Looking for a Soul Mate R107

Dear Forum Members,

I have been going through your Forum for sometime now and I decided to become a member since I noticed you have members from all parts of the world and that is what attracted me to your Forum.

I live in Asia and I too have been bitten my the SL bug. I keep dreaming of owning one day and night and it is getting crazy.

I have looked around and found some interesting models.

1. 1971 280SL (roughly USD 20,000)
2. 1982 280SL (roughly USD 25,000)
3. 1984 380SLC (roughly USD 18,000)

I am still looking but it is not an easy task over here. I cannot afford anything higher than the 350 as we pay a lot on road taxes for bigger capacity cars. As it is, a 350 is very expensive..something like USD 1000 per annum on taxes.

Anyways, I have no clue as to what I should look for in choosing a 107. We can more or less forget about service history as ppl here do not bother much about keeping records in car services.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully, I will be able to find one by the end of January. Waiting for bonus.

Thanks for any help rendered to this lost soul.

Richard

[suginami]

I have mainly purchased all of my cars used, and the advice I give everyone is to get a car that has been maintained properly. In used cars, especially older Mercedes, maintenance is everything.

Since most people don't maintain their cars where you live, that makes your task difficult.

I would therefore expect every car you look at to need quite a lot of work. I would find a car that looks good inside and out, and has no rust. Then take it to a well-regarded shop that specializes in Mercedes cars, and have the technician go over the car. I'd expect the car to need a lot of work to get it in reliable condition, especially a new timing chain, chain guides, tensioner, maybe even new cam sprockets or even new camshafts if they show a lot of cam lobe wear.

So, I'd budget at least $2,000 to $3,000 (US dollars) in maintenance and repairs above the purchase price.

Thank you for your advise. Deeply appreciate it.

[kip Foss]

Check out www.collectorcartraderonline/adsearch.html. There are usually 80 to 100 slc's listed. I am not interested in sl's so I didn't check but I bet there are well into the 100's listed. Between there and Hemming's you will find as many as you need.

You might consider an slc since they are basically the same car but about half the price. I have been in Malaysia a number of times and between the rain and the heat I would recommend a hard top (slc). Besides that the slc is way better looking than the sl.

Your best bet, considering the taxes, might be a 280 slc. I had a 1975 model in Dubai and had the speedometer up to 140 mph. What I am saying is that considering the road conditions and traffic conjestion in Malaysia anything bigger that 2.8 liters is really wasted money.

Be careful of the 380 sl/slc. The engine has only a single row timing chain and if it breaks you are looking at BIG bucks to fix it. Read that as an entirely new engine. MB in the States wants about $2,000 just to change the chain and gears to a double row-(that is before it breaks. After that you are in for $8,000 for a new engine).

The 280sl will probably be slightly more expensive that a comprobable 450 only because there are more 450's.

You might check out Australia. I have seen a few slc's advertised from there.

Good luck.