Some pics of my '83 500sl AMG
 

These are not the best photos of the car, but the weather has turned to the worse and the car is in the garage at this point. Will get better ones when the weather inproves. What is the history of AMG at this time. Other then the body, what else is differtn about my car then a regual 500 SL that was made in 1983? Thank for any information...Nick.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...r/DSC00404.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...r/mercedes.jpg

* What does the sticker in the door jamb say next to "IMPORTED BY:"?
* Automatic or manual?
* Stock exhaust or AMG exhaust - the tips look stock, that'd be an indicator.

In 1983, except for individuals bringing AMG cars in themselves, Classic Motors in Chicago was the largest importer. In that year, even the Beverly Hills AMG etal were having Classic Motors bring the cars in, certify them, then roll them out across the country. Anything could be done to the car - a simple body kit, a suspension drop with new springs/shocks, and engine mods which for the r107 was polished/ported heads/intake and a hotter cam.

The door jamb sticker will tell me the most; what does your car have that doesn't look stock? Interior shots and underhood shots would help a bit.

The car was imported by mark doerfler. I will get the underhood shots asap...just trying study for tomorrows mid term too. Thanks for the info thus far and anymore that you can come up with. What is the history on yours?

non amg '85 500sl here. have the spoiler, did have the stock exhaust until upgraded. If I recall correctly my car is an inch or 2 lower than American models, other than that I don't know. Imported by my family and picked up in houston. Is there any engine performance difference other than the exhaust from amgs?

If your car was brought in by an individual (Mark Doerfler), then you'd have to find him to find the car's history. Going to http://www.whitepages.com/person and typing in "Mark Doerfler", I get eleven hits. If you can run the VIN through Carfax and see where it was registered early in its life, you might be able to match the location to one of the names. You could always call and ask anyway.

My car was imported by Richard Buxbaum of Classic Motors in Chicago. Buxbaum was big on bringing in Ferraris, Lambos, Maseratis, etc and when AMG started doing thier thing in the early 80s, Buxbaum secured the exclusive rights to be importer for AMG and created the company AMG of North America. My car was second AMG SL brought into the US - the first one didn't have ABS brakes, and the car was refused by the original owner. I bought the car from the original owner who bought it from Buxbaum in 1983.

The 500SL came with that spoiler, but the Euro versions had the same suspension as the US versions, so your car should not sit lower than a 380SL. The stock 500SL would pump about 235hp, and the AMG version with the polished/ported heads/intake, hotter cam, and new exhaust pumped out just short of 300.