Only 665 280ce's were produced in `85 - none for the US market. And mine is the only five-speed I've come across (heard of one other that a guy owned some twenty years ago). I wonder how many of the 665 were slushboxes versus manual. nk

__________________
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock."

Hatteras, I have never seen a US market 126 with fabric upholstery in my life. I was not aware that velour was even available in this part of the world.

Was yours reupholstered? My car has the option tags which are found in the service booklet and also fastened to the bottom of the rear seat cushion. I understand that the option codes could set this straight.

Mine's not rare, but it is rarely seen... astral silver/black leather 1981 300SD. How could anyone order the green/green combo etc., when this was available? It's a similar combo to 75% of the inventory at my nearby MB dealer in 2005! Timeless!

Rob I don't have any service records from the PO. No paper trail, just the manual. From what I can tell from the codes and vin the interior color and material are what the car was born with. I have never seen another SDL with velour seats. I have only seen two other W126's with it. One Euro 280SEL, and a 560SEL. Both were grey market cars however. The SDL was strickly a North American model so velour seats should have never found their way into one. I have been told by a few people that if a customer was a real good one MB would do them special favors. Ie they could get cars with non standard options.

It is a CA car, the vac diagrams match up perfectly to a CA version. The first owner kept it to 79k miles in 1994. Then the guy I bought it from picked it up. He had it for 10 years until I got it.

__________________
2006 CL500
2009 C300 4matic
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hmm, I guess so. If the VIN and codes check out, that makes sense. I always thought that standard on 300SE/SD/SDL/420SEL (whichever was the "entry level" S class at the time of manufacture) came with Tex, with a leather option. Interesting that you've only seen cloth in grey market cars... that was how I figured the options were configured.

Seeing as how in 1989 my father owned a 1965 230SL which had a completely factory-quality armrest between the seats (I have never seen this on another Pagoda and i've looked at probably 50 of them) and our neighbor had a 1986 560SL which was purchased from dealer inventory with a kinder-seat with MB seatbelts (I'm aware this was available in Europe, but so were cloth seats in a 126!), I'd believe that sometimes one could order very unusual options!

I know it has been exactly one year since this thread last saw any activity, but I have good reason to add to it again. Recently I purchased another MB, this one a very rare model that has always been on my dream list. Only being manufactured in LHD and never being sold in Oz, had me thinking it would be a dream I would never realise.

It is a 1981 500SLC. This is not only the rarest 107 series badge, but one of the rarest MB models produced in the last 50 years. I believe just 1133 of the 500SLC were manufactured. The 500SLC (manufactured 1980-81) is a 107026 chassis series which was shared by the similar 450SLC-5.0 (manufactured 1978-80) of which I believe there were 1636 made. The 107026 was a lightened version of the SLC (as a result of using an all alloy 5 litre V8 and some aluminium body panels) and was built for homologation as a WRC rally car (I believe 15 were built as factory rally cars).

I spotted this car in an auction catalogue recently and decided since the auction was in Sydney it was worth a look. All 153 cars were part of a private collection belonging to one anonymous collector. Perhaps as a results of being a LHD car (we drive RHD cars in Oz) there did not appear to be much interest in the 500SLC. I was therefore the successful bidder on what appears to be an original car in reasonable condition for a good price.

For some photos of the car in the auction warehouse see my thread in our Aussie club forum at http://www.mbcnsw.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,1486.0.html

For details of all the interesting cars in the auction and results in Aussie dollars (AU$1 approx = US$0.75) see http://www.bonhamsandgoodman.com.au/auctions_results_view.php?auction=85&year=2006

Greg

__________________
107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

my 84 280e euro five speed is a perhaps unique combination of options. crank windows no air no sunroof, vented front rotors and 369 rear end.

and now it has h and r lowering springs on it.

tom w

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Only 2300 built of my 16v.

Any euro spec is rare in the US. Remember that just because you don't see another car often on the road, like a W123. Doesn't mean it's rare.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

In my 84 W123 sales literature, they say velour is a North American option, but we all know it's not. MB has been known to break the rules for some people.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

How about a w124 diesel with the Sportline? I've always been told they were available in Europe, but I have yet to see one.

Rare in the US would also be my w123 280E manual tranny with ABS. Tom Walgamuth knows what I mean!

__________________
- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

1964 Mercedes-Benz : L319 Van - Bus 21 Window

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

Yes in my W126 sales literature velour was an option on all of them, guess no one opted for it. But they just say its availible, they don't say how soon, much ect.

__________________
2006 CL500
2009 C300 4matic
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Adam,

By that do you mean that 2300 of the 16v were built for the North American Market? As the 16v W201 models were never officially sold in Australia, they are rare here (although I have a friend in our club with a 2.3-16 manual and another friend in our club with a 2.5-16 auto and I have also seen a very low kilometre 2.5-16 Evo II in a private collection here). On a world-wide basis they were not quite so rare (other than the Evo models). Having said that, I would still be very happy to own one purely on the basis of them being a significant car in MB history, much like my recently aquired 500SLC.

Figures I have for the 16v W201 state production figures at:
201.034 (190E 2.3-16) 19,487
201.035 (190E 2.5-16) 5,743
201.036 (190E 2.5-16 Evo I) 502
201.036 (190E 2.5-16 Evo II) 502

Greg

__________________
107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

I know worldwide they had a must greater production run, although not huge. But here in the US we only had 2300 to spread over a large population, so I would still call it relatively rare here. I should have worded my original post differently.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

well this thread shocked me when i found out how rare my car is , i was lucky to pick up a rough running 300ce 3.4L amg in the uk (hampshire) for a price i shall not repeat otherwise you'll hate me loads lol , i found the fault was a weak fuel pump and a new dizzy cap and arm , it now runs like a dream , has 180,000km on the clock (110k miles) and is in very good condition

About 9 years ago when I was shopping for my 420SEL I checked out a couple of 560s at a dealer in New Brunswick and one had the velour upholstery. The dealer told me it was quite a pricey additional cost.

__________________
Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired