Yesterday I attended the Bremen Classic Car show in Germany, partly to have a look around, and partly to meet up with Achim and board members of the German Pagoda SL Group and the Pagodentreff.de forum. It was a 350km drive (so I did 700 kms in all) through a frozen winter wonderland (it had been snowing in Holland and was very cold in Germany too) so I did not take the Pagoda, but something with all-wheel drive and winter tires.
It was very noticeable at the show that Pagoda's are moving into high-price territory. Although not yet blessed with ridiculous, over Eur 100K prices like in Essen, the prices for reasonable and pretty good cars in Europe are pretty high. It almost becomes sensible to buy a not-so-good car in the US (a decent driver e.g. for $25K), and to restore it to a high standard... enjoy it for 5 years, and then you'll be able to sell it and recoup the investment.
Very telling was that all Pagoda's were only for sale in the main halls, and none at all in the halls where private individuals and smaller dealers were selling their cars.
Below are some photographs, examples and prices. Enjoy
Peter van Es
Pictures and ReportSee how a 190SL has been chopped in half to make a nice luggage trailer... (Note: not for the feint of heart or 190SL Group members)
And from the rear:
A nice watch made using a VDO speedometer for a European Pagoda...
The green 280SL was sold by E. Thiessen, a German dealer known for pretty strong prices and (as far as I can tell) pretty good quality cars. The car looked like a neat, nice specimen, with no obvious flaws. The price asked: Eur 97,500 which is over $128K at todays exchange rate.
Next a few images of a white SL (not for sale) showing a restoration in progress.
The following red Pagoda was on offer by Mechatronik, the company most known for spooning modern Mercedes engines into restored cars. This example, a 280SL with 39457 miles was imported from California in October 2011 and since put back into healthy shape -- but no modern engine. Mechatronik is asking Eur 84.900 for it (over US$ 111K). Maybe someone knows how much the car left California for in Oct 2011, and can figure out the profit margin?
The Silverbeige 280SL (DB729) has 58000 miles, is partially restored and was also imported from the US. Mechatronik is asking Eur 69.800 for it ($ 92K). A neat, but not perfect car.
The following car is a Pagoda under restoration by one of the members of the German Pagoda club.
The following red Pagoda, 250 SL 4-speed manual, with 2 owners and rolling restoration was for sale by Schulz Classic for Eur 69.900 (almost $92K).
And then finally three photographs of a 230SL which has not been restored, in pretty original condition with the exception of a respray (as far as I could tell). The car has nice patina. Has done 56 kilometers and is bering offered for sale for Eur 75000 (US$ 99K). Achim also had a look at this car and pronounced very nice and original, but expensive.
