Good afternoon from a big Pagoda fan

[waltinbatonrouge]

Hi I'm walt in Baton Rouge.

I was in the Marine Corps 1970-76 based at MCAS Beaufort doing Avionics work on F4-J's.  After i got back from the Southeast Asian cruise on the USS America, I worked part time at a gas station during one fine day in 1974.
That morning, a Marine Aviator Major drove up in a gorgeous 69 280SL top down. The car was Tobacco Brown with automatic and a Becker Europa radio.....The car was freshly waxed and looked flawless. He bought it new in 69.
anyway after a few visits, I learned that he was being transferred to Iwakuni japan and long story longer, i bought the car for $4950. 

Loved it, Loved it, loved it but loved the Cute Brunette a bit more, so sold it for the same amount to buy our first home in 1978.

Shortcut I worked for a bit at a BMW store as a line mechanic and am comfortable twisting wrenches on them if need be. I found it quit simple to work on.

The question that you have heard many times before, and yes I wish I had kept it but, ..what would be the best way to find another one, not a 230 or 250 but the 280 SL and ABOUT what kind of money?
Oh Id rather not do a complete refurb as clearly there are tips and tricks, and I'd rather not take 3 years to finish it, so a clean semi weekend daily driver would work best.

thanks very much!

walt

 

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi Walt welcome to our site and thank you for your service!

Most of us wish we had not sold that special car some time ago however, life at times has other plans and or priorities for us. There are quite a few Pagoda’s for sale. One area you might explore here on our site is the “Items for Sale” section. Another is “Buds Benz” They often have Pagodas for sale. The price point you can expect would range between $60K To $80K for a good driver. Once you find one I recommend you have a shop look it over as to what needs to be done ask them for a report and estimated cost to fix it that will help you in the negotiations for a final price. Should you find you like to purchase the car at that point, don’t try to fix everything right away, do it by priority so you can enjoy the car.

230 and 250 are as nice as a 280 so don’t turn away from that. Good luck!

Dieter

Some links,

———> https://www.budsbenz.com/

——-> https://www.ebay.com/motors/blog/dream-cars-within-reach-mercedes-benz-280-sl/

[waltinbatonrouge]

Hi Dieter thank you most kindly for your reply! the quest begins! Oh and I'm totally with  you on the "list of stuff to fix" i remember i had quite a number of items that needed attention on my 69. Pasted them on the inside of my locker at the air station. Everything from: find a factory service manual, to clean the scratchy volume control to adjust the valves, fix tiny exhaust leak, replace belts and hoses etc etc ...all in time..thanks again!
walt

[Shvegel]

Walt, 
Before you invest in even a fixer upper do some research on current parts prices.  Most of the parts have gone up in value faster than the cars have.  It might be wise to factor that in when you find a car you are interested in.