Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present an extremely rare and
absolutely remarkably unmolested and original example of this last
year 1971 Mercedes 280SL legendary series W113 'Pagoda' roadster
with very desirable original factory options of automatic
transmission, power steering, 'Frigiking' air conditioning, 'Becker
Europa' AM/FM radio, automatic antenna, left rearview mirror,
bumper guards, tinted glass, matching hubcaps, all original
interior, original factory hard top, original factory 'Dark Blue'
German canvas soft top and original matching numbers engine!Owned
for many years by one southern California family owner and always
garage kept in second home in southern California home. The car has
had no accidents with original fenders with all original
uninterrupted factory spot welds around the engine bay, front and
rear lower body panels and factory correct inner fender notches by
the headlamp bezels and its original factory hood (#7848) as
confirmed by the cars original data plate/fender tag (see photos
below). The car also has no history of any rust with all its
original sheet-metal and with the floorboards and trunk with the
correct factory indentations. Also the hood, trunk and door gaps
and alignments are all as they should be. It is about as fine and
unabused an example as you could hope to find anywhere. The car is
very striking and was obviously always garaged and is still in
mostly all original condition, apart from one original color
'Midnight Blue' (color code 904) professional repaint. The car has
it's original 'Saddle-Brown' leather seats and has outstanding
original features with a beautiful original leather wrapped
steering wheel, carpet, uncracked and unblemished wooden dashboard
moldings, white bright work and chrome dashboard inserts, wooden
center console, beautiful working gauges and levers and boasts its
original working clock.By 1963 the 190SL (Super Light) and the
300SL Roadster were neither Super or Light and the 190SL was simply
too heavy to compete with the likes of even the British MG or
Triumph and completely underpowered compared to the Austin-Healeys
or Jaguars. Mercedes had two choices, either return to the premise
of the original 300SL and build another pure sports car or create a
new grand touring sports car that would continue the reputation of
the SL's as touring cars rather than super racing cars. Mercedes
chose the latter with a compromise between the 190 and 300 with the
introduction of the W113 platform 230SL which was a two-seat
roadster/coupe, introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show and the
series was continued through 1971.Like the Gullwing before it, the
230SL had a distinguishing feature which was its removable hardtop
with a distinctive dip in its center to offer tall windows to
create a better balanced side view and more headroom for passengers
getting in and out while still maintaining a low sporty roofline
from the front and rear and which earned the car the nickname
'Pagoda' roof. It also proved an efficient way to remove rainwater
and channel it away from the car. Top speed was about 115mph which
was better than the 190SL but not in the same class as the
300SL.All models were equipped with an inline-six cylinder engine
with multi-port fuel injection. The hood, trunk lid, door skins and
tonneau cover were all made of aluminum to reduce weight. The
comparatively short and wide chassis, combined with an excellent
suspension, powerful brakes and radial tires gave the W113 superb
handling for its time. The styling of the front, with its
characteristic upright Bosch 'fishbowl' headlights and simple
chrome grille, dominated by the large three-pointed star in the
nose panel, paid tribute to the then already legendary 300 SL
roadster.The 280 SL was introduced in December 1967 and continued
in production through 23 February 1971, when the W113 was replaced
by its successor, the entirely new and substantially heavier R107
350 SL. Over the years, the W113 evolved from a sports car into a
comfortable grand tourer and US models were by then usually
equipped with the 4-speed automatic transmission and air
conditioning. Manual transmission models were much rarer and came
with the standard 4-speed or the optional ZF 5-speed, which was
ordered only 882 times and thus is a highly sought-after original
option today. In Europe, manual transmissions without air
conditioning were still the predominant choice.The main change for
the 280SL model in 1967 was an upgrade from the 2,496 cc 250SL
engine, which itself had been upgraded from the 2,306cc 230SL, to
the 2,778 cc (2.8 L) M130 engine with 180HP which finally gave the
W 113 adequate power. The wide track and low body of the 280SL
offered exceptional handling noted at the time by numerous car
magazines and publications.This particular example simply must be
seen to be appreciated - the original factory and most striking
'Midnight Blue' (Code 904) color paint has been professionally
repainted at some point and is in excellent shape. The chrome work
is all excellent and the all original interior is in exceptional
shape throughout with all the gauges and switches and levers all in
very good shape, the dashboard is perfect and the carpets all in
amazingly beautiful condition throughout with all of it's original
specifications intact! The car also boasts it's original matching
'Dark Blue' German canvas soft top is also in very good shape with
only quite minor signs of wear for it's age and the matching
factory hard top is in very good condition. The car has only been
driven very few miles in recent years and is in great driving
condition with the original 6 cylinder engine having very good and
even compression on all six cylinders.The car is well equipped with
its very desirable original factory 'Frigi-king' air conditioning,
factory clock, automatic transmission, power steering and two tops.
This must be one of the finest and rarest mostly all original
accident free example's available anywhere of this highly
collectible and desirable last year 1971 legendary 280SL roadster
with no accidents or rust!
