Lot 130: 1969 Mercedes 280SL, ID# 113044.12.014788, Red/Tan, Frigiking AC, automatic transmission, 70k miles indicated, recent transmission rebuild, aftermarket radio. Sold for $67.2k. Including a Pagoda of some sort in their sales seems obligatory for most of the big three auction houses. My observation would be why not find a proper example? RM Sotheby’s is a respected auction house whose name implies a certain level of confidence in the cars they offer. If a first time Pagoda buyer counted on that reputation when they won this particular auction, they will be sadly disappointed. That the auction house had generally nothing to say about the car in their description was revealing. This 280SL should have been rejected by RM after viewing a single exterior photograph. The plated brass horizontal side moldings normally mounted aft of the rear wheel arches that continue the line established between the wheel arches are missing. No big deal right? Not quite. It reveals an ignorance of the model and/or crude workmanship by the vendor(s) that patched this SL together at some time in its life. Omitting these side moldings is laughable. Looking into the crudely painted flat black engine bay and decoding paint code 906 reveals the car was originally grey blue metallic. Twin antennas on the tail, miserable driver’s side panel-to-panel, molding-to-molding alignment and a mishmash of materials/colors within the interior further betray this SL. Looking deeper will likely only reveal more disappointment. Yes, it was a fairly cheap Pagoda but this lot did nothing to enhance RM SOTHEBY’S reputation.
Lot 256: 1957 Mercedes 300SL Roadster, ID# 198.042.7500555, Strawberry Red/Creme leather, hardtop, tools, first owner until 2009. Original owner Jim Gilmore of Indy racing fame as the long time sponsor of AJ Foyt, 25,700 miles, Sold for $973k. I had to laugh when I read the description of this SL when I realized I had the opportunity to buy the car in February 2009. I was contacted by Gilmore’s son-in-law and flew to Michigan for an evaluation. It was freezing cold with snow on the ground as we roared around the neighborhood aboard the SL in the dark. I was slightly put off by some odd mechanical resonance from the engine but overall it was a very interesting, if scruffy, car. I noted that the soft top lid cover leather had been partially eaten by rodents. The panel fit and hood/door/deck lid shut lines were exceptional. I inspected (and still have copies of) the original bill of sale and the data card. While the beige hard top seems like a later addition, it is indeed original to the car based on my picture of the correct body number stamped underneath the rear edge of the top. I took 156 images and it’s interesting to compare them with the auction images. All is largely the same although the paint – a somewhat crude respray years ago – has been certainly massaged. It had 21k miles showing when I inspected it. After a few beers and a delightful dinner with seller I headed back to my hotel to get some sleep before an early flight home. It was all for naught, however. The asking price which I recall being about $450k was just beyond the market in early 2009. The woman RM SOTHEBY’S mentions bought the car shortly after my visit. She lived on Los Angeles and was able to organize an arrangement similar to a 1031 exchange via a broker which allowed justification of a higher purchase price. This is a very interesting highly original roadster and the $973k was well deserved. Let’s hope the owner is not tempted to restore the car.
