Description
ORIGINAL RHD UK CAR WITH FULL SERVICE HISTORY The Mercedes-Benz W113 'Pagoda' Sports was introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show and replaced both the 300 SL (W198) and the 190 SL (W121). It was produced between 1963 and 1971 and a total of 48, 912 cars were built before it was replaced by the W107 series SL's in 1971. The car was developed under the auspices of Mercedes-Benz Technical Director Fritz Nallinger, Chief Engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut and Head of Styling Friedrich Geiger. The lead designers were Paul Bracq and Béla Barényi, who created its patented and slightly concave hardtop, which inspired the ''Pagoda'' nickname. All models were equipped with an inline-six cylinder engine with multi-port mechanical fuel injection with the first cars having a 2. 3 Litre engine followed by a 2. 5 litre for one year only in 1967 and finally the 2. 8 litre engine was installed in 1968 and continued through to the end of production in 1971. The bonnet, boot lid, door skins and hood cover were all made of aluminium to reduce weight and the comparatively short and wide chassis, combined with an excellent suspension, powerful brakes and radial tyres gave the W113 superb handling for its time. The styling of the front, with its characteristic upright Bosch ''fishbowl'' headlights and simple chrome grille, dominated by the large three-pointed star in the nose panel, paid homage to the earlier 300 SL roadster. This lovely Mercedes 280SL Pagoda Sports - Chassis No: the details below and Engine No: the details belowR was first registered to the owner of the Royal Swan in Blackwater, Camberley on 3rd April 1968 and since then it has had a further 7 owners over the last 57 years and it was in fact sold by us to the current owner in London on 15th December 2006. The car is finished in its original colour scheme of Silver Metallic with a Black leather interior, Black Mohair Soft Top and factory Hard Top and sitting on its original Steel Wheels with full-face colour matching wheel trims. During his 18 years of ownership, it has been driven very regularly and in fact he has covered just under 33, 000 miles which included lots of trips from London to his holiday house in North Wales. He has also had lots of work carried out on the car including an exchange Engine, new sills, repairs to floors, repainting of most of the car, a new Black Mohair Soft Top, reconditioned Automatic Gearbox, numerous new ancillaries and parts, and it has been regularly serviced with many of those carried out by ourselves. The history file contains invoices dating back to 1971 and it has been maintained by a number of Mercedes specialists during this time including Schmitt Automobiles in St Johns Wood for 10 years, Steve Redfearn in Wimbledon and Colin Ferns in Richmond. The car has now covered 171, 478 Miles in the 57 years since it was built in 1968, which equates to circa 3, 000 miles per annum, but only 30, 000 miles on the reconditioned engine fitted in 2008. The car is in overall very nice condition and is a very solid car with no serious corrosion issues, and the only flaws are a few tiny rust bubbles on a couple of panels, but we are going to attend to these before sale. The interior is very much original, but presentable, and both Hard & Soft Tops are in good condition. Due to the fact that this car has been driven far more regularly than many, which is of course good for the car, we have to say that it is one of the nicest Pagoda's we have driven for some time and both the engine and automatic transmission are superb. This is a very original car that has not had a full restoration, but it has had on-going works as and when required and is in very nice condition overall. Our asking price reflects the fact that it has not been the subject of a full restoration and is very reasonable for an original UK Right Hand Drive car with this service history when compared to many other RHD examples currentl
