Assuming you want to register it in BC? A fellow who goes by Iceman-something in the Diesel forum has all the answers.

The title has a space for lienholder information. If that space is blank, there is no lienholder known to the DMV. Protocol is to surrender the title to a lienholder. It's possible the seller surrendered the title then requested a duplicate before the DMV updated the records. I believe lienholder info is also in the registration card so ask for an original registration card.

If this car is a high value collectible then maybe he had it financed. Otherwise no bank or run-of-the-mill finance company is going to finance such an old car. I wouldn't be too concerned with liens at this point.

Any 450SL is over 15 years old so you shouldn't have any problem with emission and safety equipment. MB has some peculiar arrangements with Canada to prevent you from buying cheaper cars in the US so maybe there's a hitch I'm not aware of with R107s. US W210s require expensive modifications to meet Canadian specification. The whole thing reeks of MB politics.

Sixto
93 300SD 3.0