Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I promise everyone, this is the last Mercedes-Benz R107 for awhile. I am just as sick of writing about them as you are reading about them, but I want to go full circle and look at this 1984 280SL up for sale in California. This European-spec car is the low man on the totem R107 pole but that doesn’t mean it is the worst of the bunch, at least not in my eyes. It uses the 2.8 liter M110 inline-6 that puts out a respectable (for the times) 182 horsepower and 176 lbâ‹…ft of torque.
Last week I looked at a 1985 Mercedes-Benz 380SL with just 1,500 miles on it. I was pretty underwhelmed with it because of the presentation and the fact that it looked like every other R107 that wasn’t beat to death. I was even more underwhelmed by the $75,000 asking price. To no one’s surprise, the car didn’t even up selling and they actually relisted it for $500 more at $75,500. Yeah, I don’t get it either. Today, I thought I’d present another 380SL at a much more reasonable price and actually in the same ballpark in terms of condition. The best news? This is a European-spec car so there is much to be excited about.
Last weekend I posted a 911SC Turbo-look Coupe that was of interest to me almost entirely for how it might compare with the car we see here: a 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe equipped with the M491 package. The 911SC was a non-factory conversion performed by one of its early owners utilizing the body, suspension and braking from an ’88 930. In effect, it recreated the M491 package for the 911SC. There are a whole host of factors to be considered with that car, but ultimately it represented a potential opportunity at getting into a Turbo-look 911 for less cost. While I thought the price was a bit too high, it appears it has sold so I guess someone saw the value to be had.
With significant mileage differences between them this M491 Carrera doesn’t make for a direct comparison with the SC, but the price increase is easily apparent. For some, however, that non-factory Turbo-look never really would have been under consideration. It is the real thing they’re after. Here we have the real thing. It’s one of the earlier models when quite a few more were built so it’ll be less expensive than a later G50-equipped Coupe. It’s said to be well documented and in its current condition it looks great!
I don’t necessarily like gold as a color for cars in general, but today’s featured vehicle might be an exception for me. This 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC up for sale in California not only shines from its golden paint, but it’s BBS RS wheels get in on the action as well. This European grey-market import has a shockingly low amount of miles in just 22,000 and change that probably explains why the condition is so great. The interesting thing is that I featured another gold SEC coupe with matching wheels a few years ago with a 1983 380SEC but that car wasn’t nearly as nice as this one and the price reflected it. The price for this pristine coupe? Probably what you would expect.
To celebrate the opening of the newly revised Nürburgring in 1984, Mercedes-Benz organized a friendly, yet still fiercely competitive race between some of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. That means names like Sir Stirling Moss, James Hunt, Alain Prost , Phil Hill, and upstart Ayrton Senna were among the drives in the field. What were they all driving? None other than the then-new 190E 2.3-16V. All of these cars were slightly modified for the race with bolt-in roll cages and some racing seats but other than that, they ran the cars as-is. The winner of the race was the 24 year-old Senna, which isn’t much of a surprise when looking back now, but the driver who finished 2nd? Nikki Lauda. This is his car he raced and yes, it is now for sale.
