The first modern classic that my father purchased when I was growing up was a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL. He had often talked about the SLs and how much he wanted one, so when an example of the W113 popped up he grabbed it. We shared many adventures in that car; I was a young teenager, and traveling to vintage car shows was a treat. Back then, although it was regarded as a pretty car, the W113 was already two generations old and was generally overlooked as a classic; indeed, it was easy to find plenty of clean examples well under $20,000. As the market progressed, times changed – the W113 came back into vogue as appreciation for the classic design matured into a greater market presence. It was no surprise, then, that the successor to the W113 – the R107 – slipped in value. To me, the R107 was always stuck a bit in no-man’s land. The W113 hadn’t been particularly sporty, but it was really quite a beautiful design. The R129 that replaced the R107, on the other hand, was a modern convertible with sporty engines and angular design language that brought the SL into modern times. So for many years the R107 languished, unappreciated despite the handsome if understated design and solid build quality. Languish it is no more, though; as the market begins to awaken to the classic style of the SL that carried Mercedes-Benz through two decades, prices have begun to rise – especially on pristine examples such as this Euro-market 1986 300SL:
