Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Back in 1972, a Mercedes 450 SL was an exalted ride; if you had one, you were doing all right. Today’s deleterious find, located in Monroe, Louisiana, is a figurative shadow of its former self—how unfortunate! Based on a statement of “Sold As-Is – Must Be Purchased Whole, No parting out,” sounds like it may be autopsy time for this Benz, so let’s investigate. Here on eBay is where you’ll find it, and it’s available for a BIN price of $2,500, OBO.

Known as a R107 in Mercedes-speak,  this red two-seater is one of 237K SLs produced between 1971 and 1989. Some confusion arises over this car’s designation, as in ’72 the SL was referred to as “350 SL” even though it possessed a 4.5-liter V8 engine. Starting in ’73, the “450 SL” naming convention was utilized, though some sources claim that the European spec 1972 models were, in fact, known as the 450 SL. Regardless, that 230 HP, 4.5-liter engine is not photographed, and its condition is unclear. The seller adds, “No key – Never tried to start the vehicle while in our possession… Has not run in 20+ years.” That pretty well sums up this car’s operating capability. (None!)

The exterior is so covered in dust and dirt that it’s difficult to make a condition assessment. I’m going to take a stab at the color and go with Mercedes Signal Red, and it might be salvageable with a good cleaning and compounding, but it’s too preliminary to make that call. There is some minor, visible rust and a dent or two – specifically, the front bumper is misaligned, but the body appears to be mostly straight. There is no reference to whether a folding fabric top is included, and I wonder about this car’s underside integrity.

My thought about the underside stems from the listing statement of “rear floorboard is rusted out,” but that’s the least of the interior’s worries at this point, as it looks like a bomb went off inside. It’s disheveled, filthy, and moldy – to say the least. I suppose, in fairness, if everything was removed and the interior pressure washed, we might be able to determine its true condition and what it will require to return it to useable form.

I’d suggest that this Benz is an inbetweeney, it’s going to take a lot of time, effort, and $$$ to return it to proper, esteemed M-B form, but it seems too good to just part it out. I’d say that the biggest unknown here is that 4.5-liter V8 engine – that’s going to be a coin flip. What’s your thought, a reasonable restoration candidate or just part it out?