Hello to you all. I've already enjoyed reading many of the posts here and hope I'll be able to add something to the forum (eventually) instead of just benefitting from it.
I'm a new vintage(?) Mercedes owner as of a couple of weeks ago. In fact it's my first Mercedes of any kind and I bought it for my wife who has always adored the 107 convertibles. I've tended toward Bimmers myself and also have a beautiful '84 533i, but this little 300 is making a convert out of me. I stumbled onto it on eBay and once I saw that it was a 5-spd, I knew I had to check it out. It was supposed to be an '88 and, with only 105k excellently maintained miles, it promised to be a winner. It just returned from my Indie shop where it passed state inspection needing absolutely nothing and, having impressed everyone there, proved I had made a good choice. The previous owner was as wonderful a guy as you'd ever want to meet or do business with and the car reflects it.
Anyway, I think I've got something very special here but am struggling to find just how many 300SL's were ever produced with 5-speeds, anywhere in the world. I know they weren't imported to the US but it seems that they may have never even been built in any significant numbers. I'm currently in contact with the MB vintage site and am awaiting a response as to production quantities (they already sent me an image of the car's build card which shows a Feb. '86 build date). If anyone can provide me any updates or other places to look, I'd be extremely grateful! As soon as I figure out how to attach a picture, I'll update the thread.
Thank!

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1986 300SL 5-spd.
2001 Audi 2.7t 6-spd.
2000 Audi A4 1.8t 5-spd. (wife's)