That is why the '84 and '85 500SL grey market roadsters are coveted in the USA.
They really are quicker; they came in Europe without cats in those days, so they had to be converted to US specs. Many converters were fly by night operations that tended to botch the conversions, and that meant some bad ones are out there.

I once took out a W126 280SE euro out for a test drive and it was surprisingly peppy for a large sedan like that one was. I don't know if the standard shift was available in the 500SE/SL but I don't think so.
You could get a R107/W126 manual in euro spec though and converted, there were some of these brought into the USA.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)