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After sizing up that Audi A5 in Teak Brown over the weekend, I came across this lovely, low mileage 1986 Mercedes-Benz 560SL in a not often seen shade of Manganese Brown. Metallic browns have made a comeback recently on cars, no longer being a hue relegated to the decade which brought us disco, an oil crisis and Mayor Ed Koch. The 560SL is one of those German classics that has been rising in visibility amongst collectors. As such, values are beginning to push upwards for what is likely to be the next SL collector vehicle domino to fall. The appear small, but they drive like a much bigger vehicle, if the few I’ve had the chance to pilot over the years are any indication. The legendary bank vault construction is there but the ride quality has a decidedly soft nature about it. They are immensely capable as grand touring machines, but have a bit of float on the twisty bits with the nose rising under acceleration, almost giving you the feel as if you are on a small boat.
It’s no secret that the Mercedes-Benz R107 SL is riding a popularity wave at the present time. With an almost 20 year production run, there’s a version for pretty much everyone. But which to choose? Today we’ll look at four very different R107s, from a mid-seventies example right up to the final 560SL that appeared on these shores. We’ll start with this low mileage 560SL for sale in Florida.
It seems as if the R107 SL is fast becoming the next hot classic from Mercedes-Benz, with values increasing steadily, if not quickly, over the last couple of years. The most preferred models in the US tend to be the late production 560SLs, manufactured from 1986 through 1989, bringing to a close one of the longest production runs in Mercedes-Benz history. This Smoke Silver 1989 560SL is one of the nicest I’ve seen in quite some time, complimenting that impressively presented 300TD we featured earlier today for Wagon Week.
We all have a bucket list of cars that we would like to own over our lifetime. One that has perpetually been on my list is the Mercedes R107 SL, specifically, one of the later models like this 1987 560SL for sale in New Jersey. When I was growing up, a neighbor had a 560SL just like this one and I was always enamored with it, dreaming of the day that I would someday own a Mercedes. Even though the design was well over a decade old at the time, it was still a vehicle that commanded respect with its presence. After owning two C classes for a period of ten years, I’ve gotten a bit of the Mercedes bug out of my system, especially in light of some of the new models that are, in my opinion, a bit overstyled. So I sit here, still dreaming of the day I will finally snag my R107.
“They don’t make ‘em like they used to.” How many times do we hear this in passing? Perhaps in this age of instant communication and mass produced goods, it rings more true than ever. For the most part, new cars are more reliable and offer technology one could have only dreamed of a scant ten years ago. For some, new cars have lost a bit of that special feeling that came with design driven by passion rather than committee and accountant. Step into a car today and even the most extravagant models will have some parts from a central supplier or share switchgear with lesser models in the parent company portfolio.
This nicely presented 560SL comes to us from our friends at Sun Valley Auto Club in Idaho and is a stunning example of one of the most iconic Mercedes designs of the last few decades.
