Rare Colour Combo Blue with Bamboo leather

[santropezblueSL]

Here are some pictures of my newly restored 1971 280SL in 906 blue with Bamboo leather, manual transmission and steering.  This car is an unusual specificcation because it was purchased by an American living in Paris, so it is a European spec car with manual steering, euro armrests, rear fog light, but has a slash eight serial number, MPH speedo, sealed beam headlights and heated rear hardtop window option.  It is a very attractive colour combination, and painted to a very high level. 

[JamesL]

You sure the interior is bamboo and not cognac?




Great colour combo

[mbzse]

Here are some pictures of my newly restored 1971 280SL in 906 blue with Bamboo leather, manual transmission and steering

Heh, interesting, a sister car to my recently bought all original 280SL  
Even the soft top colour is the same. My H/T is the same colour 906, with chrome strips fitted. The car was originally sold in Duisburg, Germany, came to Sweden in the seventies. What is your opinion on the manual steering? Would you consider fitting a power steering?
/Hans in Sweden

.

[mbzse]

You sure the interior is bamboo and not cognac?

The two are quite similar. But, the Cognac variant has like dark brown "freckles" over the base tone.
/Hans in Sweden

.

[santropezblueSL]

Hi, yes definitely it was built with bamboo leather. We matched it out to the original leather and then later were able to confirm it with the original build data card. The original leather was very fine and very smooth, while cognac is slightly darker and has a dark pebble texture.  It seems Bamboo leather was not a regular option but possibly a custom order.  I kept the original leather on parts if the dash and glovebox for comparison.  I believe all of these cars were custom order but it seems that there were listed colors top pick from , but then you could also order from other Mercedes colors, past and present.  The combination looks very attractive.

   

You sure the interior is bamboo and not cognac?




Great colour combo

[santropezblueSL]

my car also has the chrome strips on the roof.  this option allowed the fitment of a roof rack, for example if you wanted to mount a ski rack the chrome strips were designed to allow this.  I much prefer the manual steering.  I have just sold a 1970 280SL with power steering, and I much, much prefer the manual steering.  The car feels much more like a sports car.  the combination of manual transmission and manual steering makes the car drive like a 230SL, but with all the power of a 280SL.  i was honestly very surprised how much difference there is between the regular american specification 280SL with power steering and automatic transmission, and my blue car with manual steering and transmission.  With the right tires and shocks fitted the car drives incredibly well. 
 

Heh, interesting, a sister car to my recently bought all original 280SL  
Even the soft top colour is the same. My H/T is the same colour 906, with chrome strips fitted. The car was originally sold in Duisburg, Germany, came to Sweden in the seventies. What is your opinion on the manual steering? Would you consider fitting a power steering?
/Hans in Sweden

.

[treedoc]

Hi Canada,

That car of yours looks great I'm envious, I really like the idea of manual steer and transmission, is it a 4 or 5 speed?

The ski rack holders come up on eBay from time to time but the asking price sometimes indicate gold not chrome plating
Below are a couple of shots of our slush box powered steered 280 with ski racks

[santropezblueSL]

Hello to Australia,
Your car looks very good.  Is it 906 Graublau also? I am curious to see how many 906 Graublau with bamboo cars exist.  I would also love to hear of any 280SL cars in 396 Mittelblau.  Are there any mittelblau SL's out there?  My car is a 4 Speed transmission.  I was seriously considering the conversion to a 5 speed until I saw the asking price for the transmission.  The top gear is a little longer in this manual car than the automatic transmission car I have just sold, so the revs are a little lower in top gear, which is good for highway cruising, but a five speed would be even better.  The other thing that makes it a lot more fun to drive is running the revs up with the manual transmission, far beyond where the automatic shifts.  The engine loves to rev and reving it out makes the car much quicker.  Thanks for the picture of the ski rack.  This is the first time I have seen the actual ski racks mounted.  If you would like to trade up from the automatic transmission to the manual, my car is listed for sale. I have just put a lot of money into the paint, leather, carpets, etc, so the price will not be cheap, but it is the best paint work I have ever seen on a pagoda, so if you want a car that is really done right...   

Hi Canada,

That car of yours looks great I'm envious, I really like the idea of manual steer and transmission, is it a 4 or 5 speed?

The ski rack holders come up on eBay from time to time but the asking price sometimes indicate gold not chrome plating
Below are a couple of shots of our slush box powered steered 280 with ski racks

[treedoc]

Sorry Canada, no sale on the Manuello, we have permission from St Pete to drive ours and only ours through the "Perlies" so were hanging on to it. That said SWMBO would hang me if I did sell it, an ex So Californian Car and from here goes to her home country Switzerland
colour is blue  body and hardtop 396 with vellum [beige] MB Tex upholstery. Original carpets, woodwork, upholstery & soft top [never used, as new], bare metal respray 10 years back, garaged all it's life.
If your interested in doing a reasonable cost 5 speed conversion contact Garry at bytemarkspty@bigpond.com
Don't know of any 906 colour cars down here

[santropezblueSL]

Hi Treedoc, Any chance that you could post (or email me) more pics of your car?  I love the colour of your car and would like to see more pics.  Is the interior colour code 146, the same colour that we call "parchment"? Both of my SL's were also from California.  BTW it has been a while since I have called mine "SWMBO"; guess I haven't obeyed her much lately...which is how I ended up with two Pagodas, a Lotus Elan, a Jag Mark II, a couple of trucks from the 1950's, some BMW's...  ;-)

Sorry Canada, no sale on the Manuello, we have permission from St Pete to drive ours and only ours through the "Perlies" so were hanging on to it. That said SWMBO would hang me if I did sell it, an ex So Californian Car and from here goes to her home country Switzerland
colour is blue  body and hardtop 396 with vellum [beige] MB Tex upholstery. Original carpets, woodwork, upholstery & soft top [never used, as new], bare metal respray 10 years back, garaged all it's life.
If your interested in doing a reasonable cost 5 speed conversion contact Garry at bytemarkspty@bigpond.com
Don't know of any 906 colour cars down here