Time Capsule ? 250 SL with 5speed

[norton]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4545804961&category=6338

Mike Halleck
Chesterfield Mi
71 280SL
68 250SL (parts car)
94 E320 Coupe

[hauser]

Looks like this car was originally sold in Italy.  My previous 250sl ZF5 also came from Italy.  I wonder how many of the original ZF5 speeds went to Italy?



1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[Douglas]

Pretty car. I haven't seen it in the flesh, but I know it's been at some of the local shows. One of my friends who's a diehard 113 enthusiast thought it was very pretty in the flesh. There are definitely several areas where the car could stand improvement, but it appears to be nice.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[Benz Dr.]

Mine came from Italy so I think most of them started there.

Dan Caron's
 SL Barn
benzbarn@ebtech.net
 slbarn.mbz.org

[Douglas]

I know of another 5-spd 250 SL Coupe from Italy that is now silver, but started its life that very same color.

BTW, this appears to be similar in color to Ed Cave's new 911 S.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[hauser]

I believe that in addition to the Italy bound cars MB used a different rear end ratio.

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[George Des]

My 67 230SL ZF 5 Speed was purchased by a Doctor living in Rovigo, Italy in 1967. I purchased it in 1976 in Longare(VI)while stationed in Vicenza. Hvae all the original Italian registration and tax forms as well. Has been back and forth to Europe twice and was serviced by MB's Torpedo garage in Kaiserslautern.

[Vince Canepa]

Some interesting oddities here.  The tach & speedo cables are black, whereas most of the early originals are gold, the firewall insulation is three piece, the brake fluid reservoir has the later all black cap instead of the blue center cap, it has the red coil, there is not a trace of a decal on the engine or coolant reservoir - odd for the low miles, the carpet is not original (note what looks like cloth binding on the rear shelf carpet) - odd for a car in storage (the interior looks to be the 116 Caviar Tex like mine and I would assume it came originally with the black square weave carpet - Caviar looks really odd to my eyes with the beige carpet), and the seller claims it has the original SS exhaust.  It will be interesting to see if it sells and at what price.

Vince Canepa
1967 250SL
113.043-10-001543
568H Signal Red
116 Caviar MB-Tex

[Douglas]

I like how it says "drives like a Mercedes with 11K." Guess that's pretty hard to argue with.

There are lots of things that aren't correct on this car, but the only thing that makes me stop and wonder is the rear of the car -- the beltline trim is mounted incorrectly behind the rear wheels, it's missing the horizontal chrome trim under the rear license plate, and there is no image of the trunk floor.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[n/a]

Douglas, what horizontal chrome under the license plate are you referring to?  Do you have a photo?

Thanks,

Joe

[Douglas]

I'm talking about the chrome piece of trim between the rear bumpers found on European Pagodas. Visually, it continues the horizontal line made by the left and right bumper halves. It's totally frivolous and serves no function aside from looking pretty, but it does that nicely!

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[J. Huber]

In a way, it does serve a purpose. It kind of holds the license plate and frame off the paint, no? Mine is actually a bit of a matte aluminum, not a shiny chrome.

James
63 230SL

[Cees Klumper]

Another thing that might be missing (not sure if they were always mandatory) are the little round orange indicator lights that go on the front fenders (where many US cars have the rectangular ones). Rodd's and Dan's have these round lights, but this car doesn't.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Douglas]

You could write an entire article on rear license plate treatment alone. There are so many different approaches on how to mount the darn things back there and, as far as I can tell, many of these are factory or at least period. Some people have some kind of bracket, some have two holes with varying degrees of finish, some have no holes..... Plus license plates themselves came in all shapes and sizes depending on the country in question. I know the US plate obscures the chrome trim on a Euro-spec car back there, so it doesn't look like it belongs. It wrecks the horizontal line of that trim and hides the chrome. (Although I suppose one of those tiny black Delaware tags would work nicely.)

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[Naj ✝︎]

James,
That trim under the licence plate is polished aluminum, not chrome.
A little elbow grease could bring the shine back.

Douglas is right, of course. When you are following a Pagoda with one fitted, the filler makes it look like a complete one piece bumper from a distance.

naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[Douglas]

If you look closely, you can see the horizontal trim in this link:

http://www.mbsl.de/prospekt_280SL_1267/rueckseite.jpg

Thanks for clarifying that it's aluminum, Naj. Didn't know that.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[A Dalton]

Originally posted by Douglas

If you look closely, you can see the horizontal trim in this link:

http://www.mbsl.de/prospekt_280SL_1267/rueckseite.jpg

Thanks for clarifying that it's aluminum, Naj. Didn't know that.

 I have an extra , if anyone is looking for one..

[71 pagoda]

Last June at the mercedes headquarters car show in Montvale, a 250sl 5 speed showed up late that was the same color. Im guessing this is the same car.. The car looked kind of worn and "patched" up. The owner I was told bought and sold cars. The unique thing was the 5 speed and the color. It attracted a lot of attention. I could be wrong and this may be a different car but how many copper 5 speeds in northern N J do you see.

[Douglas]

That's definitely the same car, Larry.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[George Des]

Cees,

You picked up on the same thing I did. The directional repeaters that are common to almost all cars registered in Italy are missing. My own ZF5-Speed has these. I believe they are required by the Italian Motor Vehicle statutes, so they most likely were removed and covered or the car has had the fenders replaced. Question if they are covered is with what. I have had mine off while doing my own resto and the hole they leave is not insignificant.

George Des

[TA250SL]

The data card on my Euro 250SL lists the option #62 which is to delete the aluminum trim under the license plate.  This car might have the same option, or maybe it was just deleted by a previous owner.

Tom
1967 250SL
Los Angeles

[hauser]

Cees, as for the round markers my former 250 did not have them.  It is possible that the car made it here before they were mandatory.  Don't know for sure.

There is another car in our group (230 ZF) with a different marker than the US and Italian version.  I believe it is sort of a rectangular flush with fender type.

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[Naj ✝︎]

Here's another pic.



Download Attachment: 230RrBmpr.JPG
52.44 KB

65 230SL
68 280SL

[Douglas]

Auction ended with someone exercising the 'Buy it Now' option for $37K.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[norton]

That was a bold move, hope he got a look at the car, before he pushed the "But it Now" button[:p]

Mike Halleck
Chesterfield Mi
71 280SL
68 250SL (parts car)
94 E320 Coupe