New Acquisition- brown mercedes SL

[HMC]

Further swappage envolving My (breifly owned) Morris Oxford resulted in me acquiring this mercedes Boulevard cruiser........

Its by first brown car, but as its a 1980 350SL I think its of its time and has grown on me. Its my 12th merc,and my first SL. Theres nothing SL about it, quite hefty, no sports car, but a comfy cruiser. Apparently MB development engineers christened it the 'panzerwagen' due to its solidity. Its certainly tank-like, but in a reassuring way. The 3 speed autobox I think suits the car well, pretty lazy and laid back.

Coming from a string of merc saloons, its driving characteristics are familiar- dependable, but in no way exciting. Present plans are to service it, and get some 70s tastic raised riveted reflective number plates made up. If I keep it that long we'll take it on a trip to Germany later in the summer

Both were made in West Germany, 1980

[Ross_K]

Very nice.

 

I'd have one in red...

[dollywobbler]

Blimey. That's a bit of a contrast! Mustard mitt, these things leave me a bit cold - but they're wonderfully engineered and exceedingly solid (well, when not horribly rotten! Rear inner arches/sills the big killer). These are really rising in value too.

[Cavcraft]

MEGA. Always had a soft spot for these and high on my 'must own one day' radar. Keep us posted on what it's like to live with please.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I'm a big fan of 50s and 60s Morris tat, but oh my that Merc is just superb.

 

I love the brown (and the colour coded wheel trims). It'll look literally perfect with new plates.

[Craig the Princess]

 

Stunning, Brown is the way forward.

[rml2345]

Brown Mercedes convertible. What a way to enjoy the summer!

[trigger]

1980 was a good year! That Merc is stunning, my mate neighbour had one that colour and i was always eyeing it up, the brown was very good at hiding the rust too.

 

Your a lucky man!

[stuboy]

both looking good from 1980

[DSdriver]

Yep, the 1980 model is definitely a stunner and the cars not bad either... sorry, wrong thread.

[Spiny Norman]

Lovely.

Nice to see it's still on its original painted wheel trims and not the more common alloys. That's not a million miles away from the current shade of Merc brown either, which just proves that if you hang onto something long enough it'll come back into fashion.

[Skizzer]

That's a honey, that is. Proper jealous

[Pete-M]

My gaffer in work has a 1980 380 SL in beige with beige leather as his UK summer toy.

 

It's an amusing old thing. I imagine it's baggier than the one you've got as it's a little bit scruffy around the edges and it has a few irritations / foibles - the auto box is slippier than greased weasel shite, the seal around the drivers window makes it whistle horrifically at 30 mph, the steering has a fair bit more play than it should have and the rear catch for the hood randomly lets go.

 

However, the temptation to wander around town listening to the Dallas theme tune whilst wearing a shirt with monumental collars is rather large.

 

I like it. If yours is better than his 380 then it must be a fun thing to own. I'd rock one.

[ashmicro]

Well bought sir. That's a belter.

[hairnet]

nice hat

 

brown rocks

 

4 speed from march 80

[John F]

Sehr schön - wahrhaftig beneidenswert.

[Lord Sterling]

Thats a great car, nice buy there fella! Now you can live the 'Bobby Ewing' dream (If a little browner, which lets face it, isnt a bad thing)

[gallondrunk]

That is gorgeous. I'm really not a fan of soft tops but these have always been an exception.

 

As an aside LJK Setright wrote a book about these and the SLK that is absolutely fascinating. If you're interested in the history of them I'd recommend it.

[garethj]

Very nice! I'd have the Hart to Hart theme playing all the time

 

[HMC]

That is gorgeous. I'm really not a fan of soft tops but these have always been an exception.

 

As an aside LJK Setright wrote a book about these and the SLK that is absolutely fascinating. If you're interested in the history of them I'd recommend it.

 

Thanks for the heads up, have ordered a second hand one off amazon. Looking forward to reading LJKSs ponderings (better have my latin dictionary at the ready)

 

Well I've been using the brown SL for a few trips here and there. Quite pleasant to cruise round in, the oversized steering wheel makes it instantly familiar to anyone whose sat behind one in another merc. A bit like piloting a motor launch, with the burbling exhaust and the willingness of the rear end to squat under even fairly modest acceration. Having been pushed into regular use, it was no suprise when one of the front calipers blew its seals, but other than this, no problems as such so far. Mantenence has been limited to a comprehensive fluids change, and binning the modern plates for something more period. I spent a pleasant few hours tinkering and took a few pics...

 

before- modern plate taped onto broken mount

after- got a set of raised riveted reflective plates and repaired the mounting plate

[HMC]

That is gorgeous. I'm really not a fan of soft tops but these have always been an exception.

 

As an aside LJK Setright wrote a book about these and the SLK that is absolutely fascinating. If you're interested in the history of them I'd recommend it.

 

Thanks for the heads up, have ordered a second hand one off amazon. Looking forward to reading LJKSs ponderings (better have my latin dictionary at the ready)

 

Well I've been using the brown SL for a few trips here and there. Quite pleasant to cruise round in, the oversized steering wheel makes it instantly familiar to anyone whose sat behind one in another merc. A bit like piloting a motor launch, with the burbling exhaust and the willingness of the rear end to squat under even fairly modest acceration. Having been pushed into regular use, it was no suprise when one of the front calipers blew its seals, but other than this, no problems as such so far. Mantenence has been limited to a comprehensive fluids change, and binning the modern plates for something more period. I spent a pleasant few hours tinkering and took a few pics...

 

before- modern plate taped onto broken mount

after- got a set of raised riveted reflective plates and repaired the mounting plate

[garycox]

Where did you get those plates from? That's exactly what I need for my Mini...

[garycox]

Where did you get those plates from? That's exactly what I need for my Mini...

[ashmicro]

Those new, raised letter plates look way better.

[ashmicro]

Those new, raised letter plates look way better.

[HMC]

Where did you get those plates from? That's exactly what I need for my Mini...

I got them from framptons number plates, think they were around 60 quid for the pair, top marks for delivery too, as they were ordered tuesday and had them by friday lunchtime.

[HMC]

Where did you get those plates from? That's exactly what I need for my Mini...

I got them from framptons number plates, think they were around 60 quid for the pair, top marks for delivery too, as they were ordered tuesday and had them by friday lunchtime.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Wow, that is rather lovely, especially with the new 'plates.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Wow, that is rather lovely, especially with the new 'plates.

[trigger]

Those new plates, although expensive, look miles better!, Here's a LJK review of the Merc against a Goldwing from 1976.

 

LJK Setright compaires the Honda Goldwing 1000 to the Mercedes Benz 450 SL 1976 (1) by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

LJK Setright compaires the Honda Goldwing 1000 to the Mercedes Benz 450 SL 1976 (2) by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

LJK Setright compaires the Honda Goldwing 1000 to the Mercedes Benz 450 SL 1976 (3) by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr