1970 280SL on eBay for $525K???

[Nate]

I wish it were true that the values of our cars were approaching the Gullwing and Roadster, but not the case, at least not yet.  Most likely a big typo....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-280-sl-Mercedes-RESTORED-RARE-SUNROOF-HARD-TOP-/130542920860?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1e64f6e49c#ht_628wt_1049

[MichaelB.]

Great car, I think I recall us talking about that license plate here. I would bet it was to be $52,500. / but I hope he gets $525,000.   

[thelews]

Great car, I think I recall us talking about that license plate here. I would bet it was to be $52,500. / but I hope he gets $525,000.   

That's what I thought until I read the $100K+ restoration and sunroof top and how special it is (he says).  Maybe he didn't put the comma in the wrong place, in his mind.  You think with supposedly over 100 in the car and the special top he meant around 50?  Not sure.

[Darren]

Now corrected to $52,500.

[badali]

The hard top option is neat.  How rare is it?  He said 1 of 50 in the add.  The only problem is we would never have it on the car even if we had that option.

[reggie]

Ooo, all that trouble gary had with his hard top sling, that one dosent give me confidence, then to lower it on to a bare floor,
Scare's me, 

[Larry & Norma]

Where is the tacho drive on that engine? Oops ok just worked it out, seemed different
but checked mine it's the same! Another senior moment!!

[Garry]

I agree Reggie,

It is very similar to the one that gave me all the heartache.

After getting the car repaired it came back with the top on.  I still have not got to adapting a secondary safety system so the top has stayed on the car.

Putting the top on the floor like that is not a good idea. At least a mat or something to protect it from the course floor. Neat top though.

[snowyt 69]

Here Is My Take

What a lovely car. Immaculate. But if someone has offered you 20 grand for the hard top alone, why didn’t you sell it? Then you’d only need $32,5000 for the car, which you might actually get. As this is a Buy It Now auction, this guy doesn’t have a hope of selling it. This is the hundred thousand dollar Pagoda that if you bide your time, wait for the owner to get frustrated, and then simply show up in Texas with $30,000.00 in cash, you will own the car.
I do not share the bullishness of this board on the long-term future of prices for these cars. It is not just Pagodas. It is the entire classic car market. I don’t make this judgement lightly, as I love all of these cars. I wish with all my heart that they had a future, as I believe they all deserve it.
But in order for them to have a future, there must be a generation growing up who covets them. Who wants them. Who understands what they are.
I am a boomer. I suspect 90 percent of the people on this board are boomers. I am at the tail end of the boomer generation, but this is of no matter. I grew up loving cars. I read magazines about cars. I worked on cars. I coveted cars I would never own.
I did this because the car to me was freedom. It was the ability to go and experience life. It was the means to the end, and the end was freedom. The car was freedom. Any car was freedom. But if you really wanted to do freedom right, you wanted a really nice car.
Now I have two sons, aged 21 and 19. They are great people, and I love them as a Dad is supposed to. They have grown up watching me with my head in anything mechanical; car, boat, plane, lawnmower, and you want to know how much interest they have in my passion? I will tell you. Zero.
I have five nephews and a niece. Want to know how much interest they have in cars? Zero.
Why?
Simple.
The car is no longer freedom to this generation. Freedom is a computer. A cell phone. A text message. A tweet. Facebook.
They are going all over the world, the generation behind us, instantaneously and with a flip of a button. What need have they of a dinosaur such as a car?
What need have they of a real dinosaur like a Pagoda? An MGB? A Porsche 911?
I think these are questions you ought to ask yourself if you think your classic car is a good long-term investment.
I love my Snow White, and I feel pleased that I brought her back from the dead. So that someone (that would be me) could enjoy her. But I am under no illusion that I have made a fiscally responsible decision.
Watch this ad. The car is probably worth the asking price, to you or I.
But we already have our toys. And so the market for such a car is for those that do not.
Well, they’re buying I-Phones.
And they don’t care about cars.
20 years from now they’ll be collecting Commodore 64’s.
Because that is what freedom is all about for them.

[Frank Mallory]

"$18,000 Spent on restoring the top alone" ... Is it even possible to spend that much on just a hardtop restoration?
I know I'm new and I don't know diddly, but am I seeing some American style hose clamps in the engine compartment?
Nice car, right color, wrong transmission  

[JamesL]

Snowy

Cannot help but agree. I don't have sons your age but if I did, chances are they'd think my car was an outdated thing and a 1990s Audi  Quattro or somesuch would be coveted. Add the fact that fuel ain't going to get cheaper, I reckon our passion has a limited shelf life and unless the car is absolutely exceptional and thus forms part of a collection of rarities, values will be capped.

[thelews]

I don't know.  My son (21) really wants me to keep his '91 BMW 318is that was his first car (I have) and my daughter (19) is very loyal and loving to her Beetle.  She also gets annoyed when I make noise about trying to sell my 190 SL.  So, hard to say, but yes, a younger generation of car enthusiasts does need to be cultivated.

[badali]

Funny we all have 21 and 19 year old kids.  Mine have little interest in the cars also.  Although my daughter was upset when I sold my 1961 220Sb since I had the car her whole life.  I think the will not appreciate or take care of the cars in our passing...

[Larry & Norma]

My 21 year old son has just gained a first class honours degree in graphic design. He has never even
ridden in my Pagoda and has shown little desire to. He has taken some nice photo's tho'.
Only too happy to accept the Vauxhaul I bought him for passing, shouldn't think he will ever open the bonnet/hood!!

[snowyt 69]

Sold!
He got his ask.
50 cents on his dollar.
I didn't think he had a hope.
I was wrong.
Good for him.
Bad for all of us who think we might get a hundred cents on our dollar.

[badali]

See if it gets relisted from a non paying bidder.  It happens allot...

[santropezblueSL]

Snowy, the guys who track the car market were saying the same thing ten years ago about the cars from the 1930's, that they would never rise again and the current generation had no interest, and now there is a whole new generation of younger people buying them and their prices are again on the rise.  From what I have read the hand built cars, like our pagodas will continue to rise since they are valued as art, rather than a production line commodity.  Ferrari's and such are now prized as works of art and their prices have enjoyed a steady rise, with a new younger generation buying them.  I park my pagodas in front of Starbucks and I get just as many comments from the generation younger than me, as the older generation.  The younger generation does covet these cars, but at present cannot afford them.  As the population rises, and the supply of hand built cars diminishes (or stays the same - leaving alone the issue of three Ferraris with the same serial number) supply and demand says that prices will rise.  When we run out of gas we will be mounting them on pedestals in our living rooms instead of in our garages.  I believe it is more a question of which generation has the money to buy, than any shift in interest in the cars.  Where are you located Snowy?       

[snowyt 69]

santropezblueSL

I found your comments heartening and informative. I would like nothing better than to see these cars valued for what they are. My nephews and niece, my sons all think the car is neat. Those that are licensed to drive are one by one getting a crack behind the wheel, at which point they think the car is AWESOME! This being said, they still await the release of the latest iPhone with bated breath. I live in Toronto.
 

[Benz Dr.]

Snowy, the guys who track the car market were saying the same thing ten years ago about the cars from the 1930's, that they would never rise again and the current generation had no interest, and now there is a whole new generation of younger people buying them and their prices are again on the rise.  From what I have read the hand built cars, like our pagodas will continue to rise since they are valued as art, rather than a production line commodity.  Ferrari's and such are now prized as works of art and their prices have enjoyed a steady rise, with a new younger generation buying them.  I park my pagodas in front of Starbucks and I get just as many comments from the generation younger than me, as the older generation.  The younger generation does covet these cars, but at present cannot afford them.  As the population rises, and the supply of hand built cars diminishes (or stays the same - leaving alone the issue of three Ferraris with the same serial number) supply and demand says that prices will rise.  When we run out of gas we will be mounting them on pedestals in our living rooms instead of in our garages.  I believe it is more a question of which generation has the money to buy, than any shift in interest in the cars.  Where are you located Snowy?       

You would be referring to '' Full Classic cars '' I assume?

 Everything after that is a wannabee.........

[santropezblueSL]

I am only 45 minutes west of you.  drop in for coffee if you are heading west.
Andrew

santropezblueSL

I found your comments heartening and informative. I would like nothing better than to see these cars valued for what they are. My nephews and niece, my sons all think the car is neat. Those that are licensed to drive are one by one getting a crack behind the wheel, at which point they think the car is AWESOME! This being said, they still await the release of the latest iPhone with bated breath. I live in Toronto.
 

[peterm]

the perceived value of these car exceeds the market price at this time.  The in front of starbux phenomena is quite interesting.  There is a cache to the pagoda that transcends age groups.  I often drive to and sit in front of the local bux and watch the response.  Men women kids teens all seem to generally have interest, many of them would pass by an sls or 430 without a second look.  My favorite game is when they come over and ask me the year- mine is a 71 most people estimate mid sixties