Quote:
Originally Posted by deanyel
I have no doubt some dealers changed badging, i would suspect always with the customer permission. Clearly that directive did not come from the factory. Mercedes still calls the car a 350SL. Changing a badge doesn't change the name of a car.
What makes later 450SLs undesirable, and widely viewed as such in my experience, is the loss of horsepower and the unsightly U.S. bumpers. I still say U.S. 350SLs are neat, be proud of what you have. That one year is often considered the second most desirable 107 behind the 560SLs.
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That's a lot of assumptions but the fact is that a 107043 is a 350SL and the 107044 is a 450SL. The earliest cars were badged 350SL's because the 450SL had not been released in the home market.
Aside from the badge, there is no difference between a US 350SL and an early US 450SL (pre 74). They both had vins starting 107044, the vins did not reset when they started badging them as 450SL's, the engines did not change (4.5's were sold in the US in W108's for a couple of years before the R107), the transmissions did not change and the bumpers did not change. It was the same car except the early cars had a 350SL badge on the trunk lid and a 450SL badge in the glove box. Things started to change in 74 with the larger bumpers, then cats, then CIS etc.
The Euro 350SL (107043) had a different engine and a different gearbox (4 speed auto instead of the later 3 speed). It may be more desirable if you find one in similar condition. The Euro 450SL also had a different engine which made more HP then the US 4.5 (225hp vs 190hp) so it's not apples to apples.
It's just a badge, and it's not technically incorrect. Besides, it's his car, if he wants to paint it pink and put sheep skin dash covers, he can and be just as proud of what he has.