I attended the auction in Snoqualmie. Prior to that, I had searched specifically for a driver 280SL, white or one that could be reasonably repainted white. This involved multiple trips to Southern California, meeting and then accompanied by Pagoda afficionados with inspection experience. After seeing multiple examples of very pretty "lipstick on pigs", or facing the reality of condition 1 cars going for over $125,000, and extensive research of sales in the past two years, it was clear that the condition 2 market had shifted to a range of $80-100,000. The days of an affordable $20-30,000 vehicle appears to be long gone. Such is the law of supply and demand in our bastion of capitalism.
Analogously, houses in the San Francisco Bay area have quadrupled over time, effectively out-pricing those who cannot afford million $ homes. Apple, Intel, Google, Facebook, etc could be asked to move to say, North Dakota, and reduce the wage/price pressure but doubt it would happen. The same applies to all the retiring baby boomers with high net worths.
I was the one who bought the 280 SL, after obtaining the services of an expert who performed a superb inspection. Yes, it was more costly than it would have been 2 years ago, but such is the market. N.B. I couldn't have afforded it even 5 years ago.
I have already been the recipient of amazing camaraderie by another Pagoda owner at the auction. In addition, the degree of support of this Pagoda group is a rarity in our modern world.
Now I will take pleasure in the drive, and the truly superb lines and character of the car, not for any investment or show-off purposes. My children may experience the same in the future.
