W113 U.S. Delivery Allocation

[Ostkurve]

Does anybody have any information pertaining to the numbers of W113's delivered to the U.S. throughout the production run?

It seems to me that a great number of W113's were California deliveries. I reside in Southern California myself & I have been in the market for a 280SL for quite sometime & I notice that several seem to surface in Northern California almost on a weekly basis,far more than surface here in Southern California & I've also notice that "California cars" turn up @ classic car dealerships all over the country.

[Richard Madison]

On my SL website (link below), it says:

230 SL's: of 19,741 total, 4,200 went to the US.

250 SL's: of 5,196 total, 1,761 to the US.

280SL: of 23,885 there were 12,927 to the US.

The percentage to the US increased as time went on.

I'm embarassed to say that I don't remember the source of these figures.

Richard M
www.panix.com/~rmadison/mercedes.shtml

[TheEngineer]

The typical advertisement runs like this: California car - no rust in doors, hood and trunk lid. One owner - an old lady who only drove the car to church. Never driven in the rain. Original low miles. Always garaged. Guaranteed chick magnet. On my car it was: "My wife only drove the car to the golf course". It was actually true. What he didn't say was that the grounds keeper asked her not to bring the car any more because it lost so much oil, it messed up the parking lot. The chick magnet has never worked and I have had the car at my friendly dealer many times. They finally admitted that it was "unrepairable" and I have the invoice to prove it.

[Bob G ✝︎]

I fine it very intresting ,but have no pictures to show. In 1970 my family took a trip to San Francisco We stopped in at a Mercedes-Benz dealer and I noticed the 280SL were very much higher I am talking Baja!!!! That was the first time I saw a green interior in a Pagoda. We also saw a load of freshly delivered BMW 3.0 sedans behine a gate waiting for dealer pick up at the bay.

I sat in the jump Set and my then second sister then 5 years old sat in my mother's lap crossing HWY 5 with the luggage  rack on the roof and luggage in the trunk. Makes me  wish my father  purchased a 300SEL 6.3 for comfort. The kinder set is not fun when you are 12 years old for a 5 hour drive.
Bob Geco
1968 280SL

[PaulC]

Was it possibly this site?

Original site:
http://www.pagode.info/2.htm

Translated site:
http://209.85.171.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.pagode.info/2.htm

PC

quote:Originally posted by 280SL71

On my SL website (link below), it says:

230 SL's: of 19,741 total, 4,200 went to the US.

250 SL's: of 5,196 total, 1,761 to the US.

280SL: of 23,885 there were 12,927 to the US.

The percentage to the US increased as time went on.

I'm embarassed to say that I don't remember the source of these figures.

Richard M
www.panix.com/~rmadison/mercedes.shtml

[benzportland]

quote:Originally posted by theengineer

The typical advertisement runs like this: California car - no rust in doors, hood and trunk lid. One owner - an old lady who only drove the car to church. Never driven in the rain. Original low miles. Always garaged. Guaranteed chick magnet. On my car it was: "My wife only drove the car to the golf course". It was actually true. What he didn't say was that the grounds keeper asked her not to bring the car any more because it lost so much oil, it messed up the parking lot. The chick magnet has never worked and I have had the car at my friendly dealer many times. They finally admitted that it was "unrepairable" and I have the invoice to prove it.

Wasn't the chick magnet only available on euro spec models?

[J. Huber]

quote:Originally posted by benzportland

Wasn't the chick magnet only available on euro spec models?

Well, my chick magnet works fine -- problem is: the only chicks it attracts are my own!!

[mdsalemi]

Great photo, Jim--that's all the "chicks" you need to attract. You are blessed.

[J. Huber]

Thanks Mike. And thank goodness they ended up with the Mother Hen's looks instead of mine!

[psmith]

Hey James,

I know some of those chicks!  Say Hi for me, and I hope to see you again soon.  You and Mike inspired me, I am going to try to take my daughter on the drive this Sunday.  

[J. Huber]

Hey Pete. Should be a great drive! Celeste will love being Daddy's Navigator!

Unfortunately, my FSD "streak" is going to end at two... I know this one is right in your backyard -- enjoy the ride and take some pics!