our polished 1964 230SL

[MBenzNL]

I finished polishing our 1964 230SL inside and out and it took me about 6/7 days (currently I hate chrome trims inside a car).
It is the first time that the car got polished after the restoration was finished 7 years ago (I don't like washing and polishing cars that much; I prefer to use them).

Anyways; here are some of the pics I recently took:










Since I had to suffer that long to get that car polished, I figured you should suffer looking at it!

greetingz,

[hill]

I suffered so much looking at your pics. I saved one to wallpaper. Thamks for the look. Darryl

[ebennz]

steve,
it looks great!
does your father mostly drive this car?
tell us, of all the mercedes roadsters you have which is your favorite and why?

i saw at your website you said you were disapointed in the handling abilities of your 107. describe what you mean. i am "hot to trot" after a 107. i don't expect it to corner like a porsche or ferrari,but hoping there's not too body roll + lean.
i have intentionally not driven one yet[i don't want to catch "new" car fever]. as some of you know that disease can be fatal!

thanks steve,

peter

[MBenzNL]

Darryl,

Thanks! If you want to have an 1196 pixels wide picture for your wallpaper, I can send you some original pics (instead of the 500 pixels wide picture you have down loaded from the web).

Peter,
My father mostly drives the 1964 230SL; that is right. I drive it occasionally when I feel like cruising around in a social way...I never floor that car and only rev it up to 3000-3500rpm.

The R170 SLK200 is a very harsh ride. The car is set on a reasonable height, but the OEM shocks and springs are fairly stiff, which makes the ride pretty harsh. It is fun to drive though (I am used to harsh rides ) and it corners very well. The R170 is worth being called a sports car.

My own R129 300SL-24 is my personal favorite as far as the handling of the car goes. It is a very tight ride and the handling of the car is just as good as the ride of my lowered and sport-shocked C250D. The R129 is definitely a sports car pur sang.


The W124 300CE-24 conv. is a very nice ride as well. The handling is not as tight as that of the R129, but it does not need to be changed.
The car itself (engine and auto transmission) runs and shifts like new. Driving this car is a lot smoother as driving the R129 300SL, but I hope that the R129 300SL will run a lot better as soon as I am finished with it (currently under heavy construction).

The 1985 W107 300SL was nice to drive as well, because it was the only convertible I was used to (my parents bought it 8 years ago and back then this was our first drivable convertible). I have taken this car to St Tropez several times to enjoy the sunny weather during my holidays, but this car was just not capable of keeping up with my own 1985 190D in the French mountain roads (which I owned back then and was driven by one of my friends).
The handling of the W107 300SL was not something you would/should expect from a ports car. I even made a 180-degree turn at 130km/h (80mph) on a narrow coast road (with a high rocky mountain at my left and a 8m lower sea level at my right) because the rear broke loose in one of the bends (a little sooner as even I expected).
The W107 is nice to drive as long as you only use it for cruising trips and as long as you don't want to race anyone or yourself.
Buying a (MB) convertible is something I can strongly recommend!!!

greetingz,

[tahodgson]

Just a thought on the "sports car" aspect of the W107...
I have an '87 560SL, and despite the power of the big engine, this car is clearly for touring. I've never pushed it around curves or even explored triple digit speeds (although it is wildly satisfying to be able to squirt from 70 to 90 in the blink of an eye to pass a truck).
Keep in mind, my previous sports car was a '74 MGB roadster...another touring car, albeit tiny. The Mercedes Benz handles dramatically better than the B.
But the W107, for me, is just a wonderfully comfortable touring car, which cruises along with its creamy-smooth ride, clearly designed for comfort, rather than curves.
Or, is it just that I'm sitting on my AARP Card?

[rmasteller]

That's one beauty of an SL!! I can't wait go get my '66 cleaned up as much as possible and post some photos.

[jjrodger]

MBenz, I forgot you are a convertible man as well, regarding you until now only as a C-Class expert. That is one hell of a project you've got on there (or should I say two, including the 300 CE-24).

My local dealer has a R129 for sale. It belonged to an acquaintance of my father. It was very much his pride and joy. He has traded the car for a C230k SC (not sure why, but hey). Anyway, I know the car is honest, has never been banged, and has not been clocked.

It is a late 1995 SL320 in Brilliant Silver over black leather. It has the 24 valve 3.2 litre straight six. It has done 52,000 miles (80k km). The car has a few extras. It also has what I thought were the 1997 mods: rounded bumpers and side panels with two oval vents rather than three square ones. When were these updates made?

The dealer wants £25,000 for the car (approx US$37,500). It will come with a Signature warranty (like Star Mark). This covers everything including the cat for unlimited mileage for one year.

Well, is it going to cost me an arm and a leg to keep on the road or can I run it as a cheap(ish) but special second car (I would do about 7,500 miles a year)? Could it be used as a daily driver?

Is there anything I should look for in particular? I've only had a cursory look at it in the back of the dealer's lot. It hasn't been prepped yet, but is in pretty good condition, unmarked paint, hardly marked alloys. The interior has no marks or tears but does look a little old.

Needless to say, I'm desperate to buy this car and need some good common sense talking!

[MBenzNL]

Jonathan,

In my honest opinion there is just no better choice as a R129 6-cylinder SL as a second car! This model is a pleasure to drive; it is fabulous and I am sure that I won't sell my SL for the next decade(s).

Personally I prefer a simple 6-cylinder and do not want to have an 8 or 12 cylinder equivalent (too expensive to drive and, to insure and to maintain).
The handling is great (my 300SL is bone stock and handles as good (if not better) as my lowered C250D with adjustable sport shocks.

The new (rounded) bumpers and side panels were added in 1995 and these do look a lot better as the older versions (although they looked good as well). I bought myself an older SL about 2 years ago, because that was the only thing I could afford (I didn't want to spend twice the amount of money for an updated SL). If I were to buy a SL at this moment, it would surely be one with the newer bumpers and panels (because I know now how much of a hassle the conversion is).

I don't know how much insurance money you will have to pay in the UK, but it might be something to look into.
The car is not expensive to maintain. Just check whether the car suffered from an accident before (but you probably already know the history of the car) and check the engine for oil leaks.

If you can afford it and if you think you will enjoy the topless rides in rainy old England; GO FOR IT!

greetingz,

[jjrodger]

MBenz,

Thanks for your thoughts. I do know the history of the car and I know it has never been in an accident, even a minor one. I haven't had the opportunity to check for oil leaks yet. I gather the 3.2 litre 24 valve engine can suffer cylinder head gasket problems. A colleague as an E320 coupe which ideally would have a top end rebuild, but it runs fine in the meantime and he isn't going to keep it much longer.

Insurance is not too bad. I thought I would have real difficulty getting anyone even to think about insuring me but I've had several affordable quotes (I spun an SLK into a tree two years ago, so my record is... erm, blemished).

I was at the dealer again today, very nearly traded my C200 for a C200k Sport Coupe with the new sequential manual gearbox (another story). They were in the middle of prepping the SL320 i am interested in. the paintwork is excellent for a 1995 car, truly unmarked. The grille has a ding in it which I think they are going to fix. The wheels (16" polished 8 hole alloys) have minor scuffs which will be fixed. Needless to say the hardtop is present and the soft top looks in pretty good condition.

Seriously tempting! I am going to take the car for an over night test drive. I will let you know how I get on: I wouldn't really want to buy so much car at the moment, but I think this might be a good opportunity. If I don't take this one I will wait until the new SL comes out in the hope that the R129 suffers a bit of depreciation. maybe lots of people will trade old for new to my advantage!

[G-Benz]

While I do keep an eye out for "nuances" in body style changes over the years, I am perplexed as to why you guys want to do conversions on such perfectly good vehicles?

Down here, most "average Joes" can't tell the difference between a 1990 and a 2001 SL (and to be honest, until I got one, neither could I).

Any worries about resale value? I don't know about everyone else's disposable income, but I enjoyed giving the SL to my wife for a birthday present, but the payments really hurt me every month...

My Beetle has gone through extensive modifications, but hell, it's a Bug! This thing went for $3000 new back then, whereas I could get a decent 3-bedroom house for the price of a new SL600!

Granted, I think the conversions are really awesome (I'd like to do one too)! But wouldn't that hurt when the time comes to trade it in?

[MBenzNL]

Originally posted by G-Benz
Any worries about resale value? I don't know about everyone else's disposable income, but I enjoyed giving the SL to my wife for a birthday present, but the payments really hurt me every month...

No worries at all! I modified my C class knowing that I would drive it till it runs no longer. I bought the car with 125k km some 3,5 years ago and the car has run 383k km right now. I still enjoy getting in the car every single time I have to travel across the Netherlands and I am sure that I will keep driving it up to 5-600k km. Whenever I get tired of that car, my (future) girlfriend/wife will drive it (I do not tend to sell my life’s work).

The 300SL was a boys dream and I really wanted to have a 1995+ model, but these were too expensive (I don't want to lent money for buying a car). I choose to buy an older car and modify it myself, knowing that this car would not be sold either. I want to keep it at least another 20 years and I might buy a newer SL in the future, but not to replace this one (just another additional car).

I just like driving my cars more after I have modded them...

greetingz,

[jjrodger]

MBenz,

I'm wavering on the 320SL... I tested a C43 today, which is slightly more money but only 18 months old with 13k miles (20k km). Silver paint on black leather, fully loaded. Decisions, decisions...

Meanwhile the miles mount up on my humble C200 and I enjoy it more and more, although there remains a highly irritating rattle from behind the dash.

[G-Benz]

Since my wife won't let me touch HER car, so I was thinking about getting me 80's -style SL...a 380, 450 or 560. I've always liked the way they looked, and back when I had more hair, it was my dream car.

I was confident that once out of college, I would land a job that would pay me well enough to get one as my first car (until reality and old college loans set in).

Should I fully expect to surgically implant a 10mm wrench to my hand if I decide to get one?

[jjrodger]

G-Benz,

I see a lot of these cars about, being driven gently about town and through the countryside and they look great. I think if you get the right one, look after it, and don't drive it hard, it'll last forever. They don't reward hard driving anyway, I gather, more a gentle cruiser.

In the UK these cars now suffer negative depreciation, which makes them an excellent purchase, almost an investment!

In my view the very late model with the 18 (or 15?) hole alloy wheels and the ribs along the door bottoms is best, probably with the 3.0 litre straight six. Black metallic with grey interior or red with beige would be nice; perhaps white with beige or black? There are a host of enthusiast sites where you can check them out.

[MBenzNL]

The W107 SL is updated in 1985 (different rims, bumpers and door handles amongst other things). If you consider buying a W107, try to get an updated model (85-89) like jjrodger suggested.

Personally I think they look better and the interior is more of this time as in the pre-85s...just my opinion.

greetingz,