The new season is out, and Wayne consigned a 190SL at the Amelia Island RM auction at the Ritz. Final sale price of 200k plus commissions. A world record for a 190SL. Another 1970 280se 3.5 convertible brought 220k. Also a record.

The winning bidder speculated it will be worth double in 10 years.

I remember scoffing at a 40k asking price on a 190SL with a very high quality restoration 6 or 7 years ago. Thought it ridiculous. I also remember during my first Barrett-Jackson auction attendance back in 2004 a restored gullwing bringing high 300s. Now they're over a million.

Seems pagoda parts and sale prices have been shooting up alot too.

Guess the top 1% have found something new for their investment portfolio. Will the bubble burst on these like the million dollar hemi cudas that are now worth 250k?

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

People can't get their hands on a 300SL anymore so they go for the next best thing. Six years ago my Mercedes mechanic told me the 280se 3.5 convertible on the lift in his shop was insured for $125K and I was flabbergasted...I can see that car go up to $500K in the next decade.

All cars you mentioned I see people driving them here as semi daily drivers. I will be more carefully around them in the future.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I was offered an original owner 190SL that ran and was in good shape for 19k back in 2000. Oh how times have changed. I really like the 280SE 3.5 Coupe and would like to have one. I have also been looking for a 300SEL 6.3 that I can put away for later restoration. I think they will be high valued at some point.

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2001 G500 (45k and counting)
1991 350SDL (211 and counting)
1998 C43 (50k) Silver/Black (sold)
1995 E500 (40k and counting) Pearl Black/Anthracite (sold)
1991 300CE (50k and counting) Silver/Black Cloth (sold)
1983 300D - 79k Classic White/Blue Leather
2002 E55 Obsidian Black/Black
1996 S600 Coupe - 75k Black/Black (traded)
1984 300D -145k (sold)
Silver Blue Metallic/ Blue Leather
1985 300D - 87k (sold)
Manganese Brown/ Palomino Leather
2005 E55, 50k(sold)
Flint Gray/Black

I'm afraid I have to agree with most all.....but I don't see it as a 1% thing.

If the SL Pagodas are the next BIG easy thing, I'm in. I liked 'em when I was a teenager - what few (prolly 2 or 3) I saw growing up in West Omaha, circa late '60s early '70s. I still like 'em, and could see picking up a couple three to garage and dote on in my twilight years. A few 280SLs would be right up my alley, provided they were in authentic, original condition.

Pagodas are big but no easy thing. You better hurry up.

ebay1
ebay2
ebay3

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

RE: ebay #3 @ $89K is a little rich for flipping purposes anytime soon.

I have to believe that with some shopping and patience you could probably find many examples in the $30K to $40K range. To my knowledge, they are not all that scarce. Not yet anyway.


The SLs remind me of some poor miscreant in my MBCA Club that thought he had found the Mother Lode in a semi-trashed late '60s SL fixxer-upper he probably paid waay too much for (I'd guess $20K +/-) several 7+ years ago. This guy got really touchy when several MB diesel owners were discussing that given it's shabby condition, it would make a heck of a good MB if only it had a turbodiesel engine in it.

Wish I could have known. When I first got to Germany in 1969, a guy I knew, bought a pretty decent 190SL for 3000 Marks. At the time, that was about $750.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Actually earlier this year I met the owners with an SL like that and as soon as I saw it I asked if it was purchased at that dealer. (Which it was )

They mentioned that they knew they were paying a premium for it but that it was worth it as it was in near perfect condition and they could always swap it out for a different car with little fear of depreciation.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Always wanted a 190SL, oh well...scratch that from the list

Where are the values for the 230/250/280 SL's these days?

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'83 300D, 126K miles.

Between $25K and $90K.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I think this has to do with the overall consumer knowledge of Mercedes in general.

Fifty years ago only the wealthy drove Mercedes because there were not that many good old ones out there that did not cost a fortune to maintain. A Gullwing was interesting, but if you wanted a sports car an XKE was far more fun to drive. By the way... It still is.

But as Mercedes increased the life of its' cars and they started to filter down to the unwashed masses more and more people found they were just the greatest thing when it came to cars and they became Mercedes fanatics. Throw in the fact that the older Mercedes that survived are rare and add in the fact that a lot of people with money want one and you get a high demand.

Rolls-Royce Shadow Converts can be had, in very good condition, for around $45,000 and they are also very nice to drive. But Royce does not have the following Mercedes has. When was the last time you knew of a Royce nut?

Also Mercedes owners tend to know quite a bit about how their cars work. The average Royce owner knows little or nothing about their cars, at least the ones I have met fall into this class of owner.

But anytime people start talking about cars as an investment I smell a bubble. I have seen several of these car bubbles over the last fifty years, and it appears we are heading into another one now with older Mercedes.

There were two male hairdressers that lived in our neighborhood that drove a dark gray and worn looking 190SL ragtop in the mid-1960s. That was the only MB 190SL I ever remember seeing as a kid. Not many MBs in Omaha in that timeframe. Very few.

-starts buying all of the w123's I can find-

The Clk Man Mobile ought to be worth about $4000 by now.

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