Factory 14-inch (bottle-cap style) alloy wheels with
3-pointed-star center emblems are mounted with General® Altimax RT
205/70 all-season radial tires. Inside, the condition and feel of
the cabin surfaces is excellent. Black door trim fits well and is
free of damage; door sills have been treated with care. The lack of
wear on the original MB-vinyl seat upholstery is amazing and fully
up to the material's legendary quality reputation. The
textured-vinyl surface and its vertically pleated design is a
Mercedes hallmark. Black carpeting covers the floors and
(removable) Pioneer® audio speaker boxes are mounted behind the
seats. The original 4-spoke, 3-point-star-emblem steering wheel
frames a very well-maintained black padded dashboard. The
instrument cluster includes a 160-mph speedometer,
6,500-rpm-redline tachometer, and a single gauge clustering t