1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda (W113)

The Mercedes-Benz 280SL 'Pagoda'  (W113) was introduced in December 1967 and continued in production through until February 1971 before being replaced by its successor, the entirely new and substantially heavier R107 350SL. Over the years, the W113 had quietly evolved from a nimble 'sports car' into a comfortable 'Grand Tourer' and was usually equipped with four-speed automatic transmission and air conditioning. The final evolution of the Pagoda was the 280SL, launched in November 1967 with a host of technical improvements, and is now seen as the most refined iteration of the W113 Series with its robust new seven-bearing, 2778cc, M130 engine developing 170bhp and perfectly suiting the automatic transmission. By the time production ceased in March 1971, some 23,885 had been made making the 280SL the most popular of all W113 variants.

The simply stunning, left-hand drive, 280SL does appear to have led a well-travelled life. It spent its early days in sunny California before arriving in the UK in 2005. It was registered here and immediately commenced a full 'rotisserie' body and interior restoration with a change in colour to Midnight Blue and a fabulous tan interior. When the car was fully restored in 2006, it's owner kept and used it in Monte Carlo, we can't think of a better car to use in the Principality, prior to returning to the UK and being purchased by our vendor in 2009.

Whilst he was happy with the way the car looked, there were one or two mechanical issues, so it was off to respected marque specialist, John Haynes, for a full mechanical and electrical restoration in 2010/11. We understand that during his ownership our vendor invested over £33,000 in keeping this glorious Pagoda in top form corroborated by invoices in the accompanying history file. As soon as the car was ready, it was back to the sunshine with our vendor in the Algarve. More recently it has been dry stored and the current indicated mileage is 21,081, believed to be since the restoration.

As you can see from our images, this little Mercedes looks simply fabulous in a very stylish colour combination and we invite and encourage you to come to Silverstone and view this delightful 'Pagoda'.

With decent performance and excellent brakes, these cars are totally happy in modern traffic making them a perfectly usable Classic in the true sense of the word. The 280SL has never gone out of fashion but interest - and values - have never been stronger than they are today.