This is a very cool car, with tons of character and patina, and a genuine California specification and relatively recent import. It is one of the only 24,669 larger, more sought after 2.8 litre engine models of the coupe. As such this model is quite rare and sought after, and the value of nice examples is increasing. With a great background story, lots of paperwork and history, and a fantastic feel, this car would be a delight to own. They were known in the USA at the time of production to be of far superior build quality than anything available on the USA market at the time, and they were so solidly built that many of these cars have stood the test of time and mechanically are very very long lived. 
 

This car has a great background and history. This is an original USA specification car, registered in California. The vendor was visiting California and wanted to purchase a car to run about in, and stumbled upon this beauty.

They had a fantastic, trouble free week of motoring in the sunshine state and loved the car so much, they decided to have it shipped back home to the UK. After its arrival to the UK in November 2019 the car was trailered to its current dry storage location and has been in dry storage since. Included in the paperwork is lots of USA history, including California smog test tickets, the title to the car, lots of invoices for work carried out during its life.

At some point the car was declared as salvage with a previous owner, this reportedly was due to vandalism, however there is no evidence to confirm or deny this, however no signs of any major damage occurring are present. 

 

The interior is overall in good shape, having been re-trimmed to a high standard many years ago in a grey, almost velour like, fabric. This is most likely due to the original leather interior perishing due to age and the climate in California.

This re-trim suits the car very well and one could certainly picture this being a factory option, and does not look out of place at all. There is a very nice patina throughout, with some wear on the control surfaces that you would expect from a car of this age and milage, adding lots of character and history. Also some splitting of the dashboard vinyl, and the interior light lens is broken.

Beyond a few small areas needing some TLC and minor repair work, and due to having been sat in storage for a number of years, a thorough clean would go a long way. Overall a very cool, usable retro-feeling interior that is begging to be driven and enjoyed.

In the exterior department, the paint has a very cool and strong patina to it, with evidence of the beginnings of some repair work or sanding having taken place, and also some corrosion in places. specifically the lower edge of the boot lid has some holes in it due to corrosion, but these could be repaired and kept in keeping with the overall patina of the car.

To either run as a retro-cool patina’d coupe, or to restore to a high standard, this car is sure to please. Being a full USA specification, it really invokes the California feel, and will really give you the feel of the sunshine state. It also has the very cool pillar-less coupe design which really gives that panoramic view, a real delight to experience first-hand.

 The body is straight and the panels are overall in good condition, and the original Mercedes-Benz wheels appear straight and true. Despite the salvage title the had had acquired at some point during its life, this does appear to be on account of the paperwork, as all the bodywork is straight and true and shows no signs of having any accident damage repaired, and the paintwork has some other colours showing under the silver in places. Overall, a very cool exterior for restoration or to use as is. 

 

Mechanically the car is sound, the car has not been started since it was parked up in storage in late 2019 and will need to be transported by trailer by the buyer, however the build quality of these cars is superb and they are know to run for an incredible amount of miles, with some examples in taxi service having covered over a million miles!

As such the car should want for nothing more than a good service and check over. No issues were had when the current vendor used it in the USA. With the current shown milage of 12,417, would could assume it has gone around the clock, but is unknown as there is no history documenting this. Under the body everything is in very good condition, with very minimal corrosion as you would expect from it being a dry-state car and having been dry-stored in the UK. 

 

A very retro, cool, California import Mercedes-Benz coupe, with that fantastic pillar-less panoramic view and sweeping roofline, and tons of patina and charm. With a little TLC, and registering for a V5, this car is sure to please.

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