Tag: Roadster

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1992 Mercedes-Benz 500SL

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Last week I looked at a really cool 1993 Mercedes-Benz 600SL that took the early R129 styling cues and freshened them up a little bit thanks to some different wheels, tail lights and a little bit of paint. The price was more than reasonable for all you were getting and I think that you would probably do just fine when it came to keeping the value on that car.  Today, I wanted to look at another early R129 that is nearly stock just to compare it when it comes to styling. This 1992 500SL up for sale in Alabama is painted in the classic Pearl Gray with dark gray lower cladding that is just a wonderful example of what these early R129s are. Nothing is aggressive or flashy, just a perfectly crafted Mercedes roadster that is built to pass the test of time. The best part about it? You can grab this one for under $10,000.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500SL on eBay

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1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL

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Around five years ago the values of the W113 Mercedes-Benz Padoga spiked pretty hard and kept climbing year after year. I totally get it because these roadsters are as classic as it gets and will never go out of style. The price for a really nice 280SL hovers around that $100,000 mark and can reach almost $260,000 for a perfect example while the lesser 230SL and 250SL can be had for a much more reasonable $50,000 if you so chose. This leads me to today’s car, a 1970 280SL up for sale in New Hampshire. This Pagoda is equipped not only with the rare factory air conditioning, but a 4-speed manual transmission. While all that is nice, why I really wanted to look at this 280SL is the price. No, it is not extremely high, but actually quite the opposite.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL on eBay

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1998 Mercedes-Benz SL600

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Yellow is always a hit or miss color when it comes to German cars. Some cars it looks great on like a Porsche 930 or a Volkswagen GTI 20th Anniversary Edition. Other cars, maybe not so much. When it comes to yellow Mercedes-Benz, there aren’t a whole lot of them out there. This was a hot color in the 1960s and 1970s, but outside of the first-generation SLK and the new AMG GT, you won’t find many painted in this bright shade. When you do, it is literally just a handful of them and they were probably painted that way by special request. Today car, the king R129 SL600, is painted in the factory Yellowstone 685. At least that is how it sits now. Let me explain.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1998 Mercedes-Benz SL600 on eBay

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2001 BMW Z8 with 15 miles

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There is a Z8 that lives near me. It’s silver with a red interior and is quite striking. I don’t think its owner drives it daily, but if the weather is nice I see him just about each morning (presumably) heading to the office. Top down, lovely exhaust note burbling in the background. It’s a beautiful car with a road presence few other cars possess. That presence isn’t in the same way certain high performance machines command the road. It definitely isn’t the way a Dodge Hellcat commands the road. Actually it’s about the opposite of that. It’s grace and elegance and timelessness wrapped together. With almost 400 hp it performs pretty well too.

I’ve said before that I didn’t really like the Z8 when it debuted. I love them now.

The one we see here is not the one owned by my daily driving neighbor. Not at all. This one, a Triple Black 2001 BMW Z8 located in Connecticut, has 15 miles on it. Yes, you read that correctly, 15!

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 BMW Z8 on Classic Driver

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1960 Mercedes-Benz 190SL

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Yesterday I checked out an absolutely pristine 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL and it got that way by no accident. It was a total restoration down to the bare metal, including the engine, then rebuilt over a three-year period. As a result, the car carried a mega price tag of $259,000. Worth it? If you wanted a brand new Pagoda, yes. Personally I think I’d be thrilled with a W113 for half that price, but some people want it all and they pay for it. Today, I wanted to rewind the clock another 10 years back to the 190SL. Just like the Pagoda, this 1960 was totally stripped down and rebuilt with everything new and now looks like a brand new car. The price? Even higher than the Pagoda.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1960 Mercedes-Benz 190SL on eBay

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1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL

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If I had a dollar for every time I see the terms ”like-new”, ”showroom condition” or even worse, ”restored” when looking at a used car ad, I’d have a lot more cars. The overwhelming majority of the time these terms don’t apply to the car listed for sale and are just used by overzealous sellers just trying to drum up interest. I fight every urge to send them a sarcastic message saying that I didn’t know Mercedes sold new cars on the showroom floor with cracked dashes and stains on the carpets, but I resist. Either way, it ruins the term in my eyes because of how loosely it gets tossed around. Today, one of those cars actually deserves all those marketing terms because it is actually true. This 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL for sale in Texas was restored, is like-new and is certainly in showroom condition. However, if you want to own this car, I hope your net worth is in seven-figures. It is that expensive.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL on eBay

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2001 BMW M Roadster with 8,600 Miles

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Update 11/26/18: After not selling over the summer at $45,000 ask and bidding to only $31,500 on Bring a Trailer with the reserve unmet, the dealer has dropped the asking price to $39,900 today.

Recently I looked at both the E36/7 M Roadster and 36/8 M Coupe. Both have developed cult status, yet values vary dramatically within the short production range depending on configuration. Early S52 M Roadsters are the least expensive of the bunch, with the unique Evergreen/Evergreen example I took a peek at selling under $13,000 despite lower mileage and great condition. Compare that to the S52 Coupe, which sold at $16,100 with 260,000 miles on the clock.

So what does a late model, equipped with the more potent and more desirable S54 bring? Again, that depends on a lot of things. Let’s start with mileage – here, it’s a mere 8,600. Then color? Well, this Phoenix Yellow Metallic example is one of the most infrequently specified combinations, with only 14 produced in the 2001 model year. You can probably guess where the price is heading already…

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 BMW M Roadster on eBay

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2000 Mercedes-Benz SL500

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I’ve been really itching for a convertible of late and specifically a Mercedes-Benz SL. Maybe it is just the nice weather or the want to start another project, but I always seem to be digging around for a R129, R107 or even if I’m lucky, a Pagoda. During my digging, I came across today’s car which would be perfect for a summer daily driver but believe it or not, I actually want it because of what it does with the top on. Yes, that means this 2000 SL500 has the panoramic hardtop option that turns the normal boring hardtop into a full glass roof that still people go nuts for. Myself included.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2000 Mercedes-Benz SL500 on eBay

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Tuner Tuesday: 1994 Mercedes-Benz SL70 Renntech

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If some is good, more is better. A lot of times that is true, sometimes it is not. Thankfully, that saying applies when talking about V12 Mercedes-Benz. One of the most common modifications to the M120 V12 is taking that 6.0 liter and increasing the displacement to a 7.0, 7.2, 7.3 or even crazier 7.4. AMG was known to do this in small batches as well as other aftermarket tuners. One of those aftermarket tuners was Renntech. They would pump these up to 7.0 liters as well as modify other things like camshafts and surrounding parts. The result was somewhere over 500 horsepower and a price tag to make anyone do a double take. Today, we have a one of those 7.0 liter conversions up for sale in Kentucky in this 1994 SL. Even better, there are some AMG goodies on this car as well.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Mercedes-Benz SL70 Renntech on eBay

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1986 Mercedes-Benz 420SL

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Earlier this week I checked out a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 380SL that was in a cool European-spec setup. I don’t mean to focus too much on R107s, but one just happened to pop up that I couldn’t overlook. This is a 1986 420SL. Yes, a 420SL. If that number ‘420’ followed by ‘SL’ seems odd, you aren’t wrong in thinking that. In North American, Mercedes only sold the 350SL, 380SL, 450sSL and 560SL offically through their dealerships. Back in the 1980s, some people were bringing in the 280SL, 300SL and 500SL through grey-market channels before that was put to a stop by ironically, Mercedes themselves. For whatever reason, I can’t recall ever seeing the 420SL for sale in North America and they are even not that common in Europe. They use the same 4.2 liter M116 from the W126 420SEL and is generally thought of as ”not the 560” the same way you think of the 420SEL sedan. Either way, one popped up for sale Florida and it doesn’t look like a bad example at all.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 Mercedes-Benz 420SL on eBay

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