Cracking open an old warehouse and finding vintage cars inside is the stuff most car guy dreams are made of, and this 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SE is just such a discovery. With another Mercedes of a similar vintage parked nearby, one begins to wonder if this was a small collection of project cars that were parked here for storage and eventually forgotten when an owner moved or passed away. This particular Mercedes is offered with barely any information, which further suggests the seller simply stumbled upon it with no real intent on digging much deeper than removing it from the premises. Find the 4.5L-equipped sedan here on eBay with no reserve and bids to $3,049.
Seeing how those tires have melted into the ground, you know this Mercedes has been there a while. The coating of dust is a pretty good clue as well, but dust doesn’t take all that long to accumulate; those tires are ancient and have been flat for decades. The seller doesn’t touch on the subject of rust, but it doesn’t look like the body panels are particularly trashed; the steel wheels are coated with surface rust, and it looks like there’s just one hubcap accounted for. Then again, we’ve seen plenty of Mercedes from this era show up with the hubcaps stored neatly in the trunk upon closer inspection. The Mercedes is located in North Carolina, which should hopefully indicate the undersides haven’t perished.
The interior is slightly worrisome, and here’s why I say that: one of the best features of Mercedes products from the 70s through the middle 90s is that their interiors are incredibly durable. Even if the car has been neglected for ages, the upholstery and dashboards somehow survive the worst of conditions. This car looks to have a good dash and complete instrumentation, but the condition of the seats suggests the cockpit has been wet at some point. I have no scientific evidence for this; it just comes from peering in many junkyard cars over the years and knowing what a damp interior tends to look like. I could be completely off base in this regard, and it’s just a side effect of a light-colored leather interior needing some time with a detail brush more than anything else. Certainly, the years of indoor storage should have kept moisture ingress to a minimum.
The main attraction in terms of why this Mercedes is generating respectable bids despite its years of neglect is likely due to it being equipped with the desirable M117 V8. This was a great platform, essentially the precursor to the modern-day S-Class. The drivetrains in any W108/W109 car should prove fairly robust, even after sitting this many years. There are more questions than answers with this 280SE, and the Alpine cassette deck from the 1980s suggests someone was using this car as a driver at some point. While values aren’t exceedingly high for a driver, nice ones do command a fair price so it will be interesting to see if this forgotten Benz is used as a parts car or a restoration project.
The amount of rust that’s come off the rim in the picture is somewhat worrisome. One can get underwater pretty easily with these cars to bring them back to their former glory. Years of neglect will guarantee you will be replacing the fuel system including the tank, getting the injectors rebuilt, and sorting the demons out of the Bosch D-jetronic. Then moving to the interior the cost of new seat padding and refurbishing the wood and trying to salvage the leather will be another significant investment. I can almost smell the mold from where I sit!
Going to be incredibly expensive to get this thing back in shape. I wouldn’t think this model is worth the cost.
I’m no expert, but isn’t the 4.5 an unusual power plant for the SE? I seem to only recall seeing them in SELs. I usually see the SEs equipped with a 6 cyl gas, or 5 cyl diesel.
I would think it is the M116, 3.5L which has a shorter stroke than the 4.5. The one in my 350SL was originally from a car like this.
Great write-up Jeff. These Mercedes always make me think of The Exorcist. Very cool!
Sold at $3,350 with 16 bids. I would have considered this car had I seen it in time! My dad had one back in the day and I got to drive it occasionally. What a great riding car with respectable pickup. The handing was impressive too. Could easily navigate our rural Ontario 2-lane blacktop like it was on a rail, even at 120. I believe the 280SE 4.5 was the precursor to the 450SE/SEL which had the V8 as standard.
The 108 280 SE and SEL started with a 4.5 in 72. These cars came standard with an mb-tex interior but leather was available. I can’t be sure, but I do believe this has the tex interior which would probably clean up pretty well other than the vinyl discoloration that sometimes comes with use and age. To me, the biggest Factor here are the two rusting into the ground rear wheels. I’m almost thinking this building was prone to some amount of flooding. I don’t know that I believe the interior was flooded in this building because the interior would likely be much worse , but I do think water got to the wheels for them to be disintegrating at the bottom as they are. These are great cars but I would look closely at this one before deciding it was a project to tackle.
You cant make this stuff up. The seller makes no mention of the obvious and even still someone bid 3350 I think and it sold. I guess the buyer has a spare rear end laying around. I have NEVER seen wheels dissolve into the concrete like that. Amazing