Found this interesting from Hemmings!

[terry shores]

Just talking about the 280sl.  Hemmings said about 12000 went to the United States and just about a quarter of them are now licensed.  So, about 3000 still left here!! hmmmmm

[Cees Klumper]

That is interesting, I wonder how they came up with the 'licensed' count since I understood DMV departments don't generally divulge that kind of information. Would there be some national database they could be quoting from? Could someone find out from Hemmings by any chance? 3000 sure sounds like a very low estimate to me.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Cees Klumper]

In the Netherlands, research revealed that our national DMV has Pagodas listed under all kinds of different identifiers in their database, e.g. W113, W 113, 230 SL, 230SL, 250SL etc etc. When they search their records for Pagodas and don't type in all of the various identifiers that were in use over the past 40-odd years, the results of their search are incomplete. Maybe the same or a similar issue is affecting counts like the 'Hemmings 3000'.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Chad]

You know, the SL Restorers Guide book (pretty much a picture book) also puts 12,000 280SL as making it to America, or more than half the total production.  They quote 4,000 230SL as making it to America, and 1,300 250SL coming over.

I think that more than 25% of original Pagodas would still be on the road. I mean, they are pretty durable cars and I don't think the James Dean racer/crasher type was the typical buyer.

-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, 123.193