Very black: ’89 Mercedes-Benz 560SL
If you have ever had the pleasure of driving an R107 Model Mercedes SL you probably came away thinking it was an elegant, beautiful car built like a battleship. Some say it is one of the last great Mercedes Benz automobiles with impeccable build quality. They were built nicely but they weren’t without fault.The climate control systems on the later cars are a bit notorious. The 380SLs didn’t have the best powerplant. In fact, we shy away from them entirely. It’s the 560SL that is the ultimate W107. Today’s find is a very nice black example, one we don’t see that often. It has a remarkable 55,000 miles and has been maintained by the second owner. It has all of its original paint and it appears very black in the somewhat crappy photos in the listing. The interior photo gives us just a hint of how nice the gray leather is. Even with the bad photos, it intrigued us enough to be Mintworthy. The seller is asking $22,000 but is open to offers. Click here for the listing.
It is a myth that the 380 cars have a troublesome power plant. On early 380s replace the timing chain and chain ramps every 80k miles or so; on late cars(double row chain) change the rams every 80k miles and the chain every 160k miles and that takes care of any “issue”.
It plastic slider ram that becomes brittle over time is the real culprit and the 560 uses the same one….
Bought an 88 R107 last year. Nice driver quality car. It is built like a tank. Watching with interest where the pricing is going on these.