Missing interior door handle?

[KUMARB]

Does a 280SL(1971} have an interior door handle (not the elbow rest) on the passenger side door panel? I do not have one, but the door frame has threaded bolt holes, apparently, for a door handle. Does the driver side have a door handle? The driver side door also seems to have threaded bolt holes, but the holes have been taped over.

Will someone in know please comment?

Thanks.

P.S.: A new inside door handle costs $360 at the dealership. Is there some place I can get it cheaper, perhaps, a used one?

[Garry]

Kumarb,
Passenger side has the grab handle, some fit it to the drivers side rather than pull on the elbow rest which can sometimes come  free.  They come up on eBay from time to time and not  expensive but often discolored. I believe they can be recolored.

[DavidBrough]

I fitted a drivers side door handle as when I fitted a new door rubber it was difficult to close and started to strain the arm rest. I sprayed mine with trim paint which has lasted three years now with no pealing. The only thing you have to be careful of is that it doesn't get in the way of your knee as the cabin is quite tight.

[KUMARB]

Thanks a bunch, Garry and David Brough for your thoughtful insights. They were very useful.

By the way, do you think the grab handles on the hardtop will fit on the doors too?  They, kind of, look identical.

[Garry]

I believe they are the same unit although I have not compared them side by side.

[Anfinn]

My hardtop and door handles are slightly different. Apart for the white part on the hardtop handle,
the height of the door handle is abt. 10mm higher than the hardtop one. (The room for the fingers
is 40 mm vs. 30mm.)
The distance between the fixing holes is the same, however, so they are interchangeable.
I read in another thread that the smaller one is preferred on the driver side (if fitted) to give more
room for the knee, as David mentioned.

[KUMARB]

Thanks, Anfinn, for checking the two grab handles. It sure is intersting! I would assume then that there are two bolt holes on either end of the hardtop grab handles for attachment similar to ones on the door grab handles. Is that right?

Thanks.

 

[Anfinn]

That's correct. The attachment points seem identical to me.