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About a month ago I took a look at a 2003 Mercedes-Benz CLK55 AMG that you wouldn’t think to be all that rare, but was actually just one of about 750 cars for the model year. Keeping with the rare Mercedes-Benz coupe thing, I wanted to rewind the clock back to the mid-1990s and check out a car that is even rarer — the S600 Coupe. Towards the end of the W140 run, Mercedes really cut down production on the V12 cars for North America much more than you would think. This 1997 up for sale in Georgia is just one of 348 for the model year. The lesser S500 Coupe was nearly triple that number with 933 cars imported, while 3,510 S500 sedans were sold in 1997. Now that these are reaching full-on classic status, demand for them is high and so are prices for the low-mile cars.
“I don’t think it is necessary to explain to those who understand.”
That’s the only description from the selling dealer for today’s car. Granted, that was translated from Japanese, but it is the general gist of it. If you know you know, if you don’t, this isn’t the car for you. The iconic W140 Mercedes-Benz S600 punched out to 7.0 liters by AMG Japan and equipped with a bunch of other little special touches. In terms of 1990s sedans, this is up there. The price? Well, if you have to ask…
Long live the V12! In all seriousness, I’m not breaking any news here saying the V12 engine is not long for this world. The return just isn’t there for companies with the emissions regulations and you can make comparable power with turbochargers, superchargers, and electric batteries. Thankfully we have roughly 30 years of them to choose from and they seem to be aging reasonably well, all things considered. My favorite V12, the Mercedes-Benz M275, can be had across various of platforms and it seems the secret is out about them. Today’s car, a 2014 SL65 AMG, came with a giant sticker price of over $215,000, but that doesn’t mean you are going to be snagging this one for $48,000 some eight years later. Not even close.
Fresh off the craziest Porsche 911 color combo I’ve ever seen, today we have a Mercedes-Benz that is ready to join the party. This 1993 600SL looks innocent enough on the outside, but once you open those doors, the 1990s slap you right in the face. The dealer in Germany is claiming this is a one-off pre-merger AMG and while I’m normally skeptical of any dealer claim, I think I am buying this story. Although that is the only thing I’m buying once you see the asking price. Hold on.
I’m not exactly breaking any news here, but if you want an R129 Mercedes-Benz 600SL/SL600 at somewhat of a reasonable price, don’t sit around too much longer. The cream of the crop is already selling for a ton of money, and the very nice examples have quickly risen to a level where you really have to love these cars to spend the amount of money they are demanding. Thankfully there still are some not-so expensive ones out there on the market, but I think it is very clearly becoming a “you get what you pay” situation on them. Today’s example, a 2000 SL600 up for sale outside of Boston, sure seems to be one of those cases.
