ebay rollover 280SL: chilling

[Douglas]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2404339673&category=6783


a frightening sight to behold. i'm skeptical about the claimed mileage just because the car has obvously been restored at some point

[Tom]

Douglas,

I share your skepticism on the mileage.  While this is not the definitive sign, the plastic reservoir for the brake fluid would not be so yellow with just 37k miles.  It's the sustained heat of engine that yellows the reservoir, not the years.

Best,

Tom Sargeant

[rwmastel]

Wow!  A URL link that's not broken into two or more lines!  And it works!  Much better than Yahoo! messages with links.

Poor Pagoda!  I hope the driver looks better than the car!

Rodd
1966 230SL Euro
1994 E420

[n/a]

I agree about the brake cylinder, but check out the firewall insulation.  This also breaks down with heat and time, but on this vehicle it looks in quite good shape.

Lowell
1966 230SL

[Douglas]

i'm always suspicious of cars that have been restored even though they supposedly have low mileage. i'm particularly suspicious when they're non-metallic as this one is since the non-metallic paints were much heartier.

you can plainly see the car was re-painted, at least in the quarter panels since it's missing that piece of trim behind the rear wheels. that's the kind of mistake they only make after a restoration. also, lots of the hose clamps aren't the originals -- another red flag on a low-mileage car. nonetheless, the firewall pad appears to be quite nice.


what i want to know is why someone would spend over 4K for that car. M130 motors aren't rare and most of the car is trashed. the front grill & bumpers may be okay, but i can't really tell from the pix. seems steep.

[Cees Klumper]

$4000 is not bad. The engine itself, if an original M130 engine correct for the Pagoda, is worth $1500 even if it would need rebuilding. The grille assembly is worth quite some buxx, the softtop frame alone will fetch $1000 or more, and there are plenty of other parts that can be sold, like the transmission, FI pump, interior chrome, rear axle and what have you. And, for the real enthusiast, the car CAN most likely be salvaged, although that will take a bit of work. I for one cringe at the thought of ANY Pagoda being lost forever ...

Cees

white 1969 280 SL