What color should my 230SL be?

[Sphe]

As restoring the car, one of the things that needs to be addressed is the color of the car? Well, what do you guys think? What color should a 1965 230SL be?

[dldubois]

I'd suggest either going back to original by reviewing the VIN or any of the other colors that were available that year.

Dana

1970 280sl White (050) 4spd
Corinth, TX

[France]

What colour is the interior, or have you decided that?  What is your climate like?  Do you have A/C, or do you have to rely on your colour scheme to give you some relief?  In the Sonoma Valley, where I live part of the time, I have to have a light car with light interior.  In Florida I have red with black (not a great choice, but then she chose me)--too hot; wish I had a light interior.  There is a comprehensive list of color combinations in in several Mercedes books...in the back of Meredith's Original Mercedes SL there is a good list.  You can find it on Alibris, the best place in the world to get books.

It's a great choice to have!  Good luck.

Trice
1968 280SL US, signal/bl leather, auto

[knirk]

You can also take a look at our database where Color Code Matrix for Cars with Leather and MB-tex is listed.


Per G. Birkeland
69 280 sl aut 834
Norway

[Sphe]

He he, I was posting this just to see what everybody's favorite color scheme of the 230SL is. We are thinking about returning it to it's original... but it's sooo tough to decide.

[Ben]

Wow !

Asking what peoples favourite colour is could be a loaded question !

Without wanting to insult anyone, I think the white and indeed most of the solid colours invoke a period '60's feel to the car which the metallics dont !  Having said that I own a white one, and I didn't want a white one nor did I look for one, but I got one !  I wouldn't buy another although it hides a multitude that other colours may highlight !

The first pagoda I ever saw in the flesh was a dark grey metallic 280SL, fully restored, and it was breathtaking so I have fond memories of that colour and its fairly rare. I wanted silver with red but I'm glad I didn't get one though it still ranks high.

I've seen recent pictures of that lovely dark grren metallic with the tan or tobacco interior and its really nice, especially with whitewalls..............oooh have I opened a can of worms !!

It'd be great to be able to have a picture of cars in each colour on this site !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[n/a]

Red with white interior. A sports car has to be red. Then again, silver is a special color for MB racing.

Shawn Rock
Philly, PA USA
1968 280 SL 4 speed

[Mike Hughes]

And what is the original color scheme?

quote:Originally posted by Sphe

He he, I was posting this just to see what everybody's favorite color scheme of the 230SL is. We are thinking about returning it to it's original... but it's sooo tough to decide.

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-
  1966 230SL Auto P/S
  Havanna Brown (408)
  Light Beige (181)
  Cream M-B Tex (121)

[Cees Klumper]

There is an obscure section in the BBB that highly recommends owners considering changing the color of their W113 to select white. Something to do with maximum aesthetics. This factory specification is not very well known, and it may not have been included in all editions of the BBB, but there you have it.

As for cars in all colors on the site, I am just about to pick up on the poster project again (the idea of combining 40 photos of cars + their owners, all from different countries -except 7 rather than 1 from the US- in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the W113's introduction in Geneva, 1963). Turkey's entry is about to come in and the artist who volunteered to do the artwork just returned from vacation, so ... it's finally going to happen. When it is all done, I imagine we can include a corner on the website somewhere where we can display all of the photos. They are really very nice and, as is to be expected, there are many different colors. I expect to have the poster ready in two or three months - realistically.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic