All Entries Tagged With: "mercedes sl"
eBay Watch: 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230SL
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via eBay ::: Mercedes-Benz 230SL
PARTIAL though I am to the R107 generation SL (1972-1989), there are plenty of Benz aficionados who favor the svelte simplicity of the earlier W113 “Pagoda” SL (1963-1971).
Truth is both generation Mercedes roadsters make for classic weekend tourers. Pagoda fans (the SL got its nickname from Paul Bracq’s slightly concave detachable hardtop) might wish to gaze on this seemingly perfect Californian 230SL with Euro headlamps.
Signal red over black MB-tex (vinyl) interior with black Pagoda roof, this 1967 230SL underwent a bumper-to-bumper restoration 800 miles ago. No word on how many miles the SL traveled beforehand.
Buy-it-now price is on the high side @ $38,900. But for a beautiful topless Teuton from the 60s, as classically beautiful as Anne Margaret, what price perfection? Caveat emptor!
[Lexus SC430: Elegant Design Defended
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Lexus USA
NEVER having so much as ridden in, let alone driven, the Lexus SC convertible, you may (if you’re foolhardy) discount this article from the writer’s lack of direct experience with this specific Lexus model.
Return, if you must, to your dry search. Edmunds should have those stats you’re looking for.
How, after all, could I reasonably defend what other writers have experienced and subsequently waxed on with coverage varying from mild disdain to faint praise?
For all the SC’s technical competencies – one of the first (contemporary) power hardtop convertibles, no cowl shudder, vital V8 power, magic carpet ride, and smooth autobox – more (disdainful) words were directed to how ambivalent Japan’s consummate boulevardier appeared.
That’s where I come in.
Debuting in 2002, Lexus’ US sales material for the SC430 set the tone. In the first page, we’re introduced to not so much a car but a concept:
“A life lived like a work of art. In which beauty and pleasure assume the importance of food and shelter. To do what you want. Where you want. When you want. Lived as if every moment is fleeting, and irreplacable. And meant, above all, to be enjoyed. Can you imagine a vita that has too much dolce?”
Boilerplate luxury car brochure prose, certainly.
But in 2002, Lexus drivers weren’t so involved with their cars. A Lexus was a comfortable, practical, dependable environ in which to commute to and from a US or Canadian metropolitan district. You leased a Lexus. It was a smart, above-the-cut appliance . Nothing more. And like all smart appliances, was easy to replace.
The SC aimed to change that for Lexus. True to all things sensual, the car’s modus operandi and aesthetic both offered excitement sans aggression.
Said Motor Trend in 2003: “We’re less enamored with the SC’s exterior, one of those nontoxic, “organic” shapes that looks neither unattractive nor memorable.”
True, time seems to have forgotten the SC and its curves. It’s been eight years since the hardtop/droptop’s launch and they are a rare sighting indeed in most of the Eastern states. Having said that, I’m sure I’ll happen upon three at the local Starbucks tomorrow.
But back to the point of order.
Those organic lines have aged rather nicely.
Like a wine that critics wrote off as “bland” in its younger years and then with time matured into a mellow smoothness, the SC represents a velvet touch.
There’s good reason the ’02 brochure featured picks of the SC set on the Amalfi Coast. This convertible was Lexus’ first foray into the world of topless touring – and Europe’s Mediterranean coastline, it was said, was the design team’s muse.
There’s such a clean beauty to the SC. That simple grille with uncluttered lower air dam. Those sleek headlamps. That high, soft shoulder with small, beautifully arced roof.
Yes, it’s clearly techy-Japanese. And yes, the boot appears both too high and too stretched and in spite of these proportions is lacking in cargo capacity.
But the SC’s speaks to Nippon’s best virtues: civility and technological luxury that’s delicately and thoughtfully packaged. No Mercedes SL has ever treated its occupants with as much respect – buttery soft hides set against optional bird’s eye trim, with electronics that hideaway beneath glossy wood veneers?
It’s not so much luxurious as it is creamy to the point of being edible!
To wit: Lexus set the standard for quality in the 00′s with the SC.
The convertible stood as welcome contrast to the rest of the automotive world in a decade frought with the violent clash of flame surfacing, incongruent lines, and jagged edges. While automotive terror reigned, the SC’s soft appetures represented a fluid calm; a conservative alternative course setting that saw a timeless horizon.
Indeed, now that we’ve entered the SC’s eighth production year, and the decidedly cheaper and Nike’d IS droptop has displaced our attentions, it’s right that the SC should quietly shoulder on in the background. The car is as soft to the eye as when new.
Few convertibles from the last decade have carried their design asperations forward as elegantly.
Coming Down From Heavenly Perch: Exotic “Bargains” on eBay
- ‘Tis the season to be inventive with your car purchases
- Bargains by the Bentley-full
- Maserati Spyder for $38K? SL55 AMG for $34K?
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via eBay
BARGAINS to be had! Bargains to be had!
It would seem that with a little money, poseurs and the thrifty rich alike have options this Christmas season.
The exclusive toys of the last decade are about to avail themselves to a new clientele at clearance prices. But caveat emptor! These are entry prices – maintenance, insurance, taxes, and even petrol will take their pound of flesh, to be sure.
Let’s do a little window shopping shall we?
2000 Bentley Arnage R with 36K miles on eBay. White on Tan. Buy-it-now price: $49,888.
Not keen on chrome matrix grilles for newer generation Bentleys, but this Texan example has an interior that’s been well loved – which sadly isn’t common among older Arnages.
2004 Maserati Spyder with 24K miles on eBay. Blue on tan. Buy-It-Now Price: $38,990.
Let’s see. A droptop equipped with a modern Ferrari V8 plus exotic Italian cache to be had for less money than a new Boxster? Si, grazie!
2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG with 65K miles on eBay. Black on ash. Buy-It-Now price: $34,988.
For the price of a stripped, year-end C-Class, you could have a drop top that’s faster then everything else on the road. Sexier than most everything else, too. This particular car’s had couple of fender benders, though… Used means used.
2003 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage with 10K miles on eBay. Silver on gray.
Pluses: It’s an Aston. Droptop. Only 10K miles. 5.9 liter V12. Minuses: Silver on gray? It’s got an Automatic. Summary: Did I mention it’s a V12 Aston for $57K?
SL Generations
Mercedes-Benz SL’s from left to right: R129 | R107 | W113 | W198 | R230
By Gunnar Heinrich
IT can be so hard to pick favorites.
Each generation SL has a quality that’s uniquely of its own era. The only exception, of course, is the R107 (second from left) whose production run started as a 350SL during the Nixon years and saw its apogee as a 560SL when George H.W. Bush took office.
The R129 (left) with its automatic roof and pop-up rollover bar was a pioneering force in the 90s. The Pagoda (center) was the classic minimalist roadster for the Swinging 60s.
But perhaps when all of these cars become true classics – as in 50+ years old rather than the standard 25 – it may just whittle down to the first and most recent generations as the exemplar notions of what the paramount Mercedes drop top should be – the original 300SL and the pre-face lift R230.
