World record Pagoda sale?

[teahead]

<snip>

[teahead]

Not sure, just speculating:

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mo19/monterey/lots/r0182-1971-mercedes-benz-280-sl-pagoda/794948

Anyone want to provide input on why THIS one sold so high?  What's so special about it?  What can we learn from it?

[teahead]

I notice it has its CSS wired up..unlike my 1970 USA auto model:

[waltklatt]

Perhaps the green color is well appreciated these days.
But a lot of mistakes there, surprised....with the high cost.
But I'm not going to go any further.

Walter

[Iconic]

I'll tell you what, for $240k, I would not be happy with needing an extra key for the gas cap, which is not correct for this model. I guess I wouldn't be happy paying $240k for any Pagoda. 

Rob, What month was your '70 built in? I have experience with 2 of them from 8/69 build and they both had no A/C and both have the CSS wired up.
Take care,
Mark

[teahead]

I'll tell you what, for $240k, I would not be happy with needing an extra key for the gas cap, which is not correct for this model. I guess I wouldn't be happy paying $240k for any Pagoda. 

Rob, What month was your '70 built in? I have experience with 2 of them from 8/69 build and they both had no A/C and both have the CSS wired up.
Take care,
Mark

Hah!  I thought all MB gas caps needed a key!  I bought a new one w/the MB logo and it needed a key.

Not sure what month.  Anyway to tell from the tag?  I think it's 9/69 (2nd picture)

Mine's a USA model, so I assumed that the dashpot would help w/the trans going into gear idle speed (which it barely does) so maybe that's why CSS is not used.  AC an addon so guess dealer didn't bother w/the CSS since the AC doesn't seem to cause the idle to go down that much (unlike the auto in gear).

[Iconic]

Rob,
It is not personal taste which eliminates the rear moldings in some of the Pagodas. At least not most of the time.
The vast majority of the time it is an indicator that there was enough paint and body work on that panel that there are no more holes and the painter either elected not to put them back on or forgot.
Mark

[teahead]

Green one correct ride height?  I actually like it (better than mine).

Compared with mine (with incorrect, very low 185-70-14 tires).

[Iconic]

They do all (all Pagodas, not all Mercedes) have keys for the gas cap.
I said "extra key". An extra one sided key.
As opposed to using the key from the ignition and doors, the same two sided key.

Mine was and is a USA model too (I say was and is because one is sold and one I still have.). I don't believe the dealers would have ever needed to touch the CSS on a non-A/C car. I would guess my CSS for both cars were hooked up at the factory.
Mark

[teahead]

They do all (all Pagodas, not all Mercedes) have keys for the gas cap.
I said "extra key". An extra one sided key.
As opposed to using the key from the ignition and doors, the same two sided key.

Ah right.  Ya, I'm sure 90% of the parts were new and not restored on this car; including the gas cap.  Hence new key(s).

Can easily spend $75k on parts on these Pagodas from what I can see.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

If RM restores a car it pretty much is restored to original or as close to it as possible. My car was imported into Canada in 1992 from Florida and then restored by RM here in Canada. The work was done for a multi millionaire, he had it done for his wife as a birthday presant. She owned the car for 20 years and only drove her 4000 miles in all that time. I paid less then $50K Canadian for the car. In 6 years my car value more then dubbed, mind you I found and then purchased this reliable driver. In all that time spend slightly over $2K Canadian on maintenance, I guess I was lucky to find her (in slightly over 6 years she saw 13K + Road Miles).

Now to your question about the sale for the one above for 240K in my opinion it all depends who wanted the car most and who had the most money. Quite often at Auctions, things get out of hands if two or three are beating against one another. So i’m Thinking the one that got the car had the most money and to him or her 240K was just pocket change if they had billions in the bank. The car we are talking about here will most likely become a garage queen and that is a shame IMHO.

Is or was the price right? I don’t think so. Those folks (the ones with deep pockets) are driving the price of cars and parts up, something that most of us do not appreciate.

I might be wrong in my thinking here.

[mercakungen]

Rob,

My car is also built in 9/69. It is a USA-model, no A/C. The dashpot and the CSS are in use (from the factory).

BR,
Matti

[Iconic]

Thanks for confirming Matti,
Just like mine. That makes three cars that we know of. Yes, mine both had the dashpot. Tom Colitt (who recently passed away) was very interested in these cars that had dashpots. I'm not really sure what he was studying. Does anyone know what he found interesting about '70 cars with dashpots (and possibly Auto trans and no A/C)?
Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled programming about the $240k car ........
Mark

[fosdicke]

The higher price may be  attributed but not limited  to the Custom Blower Knob below the authentic Cracked dash pad and the customized Grill bends and possibly the golf cart and course life membership  goes with it ?
Like my old car dealer buddy use to say
There is an arse to fit every seat !

[Jonny B]

This car and sale are also discussed on another thread on the forum. I think the comment about "two people in the room really wanted it" is at play here. Very nice color combo helped and it is really pretty and shiny. I also agree with the comments about items under the hood.

Just to throw a bit of dodge into the ointment - my Sept 69 280 SL (automatic) has the CSS, but it is not wired up.

[teahead]

Still seems pretty high for a USA - Automatic.  No?

I would think big money would be for Euro 280s with a four-speed.  Especially a 5-speed!

[JN]

It is definitely not the color!

That green is not for me

JN

[Benz Dr.]

If RM restores a car it pretty much is restored to original or as close to it as possible. My car was imported into Canada in 1992 from Florida and then restored by RM here in Canada. The work was done for a multi millionaire, he had it done for his wife as a birthday presant. She owned the car for 20 years and only drove her 4000 miles in all that time. I paid less then $50K Canadian for the car. In 6 years my car value more then dubbed, mind you I found and then purchased this reliable driver. In all that time spend slightly over $2K Canadian on maintenance, I guess I was lucky to find her (in slightly over 6 years she saw 13K + Road Miles).

Now to your question about the sale for the one above for 240K in my opinion it all depends who wanted the car most and who had the most money. Quite often at Auctions, things get out of hands if two or three are beating against one another. So i’m Thinking the one that got the car had the most money and to him or her 240K was just pocket change if they had billions in the bank. The car we are talking about here will most likely become a garage queen and that is a shame IMHO.

Is or was the price right? I don’t think so. Those folks (the ones with deep pockets) are driving the price of cars and parts up, something that most of us do not appreciate.

I might be wrong in my thinking here.

Buyers may be bidding more for good cars but the reason they're going up in price has to do with the cost of restoration. Aside from paint and materials, the biggest cost is going to be parts which MB has the most control over.