For Sale at Auction: 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Chassis No. 111.027.12.004182

A sales sheet from Hatch & Sons records that this Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet was originally finished in Blue Metallic DB 387 with a Parchment leather interior. The sheet additionally lists Behr air conditioning, power windows, a Becker Europa radio, and a power antenna among its equipment. Additionally, it notes that the car spent some 20 years with one owner in Colorado before it was bought by its current owner from Hatch & Sons in May 1997.

Based in Wayland, Massachusetts, the Mercedes-Benz specialist spent the next 18 months restoring the car for its new owner. Starting with the bodywork, it was expertly refinished in Midnight Blue. With the engine removed for painting, it proved the ideal time to have the cylinder heads rebuilt and fit a new fuel injection harness. Perfectly complimenting the fresh paint work was a new dark blue canvas soft top. Inside, the seats were retrimmed with fresh Parchment leather. New dark blue carpeting and refinished Macassar Ebony wood trim completed the interior restoration. The rear bumper, belt molding, window surrounds, and taillight trim were rechromed, while the shifter was moved from the steering column to the center console. The final total topped $105,000 when the work was completed in late 1998.

Since then, the car has remained with the same owner in use across Arizona, Utah, and Southern California, with invoices on file from shops in all three states. In 2017, Sehmi Motors of West Los Angeles resealed all four brake calipers, and the same shop fitted a new rear hydropneumatic compensator the following spring. Nearly three decades after leaving Hatch & Sons, it still wears the Midnight Blue finish and Parchment leather from that restoration remarkably well. It additionally benefits from a recent October 2026 general service performed in preparation for sale.

With only 1,232 built, the 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet combined Mercedes-Benz build quality, elegant styling, and fuel-injected V8 power with seating for four under a folding top. M More than half a century later, this example, restored in 1998 and driven regularly since, shows just how well that formula has aged.