Alfred & Douglas,
Thank you very much for your kind words ... but, no!
Achim
<<should>> know :? ... because he was born 2 weeks after the white-colored VIN 113042-10-000001 was presented on the Geneva car show in March 1963.
So, there was clearly plenty of time to observe and follow up all the little changes during the early production run especially of the 230ies - and of course also of the different tool kit sets.
Unfortunately I am afraid I was at that time busier with crying, sleeping & milk drinking (Ma perhaps remembers better) than recording all these highly interesting things for us connoisseurs...[
!]
Bad ... too bad. Now it's too late.
No, sorry I am not. I am no expert whatsoever but I like to look at, to observe, to compare and to remember all what I have ever seen about the 113 or heard of.
OK, the toolkits.
Spare pars list 10126 230 SL Edition C (as of January 1967) says 1125800203 is the correct toolkit for the 230SL (and also until the production stop of the 280 SL). This part is obviously still available from DaimlerChrysler for actually 225.60 Euros including 19 % VAT.
Naj told us a while ago that he ordered it and got one with the later 107/115 type cloth bag with straps - which is not like the multi-layer vinyl or softtop material snap type roll that we are confident to be correct for our SLs.
OK, this doesn't answer your questions. But:
1. I recently got a picture from the red vinyl toolkit of a very early 230 and clearly the tools are non-chromed but somehow "black" (anodized or plain metal, slightly rusted or anything else), so, in the typical Ponton style as Doug described.
Since that car was restored but otherwise appeared to me to be highly authentic, I believe this is original.
2. The above mentioned number (A112 580 02 03) valid from before 1967 on replaced a former parts number, however, without clear indication from which serial on. This "old" number was somehow like 112 580 0
0 03 or so. This means something in the old kit
was different. I always believed it was the wooden handle screw driver. But since others here reported that their much later cars have sometimes wooden handle screw drivers as well something else must have been the reason for this part number change. The "chrome/non-chrome" change therefore makes a lot of sense (or the omission of one tool or so).
3. A couple of years ago a brand new SL toolkit sold on ebay for tons of money. Before auction it was still sealed in its plastic bag reading "230 SL and 300 SL" in big letters on it. I believed this was somehow "falsified" perhaps by the seller, I believe it should have read "230 SL and 300 SE". BEcause why should the 300 SL roadster and the newly introduced pagoda share the same toolkit. Does the latest parts list of the 300 SL prove that? I don't know.
Anyway, the seller opened the plastic bag and all tools where new: chromed tools and wooden-handle screw driver.
4. There was a booklet available from the Verlag Delius Klasing publishers in Germany released in 1965 (I've got a 1990ies reprint of that). The title is "Gefahren und geprüft, 1000 Fahrer beurteilen ihren 230 SL". Translation: "Driven and tested, 1000 drivers (or owners) judge their 230 SL. OK, one owner's comment in there said: "Throwed that old tool kit away because it was rusted. Got a new one."
This means that there were already some rust problems with his original tool kit. And this is typical I think for the early non-chromed (anodized or uncoated) tools in comparison the chromed ones.
Yes, yes, I know, also the chromed tools tend to rust - but within a year from new or so?
Summarizing all these stupid follow-ups and observations above by me,
I am really certain that the early tools were black (non-plated) until ... I don't know.
Best is for the "originality aficionados" (like me) to collect several of these tool kits - and even better than best is to collect different ones - and fine.
Probably we should just part out a few 190 SL or other Ponton tool kits in order to "built" and "collect" together an early 230 SL black toolkit.
. If those weren't so expensive ... :x
Best,
Achim
(Magdeburg, Germany)
