This 1958 Mercedes-Benz 190SL has been discovered in the Pacific Northwest at the hands of one long-time owner. That same owner began a restoration 30 years ago but never completed the project, which included new chrome bumpers and a repaint in the current white exterior. Originally a Strawberry Red over Tan example, this 190SL now comes with two tops and a Weber carburetor conversion. Find it here on eBay with a $63,900 Buy-It-Now and the option to submit a best offer.
The paint job is a downer to me, as Strawberry Red over tan is a stunning combination. Regardless, the body still shows incredibly well with no obvious dent or dings and very nice chrome. It blows my mind to get this far into a restoration and then simply stop, even if due to the all-too-common excuse of life getting in the way. However, at least it was seemingly stored carefully to ensure no rust came roaring back after a short hiatus.
The interior seemingly retains the original color scheme, with tan leather seats and a red dashboard. The interior, frankly, appears to be in excellent condition despite the years of storage. The seller further notes that many of the original parts are included, such as the original carbs and intake. Never hit and never rusty are too big promises the seller makes on this example.
No word on whether the engine is numbers matching, but I’d want to assume so. With only 51,000 miles, one would hope the 190SL retains its original engine. Overall, this example has the feeling of an owner who passed away before restoration was completed, especially since it seemed well on its way to resurrection. This 190SL is all the money, but seems like a very solid foundation for completing the restoration, which will hopefully keep the next owner under the current price estimates for the 300SL’s baby sibling.
The prices through the roof for any old 190SL have softened . This unit with a color change and misc sorting still needed will test this opinion…
It is a beautiful car. It would have been better in the original color.
At least now, people can wrap a car to change the color, but return it back to original if wanted.
This is basically the collar of a ’59 I had with the exception of red interior and a little more cream in the white. In 1983 I was driving it home for lunch when a 1978 Olds Delta 88 made a left turn in front of me as I was crossing the crosswalk of the intersection. The 190SL stopped at point of contact and knocked the Olds up on the lawn of a church on the opposite corner. My left headlight was pushed into my firewall. I ended up having 3 parts dismantles fight over it once the insurance said it exceed 50% of the value of the car to repair it. Even the bent aluminium engine hood went for over $2k, doors each with mechanisms did also. The boot went for $1800. The 4 jewel windup clock in the glovebox lid sold for $750. Even then, before the value of the 190SLs really started to climb they were not cheap. Mine was not quite what this one is but insurance still settled with us for $25K in 1983.
Someone looked at and worked on this car for thirty years and yet, never drove his/her completed project. I hope the joy was in working on it and dreaming about it and not waiting to actually drive it.
That joy will be for someone else…
The restorer probably did have the most fun. While the 190sl is a very pretty car, especially for the Germans. It was not at all fun to drive as it was heavy slow and ponderous. Buy a pagoda mercedes for a much better driving experience.
Before passing judgement on performance try a properly tuned, non modified example with correctly functioning secondaries on SolexPHH carbs not Webers as installed on this car. They are very light with 100+ HP gives a 0-60 time of about 12 sec putting it upper middle pack for a mif fifties early sixties car. Side by side 190sl Vs 300sl diffference $1,000,000+ hmmmm
Very cool car. To me this looks like an opportunistic flip. The pics are def from the NW but the car’s in LA. Who knows…lot of dumb money out there…