Description
Principal Facts
An extremely tidy, well sorted 280SL with a 4-speed manual transmission in a rare and very attractive colour combination of Metallic Red with Cognac Leather Interior. Offered for sale from a collection that includes concours-winning vehicles, the most recent owner has spared no expense in maintaining this Pagoda at the highest possible level.
Condition
In 2019, shortly after the current owner took delivery the car, he commissioned work on the inner and outer sills to be replaced, and at the same time the floors were replaced despite showing only minor signs of wear. The following year, a full re-trim of the interior in correct Mercedes Benz Cognac leather upholstery.
The fastidious nature of the most recent keeper is evident throughout the rest of the car, excellent paintwork, full corrosion protection underneath, that beautiful interior, even down to small details like recently re-chromed door handles all contributing to the overall feel of this Pagoda which has to be seen and driven to be fully appreciated.
From behind the wheel, it is easy to see that the efforts of the current owner haven’t just been focussed on the cosmetics, as this car drives exceptionally well. The fact that the current owner has done most of his mileage touring the continent is further testament to this car's reliability. Manual 280SL’s are less common than their automatic counterparts, which is a great shame as the 280 engine responds so well higher up the rev range making for a much more engaging driving experience.
History
Supplied new by Mercedes Benz in Munich in 1969, our Metallic Red Pagoda didn’t stick around in its homeland for long, exported to the UK in 1973. The history file which accompanies this car has records showing ownership as far back as 1979 when the car was purchased by a Mr. Landau. Ownership was swapped to his wife in 2004, and it would be a total of 31 years before they parted with it in 2010. The purchaser would be a Mr. O’Dell who bought the car to use at his holiday home in Mallorca, which he did until 2015 when the car returned to the UK. Mr O’Dell retained the car for a further three years despite only adding a further ~300km to the odometer over the next few years.
The current keeper then took over custody of this Pagoda in 2019, specifically looking for a European spec, manual transmission for classic touring, selecting this car after a lengthy search. Given the limited use over the previous few years, he set about a detailed programme of improvements such as the aforementioned sills & floors, retrim and a full mechanical overhaul to ensure reliable running. All his work is well-documented in the history file along with plenty of invoices, old MOT certificates, correspondence, ownership records and more.
Summary
Specified in an attractive colour scheme and immaculately presented, this Pagoda is sure to attract plenty of attention and admiration. Thanks to a no expense spared attitude to maintenance and improvements by the current keeper, this is easily one of the finest driving 280SL manuals we’ve ever had the pleasure of offering for sale. It’s a true drivers SL that is ideally configured for touring, be that here in the UK or on the continent. Cherished number plate not included.
