There are a few cars on my short list that I’ve promised myself I would own before I die. The Porsche 911. An Alfa Romeo Spider. A Maserati of some sort. And this car, the Mercedes-Benz SL. Having grown up in the 1980s, the R107 was the “it” car for that generation. When the new SL appeared on the scene in 1989 for the 1990 model year, it was a giant leap forward for two seater Mercedes-Benzes. For the first time in years you could have a six cylinder SL with a 5 speed manual transmission in the US, which was a surprise, as the Mercedes-Benz product managers were a lot more stodgy in those days than today. This new R129 roadster would carry the SL moniker into the 21st century and hand off the baton to the R230 SL in 2003 after 200,000 examples of six, eight and twelve cylinder roadsters emerged from the factory. Here is a low mileage final year example of the popular SL500 on offer.
2002 Mercedes-Benz SL500 on eBay
2002 Mercedes-Benz SL500 roadster with AMG package. This is the last year of production of this beautiful roadster! This is a very well maintained, extra clean vehicle with only 37K original miles. Immaculate vehicle, non-smoker. Maroon exterior is in great condition and the tan leather has been kept extremely clean. All the wood trim is in great shape. Soft top is like new and was barely used. All the convertible mechanism works perfect. The vehicle is loaded with options such as power windows and power locks, power mirrors, power seats with memory, dual heated seats, cruise control, A/C with dual zone climate control, AM/FM radio w/cassette player, 6 disc CD change, Bose sound system, xenon headlights, keyless entry and many options more! All the options function accordingly. The powerful V8 5.0L engine runs great and automatic transmission shifts smoothly into gears.
I’ve always admired later model R129s. With the staggered AMG wheels and subtle styling tweaks, they have a butch look about them. With power from the 5.0 liter V8, it has the muscle to back up the appearance. Running costs will certainly be a bit more than your average midsized sedan, but these final year R129s represent a good investment as a future classic. They represent a period in time at Mercedes-Benz when price was no object when it came to engineering.
-Paul