Sports Car Market March 2014

[ghenne]

On page 54, Sports Car Market has a two page article on a 230SL which sold for 40,250EUR (about $55,000 USD) at auction in Belgium in October.

They got a few things wrong.

1. No, it doesn't have a 4 cylinder engine.

2. The curb weight is not 3600 lbs.

3. I wouldn't say "The Pagoda cannot be considered...sporting for that matter. Acceleration was anemic.", though perhaps that would be true if two cylinders weren't working and I had 700 lbs in the trunk.

4. I don't think a 4 speed on a Euro 230SL is "quite rare". In fact, most of them do have manuals.

Should the Pagoda SL Group make an official response to the magazine (which, otherwise, is by far the best car magazine around)?

[Jonny B]

Wow, Gary is the editor for the Star, and would know better about the 4 cylinder engine item. Hardtop was not a standard item either.

The mistake on the weight and the four cylinder engine are the most egregious.

[perry113]

On page 54, Sports Car Market has a two page article on a 230SL which sold for 40,250EUR (about $55,000 USD) at auction in Belgium in October.

They got a few things wrong.

1. No, it doesn't have a 4 cylinder engine.

2. The curb weight is not 3600 lbs.

3. I wouldn't say "The Pagoda cannot be considered...sporting for that matter. Acceleration was anemic.", though perhaps that would be true if two cylinders weren't working and I had 700 lbs in the trunk.

4. I don't think a 4 speed on a Euro 230SL is "quite rare". In fact, most of them do have manuals.

Should the Pagoda SL Group make an official response to the magazine (which, otherwise, is by far the best car magazine around)?

They should be notified of the errors. I would think they would make note of the errors in a future edition.

[mdsalemi]

Whoa! Sports Car Market is published independently by Keith Martin. It has nothing to do with Star editor Gary Anderson or the MBCA!

[Jonny B]

Sorry for the confusion. Yes Gary Anderson is the editor of the star, the article in SCM is penned by "Gary Anderson" no further information was given and I did make a leap of assumption there. So if the Gary A from The Star is not the Gary A authoring the mag article, please disregard that part of the comment.

So now -

I sent a note back to SCM

"While glad to see space given to the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL, 250 SL and 280 SL cars. I would also think that you would strive to get the details correct. I can appreciate that one person's definition of "quite rare" as applied to the number of cars with four speed manuals and another's can vary (I would not so classify), there were two rather egregious errors that should not have made it into print. The car is equipped with a 2306 CC in line SIX cylinder engine not a 4-cylinder engine. Also the curb weight for the 230 SL is listed at 1295 kg in the MB technical information, or about 2849 pounds, vs. the 3600 pounds listed.

I do enjoy your magazine, but get the details right."

[Jack Jones]

The 3600 lbs most likely comes from the gross weight or "fully Loaded" weight that is 3600 lbs. The mistake in the number of cylinders, well sh#* happens.

[ghenne]

Wow, Gary is the editor for the Star, and would know better about the 4 cylinder engine item. Hardtop was not a standard item either.

The mistake on the weight and the four cylinder engine are the most egregious.

You're right - s**t happens. In this month's Star (Jan/Feb 2014 page 60), an article by the same Gary Anderson has a picture of of a white Pagoda with the caption "1960 230SL Pagoda". He's the Editor and Acting Publisher.

Let's send him a free membership.

[mdsalemi]

Pardon my error.

The topic was Sports Car Market Magazine, and in the first posts no mention was made of the article author; just an article on a Pagoda appearing in the magazine.
The second post then was about The Star and its editor, which may be obvious to someone with Sports Car Market magazine in front of them, but not for someone just reading the thread here.
The details are important everywhere…

My apologies.

FWIW the errors in the Star are generally noted including the ones mentioned in this thread. Try as you might it is impossible to create a publication w/o them.

[Jonny B]

Here is the link to Bonham's for a few more photos of the car.
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21396/lot/4/

[66andBlue]

... Try as you might it is impossible to create a publication w/o them.

Absolutely! Still better to produce a magazine with a few errors than no magazine at all. 

[Jordan]

Jonny, I see they printed your letter/e-mail with the corrections in the latest issue.

[Jonny B]

Thanks for the heads up. I have been doing a fair amount of travel lately, and have not had a chance to read the latest issue. It is sitting on the counter at home, will check it out when I get back tonight (fingers crossed and United willing).
Finally got to it, the letter was pretty well printed verbatim, with response from Gary A.