This 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230SL is perhaps the epitome of a survivor, with original paint, body panels and interior and no obvious defects despite 90K miles on the clock. The sellers says it was stored since new on the West Coast, driven sparingly and maintained extensively. The 230SL is equipped with an automatic transmission as well as a factory hard top, and can be found here on eBay with bidding up to $41K and the reserve unmet.
The W113 was a milestone car for Mercedes, yielding a number of innovative features while also delivering a car that was as competent in competition as it was performing as the grand tourer it was intended to be. Crumple zones and safety cells were among the numerous ahead-of-their-time features while silky inline-six power continued to form the basis of Mercedes powerplant choices. This particular 230SL amazingly retains its claimed-original interior, which shows little signs of use or damage.
I believe despite being at the end of the production run for the 230 model, this example retains the early M127 inline-six, which developed around 150 b.h.p. Obviously, with the automatic transmission pushing the power to the rear wheels, this is not the most sporting examples; no, those are found with manual transmissions attached to the later larger-engined models. Still, this one shows incredibly well with a fastidiously clean engine bay and what I’d assume to be leak-free condition with a Buy-It-Now of $89,995.
The original panels, laser-straight bodywork and impressive cosmetics are all worth celebrating on this car. A few years ago, the market for W113s got incredibly hot, with even utter basketcases selling for impressive scratch (seems to be an epidemic among us hopeless German car fans). Now, that market has thankfully cooled so that only the best cars fetch big money. With a day left in the auction, it would appear there’s a large gap between the price bid and the Buy-It-Now; will it shrink before the auction’s end?
Very attractive color combination but this car is gonna be slow as molasses in January – not necessarily a bad thing in a car like this but at that price I could think of lots of other things I’d like to buy.
With an auto and AC, this car is going to be SLOWER than molasses. I was standing on a street corner in Germany in ’66-67, when a 230-240 went by. I commented on how much I liked that car. My German friend said with a sneer: “woman’s car”. I still love the look and would love to have one, but not with an automatic.
A very nice auto and they were not known for their performance but riding in style. One thing that was a problem and Mercedes reluctanly admitted in this engines series that were prone to blown head gaskets on the number five cylinder. When the heads and block were were cast the cooling passages on the passenger side of the block were to close to the combustion chamber thus resulting in a blown head gasket.
One of my top 5 favorite designs. Yup – this is the boulevard edition. So what? With a car this nice, who would want to jack it around anyway. One thing that always sort of bothered me about these Pagoda models is the way the little front rubber and chrome “bumperettes” always seemed to look like they’ve been tweaked upward, as if they were bumperetted into something. ;-) With all that vent-work under the dash, it makes me wonder if this beauty is equipped with air conditioning also. Oh man! Love it.
Looks like it has an aftermarket A/C system.
I’ve always liked W113s. Even though they weren’t the fastest cars around, my limited experience driving a later 250 told me they are comfortable and easy on the eyes.
The seller certainly isn’t giving this away — or any of the other cars he’s offering — and if he’s stuck on the BIN price I suspect it will be a no-sale. I’ll give him credit for scouting out some pretty nice rides, though.
If I’m going to dream — and a $50K-plus “classic” is definitely a dream for me — I’ll hold out for a later car with the optional ZF manual transmission which I believe was never available here. It’d be wonderful to have a W113 this clean and original, and I’d do my best to keep it that way while driving it!
I’m just starting to research the Pagoda SLs,but seems to me that good early series cars like this are in the low 6 figures.Just my opinion,but couldn’t ask for a nicer car,and the automatic shouldn’t hurt it 25%,yes? Also,I’ve got to hand it to the seller/s for showing the best,most important/desirable photos buyers want to see,especially on a unibody car.
We owned a ’67 Euro slushbox back in the early eighties. Maroon over tan ( not what MB called it).
A wonderful cruising car with the best throaty exhaust I ever heard. Surprisingly never had a single problem with it. We were T boned and it resulted in the true extent of the rust being revealed. Those Euro headlights buckets were rust prone to put it mildly.
I used to put the hardtop on the car by getting my back under it and stepping up into the car and lowering the top in place! Being young is a great thing!
I always wanted a 250sl with a 4 speed. But original beats all for me and this is a great opportunity though a wee bit past my price point :)
Pagoda cars have peaked in value and are on the way down. Same for 190’s. If you want one, be patient. Seems that the 250 is the worse of the bunch for value. 280’s best based on performance, of course 230’s have a following because of first in the series, but not as great to drive. Look at Hagerty value curves.
I bought a ’68 280SL about 25 years ago. The owner said it was a very rare version called a “California Special” with a removable hardtop and a full-width rear seat [kid size]. Price was right, so I bought it and drove home. When the weather warmed up I decided to take the top off and go for a drive. As it got cooler with the sun headed over the horizon, I wanted to put the folding top up. That’s when I realized there was no lift up panel covering the convertible top. that’s because there was no folding top.
Yes, it was one of the rarest of the 230/250/280SL cars, because few people outside of sunny southern California bought them. Looking at the original paperwork that came with the car, I found the original owner, a Navy Officer, and he told me he owned it when he lived in the San Diego, CA area. Since he had a garage, he used the hardtop during the winter months. During the summer months he didn’t need the hardtop, so it sat on sawhorses in a shed.
I’m attaching a photo showing the back seat area of a 280SL California Special.
Hey Bill, saw your picture of the ” California Special”. Pretty neat. About the same time you bought your car I looked at a used 1979 Porsche 911 SC targa that was being sold as a California Special with a backdated soft rear window top. That car just changed hands here locally and over the years I’ve run across other cars of different makes being marketed as California Specials with some sort of different tops on them. I always thought Ford’s Mustang was the first to use that moniker on it. Who knows what dealers or manufactures will come up with to make a car special or different in some way. Thanks for sharing a picture of your former SL.
The GT/CS Mustang coupe [only available as a coupe, no fastback or convertibles made] was the only one to be physically marked with the California Special script emblems, placed on the rear quarter panels. Other companies like Porsche & M-B, used advertising & brochures to promote the cars as a California Special, but were never labeled as such.
Most people don’t know that it was Carrol Shelby’s organization that created and built the GT/CS cars. Ford had planned on making 5,000 cars for 1968, but only built about 4,100. A bunch of them remained unsold, and were shipped to Colorado, where they were rebadged as “High Country Specials”. Those are VERY rare today.
Thank you for the info! I had forgotten about the history regarding the Mustang CS and High Country. Been in English car land too many years….
You can’t go wrong with a Pagoda. Don’t really care how slow they are. A simple, well-executed design that still stands out.