Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Coupe with the 4-speed manual gearbox we featured early this year is back up on offer, having been previously listed at $84,500. These cars were classics with a modern heart. With the manual gearbox, it’s quite the rare W111.
After failing to sell in 2014, the Euro-spec manual 280SE with some AMG bits that appeared here twice last year is back up for sale with a lower price but from the same seller. This car appears to be really unique and well presented and would certainly turn heads at any show. I especially love the over the top AMG-spec wheels and Euro-goodies that slim down and beef up the S-Class just a bit. At $9,999, this seems like a good deal for a great vintage Benz:
Even though it is over 40 years old now, the 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet was a throwback to the past, even in the early 1970s. This is a chassis that had it’s roots in the late 1950s and was assembled largely by hand in small numbers. By 1970s, the W111 coupe and cabriolet would get a shot of adrenaline by way of Mercedes’ new 3.5 liter V8 engine. While a few coupes were offered with a 4-speed manual, all cabriolets would be equipped with a 4-speed automatic. Want to look posh? Fewer cars embody that word better than this white over blue leather 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet for sale in Mississippi.
Earlier today we featured a clean 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL. It’s hard to believe that only two generations separate that car from the 1969 280SE that we see here for sale in California, but such is the staying power with Mercedes’ Sonderklasse. With fuel injection and a four-speed automatic gearbox, this was a car ahead of its time. This particular 280SE is almost identical to the dark blue 1972 example that my grandfather drove here in the US right before retiring back to Portugal. That would be a car that would start a long tradition of Mercedes-Benzes in my family.
I’ve referenced the 2000 Mercedes-Benz C280 that my mother has owned for the last 14 years on occasion here at GCFSB. It’s been a dependable machine, racking up close to 130,000 miles so far and not skipping a beat. No matter how many new cars I may get behind the wheel of, each time I’m reacquainted with the C280, it’s like meeting up with an old friend. It is just a comfortably reassuring automobile. I like to think of the W202 and the G-class, which is still in production, as some of the last true Mercedes-Benzes, carrying on with DNA from cars like this 280SE we see here for sale in Illinois. Other than the fact they both have 2.8 liter six cylinder engines, on the surface there isn’t much in common. Dig deeper, however, and it becomes apparent why these kind of cars are still driven daily and have been in families for years as heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation.
