An Update – Pagoda Again: ’71 Mercedes-Benz 280SL

It appears one of our readers actually laid eyes on the SL and had some negative comments. Let’s assume the reader is correct. It emphasizes the need for an experienced pre-purchase inspection from JewelorJalopy.com or any other reputable service. We spoke with the seller who seems like a nice man and probably doesn’t know the extent of the troubles his car may have. Original post follows:

We feature as many nice Pagoda SLs as we find particularly cars that are off the radar screen of the masses. That means cars that are not on eBay or Craigslist…yet. Since we bought our rally car project Mercedes, we’ve been members of the Mercedes-Benz Owners Club and it is a good one. They are very well-organized and their monthly magazine is among the best. Same for the website and that is where we found today’s featured SL.

It is owned by a club member and although we don’t know a huge amount of information on the car we think it is worth looking into. Why? Well, it is a 4-speed manual car with A/C and that is a really nice combination that you don’t see everyday. We like the light Ivory color with brown trim too. The mileage is low at 46,000 and the seller states it has been Mercedes-Benz serviced and has the records to prove it. It has had a repaint and to what quality level we do not know. Hopefully the headlight notches have remained intact. You can ask the seller. Contact him by email montaltoa at jbb.com. (this method of email display helps avoid spambots!)