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For me, the R129 Mercedes-Benz 300SL came one year too late. The US market was never privy to its predecessor, the R107 300SL, which was available with both automatic and manual gearboxes. This was always a favorite R107 variant of mine, its smooth 3.0 liter inline six seemingly more suited to this car’s size than a big V8. And of course, the available 5-speed manual was a huge attraction for me. Mercedes decided to take a little bit different direction for the 1990s and made available the six cylinder SL to North American customers, even with a manual gearbox option for a few years. This 300SL for sale in Illinois is a Canadian market SL with the 5-speed automatic gearbox in one of my favorite SL colors, Cabernet Red.
You could say that the Mercedes-Benz R107 has finally attained classic status. This was the Mercedes to aspire to for two decades and spanned a period of great change in automotive performance, safety and technology. Through it all, the R107 kept going on and on and on. Towards the end, we in the US market had but one model to choose from, the 560SL. Only Japan and Australia would see this model sold new. The rest of the world could chose from two V8 models, the 500SL and 420SL and the car we see here, the six-cylinder 300SL. For a car with such a storied number on its boot lid, few here in the US know about it. For the more spirited driver, you could even spec one with a 5-speed manual. This car is so equipped, showing less than 40,000 miles on the clock.
Perhaps it was reasonable planning that Mercedes-Benz would only offer the R107 SL in the US market with a V8. After all, production of this vehicle spanned a period where horsepower was down due to increasing emissions regulations. Thus, for almost 20 years, customers stateside were deprived of a six-cylinder SL. However, for 1986, a storied moniker reappeared: 300SL. This version of the R107 had the M103 single overhead cam inline-6 that we saw in numerous E and S-class models in the US. Weighing less than the 5.6 liter V8 had its advantages and proved to be a great pairing for this roadster. We’ve seen a good amount of 300SLs make their way stateside now that all of them produced are over 25 years old. This example for sale in California has lived much of its life here, being imported at a time when entry of gray market vehicles wasn’t as stringently regulated.
Following on to the 1998 Mercedes-Benz SL500 we featured yesterday to kick off convertible week, here’s that car’s grandfather: the 300SL Roadster. Painted in a similar hue of black, this example for sale in Los Angeles has lived there most of its life, originally being sold in Europe. This is an early build 300SL roadster on its fourth owner, having undergone a repaint in 1981 along with a few other items being refreshed.
We all dream about finding that holy grail in the barn, but it usually takes a lot of luck, years of tracking a rumor or lobbying a sometimes reluctant owner to sell off a vehicle that has been in the family for ages. Sometimes, though, you stumble across one, like I did with this 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing in original condition. This one is on sale from a German dealer but the car is currently located in the US. It’s not every day you’d shell out $1.4 million for a fixer upper, but they’re only original once. Will this car make a trek back to the homeland or will someone here on these shores snap it up before it shoves off to the port?
