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Read the Fine Print: 1966 Mercedes 230SL

mercslf

There must be more money in selling rolling restoration projects than I realized. It’s not all that uncommon anymore to see cars pop up with all the good bits stripped off and a shell for sale that still costs more than most of my entire project cars. This 1966 Mercedes 230SL here on eBay has lots of fine print to read when it comes down to understanding what you’ll actually receive for the $7,888 sale price. 

mercslg

As you likely noted in the first photo, there’s no hood or glass included. And here you can see the engine and transmission – which were once a part of the car – have been removed. This is what kills me: I’m sure the SL arrived as a project but it still had some good components attached to make restoration a bit less daunting. Not anymore, and it also means the potentially numbers-matching engine is long gone. It’s worth noting the nose was replaced years ago, possibly signifying a previous front-end impact.

mercsle

There’s no need for fine print on the interior photo because there’s nothing left to get! Just a bare dashboard and some rusty floors. When you start adding up the number of dollars needed to put all of these bits back into the car, it can get a bit overwhelming. But when I did some research into prices for the W113 Mercedes, things start to make a bit more sense: the values for these cars have jumped big time, and this stripper may actually be a relative bargain.

mercslc

No doors, no trunk lid and no hardtop: you’ll have to source all of those yourself, and those pieces aren’t coming from your local scrapyard. But again, when even rusty project cars are fetching $50,000 and more, the price of entry here seems pretty low for a car that isn’t crunchy but still needs everything. I’m not sure how I feel about it, as the thought of tracking down all of these body parts, interior components and mechanical systems seems like a massive undertaking. But if you’ve got the right connections, you may be able to squeak out some profit by building one from scratch.

Comments

  1. Avatar Rick

    Win the bid, show up with a big padded (empty) envelope and hand it to the seller. Get the car halfway loaded on a flatbed when he opens it and says ‘hold-on’. And you say ‘money not included’…

    Like 0
    • Avatar Chris in WNC

      great idea, Rick….

      Like 0
    • Avatar jd

      funny~ love it..

      Like 0
  2. Avatar RayT

    Anyone who buys this deserves what they get. Unless you have a complete but rusty or badly twisted SL, this is nothing more than very expensive lawn art.

    It’ll probably sell, though. The flipper seems to know his stuff, and the intended audience. And I’m sure he will sell you all the necessary parts from the “millions” he has scooped from other cars.

    If I was 20 years old and stupidly wealthy, I might buy this with the expectation of being able to drive it somewhere around my 60th birthday.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Stang1968

    What an annoying listing. Just remove the parts you want and take new pictures.
    this is like seeing a commercial for the hot new toy only to see that it doesn’t actually talk, some accessories shown are not included, requires AAAA batteries, product may vary from item shown, etc.

    Like 0
    • Avatar St. Ramone de V8

      Well said. Annoying for sure.

      Like 0
  4. Avatar jim s

    seller has 496 listings on Ebay so maybe you can buy everthing you need from them. ” interest in dealing with this seller not included “.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Dolphin Member

    This guy has 180 auctions for 230SL parts on Ebay right now, including some ratty seats that look like they probably came out of this car.

    On the one hand he is helping people who need small parts for their 230SL. On the other hand he’s selling the stripped down body/chassis…in his words:
    “listed as clear title – this does not have clear title”.

    Maybe some people are being helped by access to small parts they need, but I’m just glad I don’t need to deal with him.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Dairymen

    He’s basically parting it out with the parts still on the car and telling us that they’re not included, and in the meantime putting the parts on eBay as well trying to get as much as he can. Not illegal but sure annoying.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Gary I

    What would make someone part it out instead of selling the entire car to be restored? I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to care unless I needed parts for one.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Hoos Member

      In a word, $$$$$$. This car is worth more on pieces than assembled.

      I couldn’t do it either.

      Like 0
  8. Avatar Irish Bill

    There are people like this guy out there. I knew of a guy in Austin, TX who purchased 1954 Corvettes, running and driving and sold all the valuable parts off them and then unload the car with all the expensive and hard to find stuff missing to some unknowing individual who thought they were getting a good deal

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Joe

    Interest in this car not included.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Glen

    Documentation is another $400.00 ! , this guy’s something special.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Peter R

    I have not heard of any rusty project 230 SLs bringing anywhere near $50K – you can find good daily drivers for that money
    as fro this one, consider it a joke – one in poor taste

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Horse Radish

    This guy has long lost his mind.
    All parts are double, triple or even multiple times asking than what these are worth.

    The guy is a butcher, a detriment to this passion we share.
    SADLY, even listing this on Barn Finds will give him enough traffic to justify (in his mind) what he’s doing.

    Disgusting, when I really think about all this.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Jacob

    Still not as bad as selling a VIN and firewall for $20k.

    I hope it doesn’t sell.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar milo1303s

    Basically he’s selling a title and vin # you’ll say it’s illegal but that is what he’ doing

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    Having had several of these W113 cars, I can tell you they are capable of rusting terribly. This “donor body” may be exactly what a north east car owner is looking for as a replacement body for his car.

    Like 0

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