1972 280 SE

[J. Huber]

One just popped up for sale in our paper. 4800 OBO. Rare for this area to see any old MBs for sale. Just wondering: is this one with compatible parts for us or too late a model? and are parts, etc available for these? It reads 6 cyl. gas not diesel so I am guessing its not a 4.5 but a 3.5? What would a "steal" price be?

I know, I know, too little to go on... but thought I'd try 

[waqas]

The 6 cyl gas engine means that it has [almost] the same engine as the 280SL. FYI, both 3.5 and 4.5 engines are V-8 engines.

A steal price would be one-tenth of that (at least in Texas). If this car runs, why part it out? Some day, there will be too few of these beauties for prices to remain so low.

[Douglas]

First question: W111 Coupe or W108 sedan?

[J. Huber]

That was going to be my question here -- how do I know if its a 111 or 108. It has 4 doors! thus making it a 108?

I guess my thought was -- if I drove this fellow into the garage next to the Guzzi (113), would I be able to do what we can with 113s? Call for various parts here and there, mess with the peripherals and have fun with it -- or is it a totally different ballgame?

[waqas]

That was going to be my question here -- how do I know if its a 111 or 108. It has 4 doors! thus making it a 108?

Yup!

I guess my thought was -- if I drove this fellow into the garage next to the Guzzi (113), would I be able to do what we can with 113s? Call for various parts here and there, mess with the peripherals and have fun with it...

Yup!   

[Dash808]

I see one for sale here too.  It's a '71 2 door coupe 280SE 3.5 L
He's asking $25k

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/cto/1225049182.html

And another:  '61 300SE for $19k

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/cto/1244277616.html

[Douglas]

James,

I think this thread will help you to see the similarities:

http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=10848.msg72179#msg72179

And yes, that would be a W108 sedan. It's probably got a 2.8 liter six-cylinder with the M130 motor, just like a 280SL.

[Benz Dr.]

Here in Ontario if you want to drive a car it has to pass a saftey check first. If you always own the car and it passed 30 years ago the owership will say fit and that's all you need. Every time a car changes owership here it has to go through another saftety check to get new tags for it.

This creates an odd problem. The current owner can continue to drive an unsafe rust bucket as long as he never gets pulled over. They will take your plates if it's bad enough.

So the guy decides to sell the car. He could drive it all he wanted but if you buy it the rust will be a problem. The car is worth more to him than it will ever be to you because you have to fix all of his neglect before you can put it back on the road. Maybe the car was never worth it anyway. So, the car is worth 500 bucks if it runs - 200 if it doesn't. If it's a nice clean car that needs very little then the price of 4800 isn't too far off. Oddly, the coupe ( not a 3.5 ) isn't worth that much more. Maybe twice the price of the sedan but you get 10 times more car. They're by far the best buy right now. Coupes are actually better cars than a 113 for a lot less money.

I have more in the way of 108 parts than probably anything else.