Interesting BAT motor swapped 230sl

[cydways]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-mercedes-benz-230sl-48/

Thoughts on this?

It is a clean swap and it sold for decent price. Maybe it was what he had available? certainly cheaper to rebuild than the original engine but I think I would of liked to see something a little more interesting. eco boost 4cly, 2jz, Audi turbo 5cyl.

[rwmastel]

Personally, I'm an "originalist", so I'd never touch something like this.  BTY, I already have one of those engines in my Wrangler Rubicon.

[FastWgn]

$56k? That is just plain nuts!

I first thought this may be an older conversion back in the day when a 230SL was "free" if it had a seized or shot motor. But no, done in 2019. Makes close to zero sense. If you do a restomod, then at least do something cool, like a newer MB V8 or similar.

[kampala]

If I ignore the jeep engine and the reasons why it was done - just the rust underneath is scary enough to keep this car way below the selling price. And that’s only the rust we can see - the seller showed enough rust in the photos for anyone rust-averse to price accordingly. 

[MikeSimon]

Regardless of the motive and the outcome or the gain in the end. I have never been a fan of engine swaps in classic vehicles. One thing that bugs me to no end is the huge amount of 914-4s with 6-cylinder engines, posing as 914-6es. They go as far as trying to copy GT models and call them "Tributes".

[Jordan]

Regardless of the motive and the outcome or the gain in the end. I have never been a fan of engine swaps in classic vehicles. One thing that bugs me to no end is the huge amount of 914-4s with 6-cylinder engines, posing as 914-6es. They go as far as trying to copy GT models and call them "Tributes".

Or dropping a V8 into an Alpine and calling it a Tiger.

[teahead]

That seems like an awful lot of work, but I guess getting an M130 rebuilt (at least $10k) could have been prohibitive. 

Especially if the owner had an old Jeep laying around.

Should have put in a 6 cylinder form a '94/95 E300.

Those can still be had for cheap.

[john.mancini]

Not for me. Plus, the car is a rust bucket. $50K+ down the drain. Buyer will regret the purchase. Lipstick (red) on a pig.