Hi, I was not quite a toddler, but close. I was 8 years old when my father finally took delivery of this 280SL and my mom and I rode home in it together with him, me sideways in the "backseat" that I had to use the next 5 years since that was our only car. It had just arrived late one afternoon and my dad was not about to wait another day to get it after raising hell with Mercedes for the many delays, so he insisted on picking it up from the dock in a not so nice part of Vegas, at night, in 1968, need I say more? He made the sales guy meet us there , against all advice, to close the deal in cash. So my 8yr old view of how you get a new car was... unique and full of loud "oil field words". He had originally custom ordered a 250SL about a year prior with a large deposit from selling the '66 Mustang he was so disgusted with because of its poor handling. Somewhere he finds out that they delivered a 280 instead of the 250 he ordered. Words were exchanged. Somehow they convinced him it wasn't a trick and that he was getting a fair deal but he insisted on only paying for the 250 and they could eat the difference. I think there is a letter of apology from Mercedes for switching cars due to the production changeover. After that, I learned all about working on cars from my dad. He was a hands on petroleum engineer and had a lot of experience from his dad who raced early open wheel stuff in the 20's. Besides, we had to do all the work because he couldn't take it back to the Mercedes dealer since there was only 1 and by then they didn't like him very much, the feeling was mutual. However I do remember a follow up fight over getting the AC installed that was originally ordered for the 250 but didn't arrive on the 280. You need AC in LasVegas, along with the fan shroud as we later learned, and the fuel pump mods to prevent vapor lock. This car blazed those trails. There are endless stories and its a double joy for me to own now because of the memories and because its just such a great car, and especially fun to work on as you all well know. cheers, Mark