Vehicle Description
This is a truly lovely Euro spec Mercedes 450SEL sedan. Finished in
"Dark-Blue" non-metallic (code: 904) with the rare cream Mercedes
velour seats, the car presents in stunning and certainly way, way
above average condition. The most welcomed aspect to these Euro
spec cars is the streamlined bumpers and rectangular headlights
which are indeed a great welcome over the very obtrusive (and ugly)
North American type bumpers and silly (and even more ugly) round
headlights. This 450 was personally imported by an "H. Fictenbaum"
in the 1980s but we do not have actual dates. The car resided in
California then owned by a Mercedes enthusiast in Texas for the
last 10 years. The car is without any rust anywhere, including the
underside which is entirely scale free. In fact, the underside is
incredibly clean. Far cleaner than almost any W116 I've seen and I
invite all buyers to check the many detailed photos of the
underside in the photo link provided. The car has had 2 US owners
(first in California and then Texas) who added most of the modest
mileage as a town commuter. Recently serviced and all in working
order (include a new steering box and control arm, so none of that
"sloppy" steering often see in these 116s). Mechanically the car is
in top shape with no known issues. Just a quick look under the hood
is testament to how well this Mercedes has been maintained. In
fact, the car drives so tight and smooth, it reminds me of when my
dad bought one of these brand new in 1978. Simply stunning! All
windows work, sunroof, vacuum door-locks, AC is ice cold.... she's
ready to go. Body and paint is excellent. The car is accident free
and the paint appears to be mostly original but for the left rear
door (but only above the moulding and below the body-line so a
small touch-up of some sort). It is very shiny and consistent with
only minor chips here and there but nothing glaringly so. There is
no crazing or cracks in the paint. Under the engine bay, the
factory paint is excellent and the radiator support panel is all
original (on repaired cars the engine bay decals are either missing
or you can see paint mask-off around them - there is none of this).
All body chrome, aluminium and finishers are in excellent
presentation. The egg-crate plastic grill insert is NOT all
"crumbly" as they often become. The taillights are very clean with
the clear reverse lights not yellowing as often seen. All rubbers
on the bumpers and around the car are excellent but the windshield
seal currently needs replacing. I have the new seal and this will
be done as part of the sale. The interior is in superb condition.
She is in great shape with no unsightly wear on the seats, carpets
or headliner. This is very rare to see with the velour option as
you quite often see them in very grubby condition with squab
bolsters ripped and torn. From what we can tell, the car had
sheepskin seat covers fitted which protected them. The back seat
has a couple of noticeable stains on the cushion which we have not
attempted to remove to avoid risking making it worse. Perhaps an
experienced cloth interior specialists can offer the right advice.
The seats themselves are in excellent condition without any
degradation of the "horse-hair" padding nor the spring bases. With
the exception of the rear seat stain, the velour seating and ribbed
velour door panels are in almost perfect condition to the extent
you would think it was brand new. It is not and indeed all
original. There is none of the "sun-burning" you can often see on
the top of the door panels or vinyl roof-panels. The dash does NOT
have a single crack and is truly factory perfect. The wood on the
dash is excellent whilst the centre console has no fading but a
very small amount of clear cracking at the power window switches.
Have a close look at the buttons and switch gear; they are all in
good condition. Even the gauge needles are their correct orange
colour as opposed to the yellow they often fade to. The car sport
