Hey Mike I got to see two yesterday. One was a '71 280 and the other was a '69 280. I was traveling on Main Street and parked in front of Continental Imports was the owners personal 1971 280sl automatic. I had never had a good look at it before so I immediatly pulled in to get a closer look.
Once in the parking lot there was another pagoda. I walked into the office to say hello to Walter and got the low down on the '69. This car was advertised in the auto trader and hemmings as a "total restoration". I recognized the phone number prefix in the ads. The owner lived about 15 minutes from me and I called him about the car. The asking price was $26,000.00. Rebuilt everything, replaced eveything, new paint (silver), and new interior (cream). Everything sounded great until he said "Italian leather?
" He did not use a kit. Well that was enough to dicourage me from seeing the car. Seems if you're doing a "total restoration" you should at least have a correct interior.
The only nice thing I can say about the car was that the doors opened and closed nicely. The self tapping screws on the dash wood looked light a nightmare. Snaps were screwed around the cockpit for some type of cover. The Italian leather on the seats was poorly done and the other leather pieces were painted/dyed in place.
Its new owner had it there for tuning prior to shipment. The bottom line, sold for $22,000.00.
I forgot to mention a 1950's Rolls Royce being serviced in the shop.
1969 280sl 5 spd 1999 ML320 Gainesville,Fl.
