1966 Mercedes-Benz W113 230SL

Wonderfully historied, beautifully presented 230SL that started life in the USA, before coming to the UK then being sent for a life in Southern France where it’s been enjoyed on summer trips by its UK-located owner. Well-travelled, this 230SL’s previous owners have all loved it, that much obvious not just from its overall condition but also the weighty documentation that outlines its story and maintenance.

A car that’s begging for its next owner to add to this car’s wonderful tale, it’s finished in silver with a deep red interior, it, unusually but appealingly, coming with a five-speed manual transmission mated to its smooth 2.3-litre six-cylinder engine, and period correct cocomats in the footwells and the boot.

A car that was sought out because of its condition (to replace another Pagoda) by a previous owner, the 230SL is a car that’s always benefitted from exacting, caring owners, who’ve lavished a huge amount of time, money, and attention on it. Part of that includes restoration work in 1998 that saw not just its return to factory-fresh condition, but also its conversion to the rare five-speed transmission. It’s been used since, and as such wears the very lightest patina of that use in areas – the inside of the hood having some spotting, there being some light aging of the leather on the seats and the engine bay not in the eat your dinner from it category, instead it showing that it’s taken its owner to eat dinner out, regularly. That’s far from criticism, indeed it’s indicative of its use and something that we heartily encourage, especially as elsewhere the car is absolutely perfect with the paintwork unblemished and the chrome deep in its lustre.

This 230 SL comes with a file that’s its own autobiography, its history richly detailed and containing everything from early US titles, print outs of forum posts about the car and its owners, magazine articles and even a book – where this car features over a number of pages. The service docs go back to the 1970s and right up to the present day, while there’s all the correct paperwork in relation to its travels, from the USA to the UK to France and back here. There’s a fantastic hand-written condition note among it all, with the writer, Wolfgang, stating: ‘This is a very, very good car. Very nice when you drive it. In fact, it drives fantastic. Real, real nice car.’ You really could spend hours, days even, trawling through it all the paperwork, discovering more and more about this car’s and its owner’s (active in Mercedes-Benz and W113 clubs) back story. Do that, but also add to it – usefully there being a few dividers in the back at the folder that’ll enable you to do so…

A car that doesn’t just look sensational, but one that comes with a wonderful, storied, history that adds so much more to its appeal. Manual 230SLs are rare things, and even more so in this sort of condition. It’s such a nice example we’re tempted to hang onto it ourselves here. Buy it now, then, because as Wolfgang said, ‘it drives fantastic, and, really that’s exactly what you should do with it.