1969 Mercedes 280SL Roadster W113 Pagoda

#'s Matching, 2-Owners, Books, Records, Soft/Hard Tops

This Beautiful Benz Pagoda has SOLD

1969 Mercedes 280SL Roadster for sale. This highly original, numbers matching Pagoda was sold new on May 19th, 1969 finished in Light Beige with Red MB Tex interior at Gauthier Motors and kept by it's first owner for 36 years until selling to a friend here locally in the California wine country in 2005. The car moved to Sonoma, California about 25 years ago where it has remained since.

Interior appears mostly original, except newer rugs and dash pad. Original door/kick panels. Nicely preserved wood and the desirable three-point Kangol seat belts. This car still has it's original side and rear factory installed Sekurit glass.

The exterior has seen one re-paint and been touched up as needed. The body looks solid and the weld points along the engine compartment are correct. The divots at the headlamps are visible. The rocker guards are still attached with screws. The sills and floors look good. The cloth top is older, has a small half-inch tear on the drivers side lower corner. Is usable as-is with good rear viability. Chrome, trim and lenses look to be original and in good condition.

The car is very nice to drive. The original 280SL factory installed engine starts right up and is smooth and quiet with no smoke or undesirable sounds and was rebuilt approximately 50k miles ago. The shifting of the factory 280SL transmission feels accurate and tight.

The new car invoice is still with the car as well as the books and a plethora of records beginning in the service booklet in 1969. The body stamps match the data tag as shown below on the hood, removable hardtop and soft top stow-away lid.

I have scanned the documentation for your review. It looks like a speedometer replacement occurred at 106,428 with a used unit. There is also an engine rebuild receipt at 46,248 (146,248) which would indicate that this rebuild has just under 50k miles on it. Click here to download a pdf file of the documentation. Also, please note that service booklet documents the period between new and the first repair order accounting for the initial 39k miles up until April 5th of 1972. The car shows to be regularly maintained and well cared for.

With it's transparent past, two-owners, matching numbers along with a healthy amount of documentation, this 280SL is an excellent candidate to continue to preserve and use as-is but certainly worthy of a thorough, proper restoration at some point with Pagoda value continuously on the rise.