1966 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Pagoda

• Incredibly rare and highly sought after, UK-supplied, right-hand drive, manual 230SL Pagoda from some 48 years of single ownership
• Fitted with the desirable factory Pagoda hardtop and pencil-whitewall tyres and superbly presented in white with navy blue interior
• Subject to a painstaking full, bare-metal restoration in the 00’s carried out over five years including an all-new mohair hood
• In current private ownership since the early 70s with an honest history file, a wealth of MOTs and invoices for service and maintenance
• Would make a fantastic classic car proposition and looks wonderful in any environment.

Arguably one of the highlights of designer Paul Bracq’s career, the so-called ‘Pagoda’ W113 SL has aged wonderfully, and was significantly ahead of its time upon release, featuring an incredibly high standard of fit-and-finish, cast-aluminium door shells and numerous alloy panels including the bonnet, boot lid, folding roof cover and door skins.

Offered with three different engines, at 2.3, 2.5 and 2.8-litres (designated 230, 250 and 280 SL) the Pagoda was somewhat of an understated luxury, costing nearly twice as much when new as a 4.2-litre E-Type, and found fame with stars such as John Lennon and other period celebrities.

All variants of the six-cylinder engine benefitted from multi-port fuel injection, and the majority of cars were fitted with either a four-speed manual or the optional four-speed, fluid-coupled automatic transmission, which was fitted to the overwhelming majority of cars produced.

From mid-1966, for the last year of production, the five-speed ZF manual transmission was added to the options list. Having proven popular in the European market, cars equipped with the ZF transmission are now incredibly rare (with only a tiny fraction of the 5,130 cars produced in 66-67 being equipped with the gearbox) and are therefore of particular interest to collectors and enthusiasts.

This particular 1966-registered 230SL is one such-equipped car, with the 230 being the least-likely model from the W113 range to have been fitted with the five-speed ‘box, on account of being culled from the range several years before the 250 and, ultimately, the 280 SL.

In its current ownership for 48 years, this 230 SL was our vendor’s daily-driver for a number of years, before it was laid-up in long-term-storage during 1986.

During the last few years, however, the car has been slowly re-commissioned and brought back to life, having benefitted from an incredibly detailed bare-metal restoration, which also included the fitment of a new matching Navy Blue Mohair hood.

With the correct whitewall tyres, iconic ‘Pagoda’ hard-top included and an impressive history folder, along with the long-term ownership, this is a truly special example of the beautiful W113 230 SL, made even better by the addition of the aforementioned ZF five-speed transmission.