1969 280SL

Good afternoon,

I am looking at a 1969 280 sl, 4sp manual.
I am not familiar with this car and would like to know what to look for : Known sopt for rust, known mechanical problems, etc.

Also what would be desireble options?

finally I heard that with the serial# you can get all information about the car, where it was bought, color options serial# of different parts etc. is this available on the WEB ? Where ?

my intention is to drive the car daily in the summer. The car is from canada.

Please let me know Thanking you in advance

Alani Routhier

The 1971 was the last year for it in the US But few are available. I worked on a perfect one today with 40K original miles on it and it was fun to drive. The later ones were more desireable.

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Benzmac:
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
LEAD TECHNICIAN FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

Cars designed for "sport" use that are 30 years old don't make good "daily-drivers"!! At best the car should be a week-ender.
You might find out how to spend a lot of $$$

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MERCEDES BENZ MASTER GUILD TECHNICIAN
ASE MASTER TECHNICIAN
27 YEARS M.B. TECH

M.B. Doc,
What's the biggest problems with using an older "sport" car for "daily" driving? What big money items do you run into by driving a 25-30 year old car 6,000 to 8,000 miles per year? I am trying to decide what kind of older roadster (230sl, 280sl, TR6, MGB, Alfa, etc.) to get and use "daily".

What's your opinion?

Rmastell

What percentage of cars over 30 years old are driven daily?? Esp. expensive sports cars that require tender care & daily doses of $$$
At best any of the cars that you listed should be week-enders. Just take my advise & save your money. Remember I make my living off of this type of car.

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MERCEDES BENZ MASTER GUILD TECHNICIAN
ASE MASTER TECHNICIAN
27 YEARS M.B. TECH

M.B.DOC,
I understand your expertise, so maybe my lack of experience is preventing the concept from passing through my thick skull. Here's my take on it. If I shop carefully (it took me 10 months to find a 9 year old 300ZX I approved of) I could get an exec. condition old roadster of some type for $6,000 to $14,000 and then put more money in it over time for maintenance. What's the cost difference between that and buying a new $26,000 mustang, celica, miata, or whatever brand new? Am I missing something?

rmastell

To continue,
I drove a 98,000 mile '64 230sl 4-speed yesterday that seemed to run well. Not much oil under the engine, transmission, or rear end. All the controls, gauges, and switches worked. The paint was faded and cracking, but it was still covering everything. The interior was worn, but very usable. The soft top was in great shape. There was a hard top. There was some rust underneath, but not much. There was also not a huge amount of rust prevention goop spread around, which I think some people actually use to hide rust. The guy was asking $12,500 for it. I will drive a 280sl automatic tonight for comparison and this person is asking the same price. How much of a money pit could these cars be?

Rodd

I live in northern california in the san francisco bay area. I, for one, can vouch for existence of many a 30yr+ car used as a daily driver.... the roads around here are full of them. Old mercedes, bmw, alfa, porche, etc. There may be some exenuating reasons though: california cars generally don't have rust problems, there are lost of devotees around here who maintain older cars as a matter of course. many people buy the older cars just because they are comparatively inexpensive, stylish, and can be maintained for less economic cost than purchasing a new car (given depreciation, interest expense, insurance, etc.). The trick is to find a well maintained car at a good price point and have fun!