World traveler: ’70 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Coupe

We can’t resist a glorious Mercedes-Benz Coupe particularly a rare one with a 4-speed manual transmission. Most of the 4-speed manual cars we’ve seen are 6-cylinder cars. This one is a V-8! It was originally purchased in Italy where manual transmission cars were available. Around 1986, the Mercedes was imported to the USA and given a few mods to make it Federalized for use here. The seller provides an enormous amount of information about the car and the pictures tell the story even better. The interior, one of the costliest to restore, is in extra-fine original condition. The exterior paint looks good and we are told that this was a color change from green many years ago and perhaps by the original owner. Power windows were also added while in Italy and that signals to us the original owner was a person of some means. Not that owning a V-8 in Italy wasn’t enough of a signal. It is riding on a set of Bundt Alloys that look appropriate however the car came originally with steel wheels and painted wheel covers. The original wheels come with the car. The seller knows he has something special and is warning bidders that the reserve is set pretty high by quoting recent auction sales results. We understand the reason why but don’t think that is a great sales strategy. Click here for the listing.