Record price for 21-year-old Mercedes-Benz 500 SL - are R129 prices set to explode?
The Mercedes-Benz300 SL (W198) is one of the most expensive classic cars in the world, and its price has risen almost immeasurably over the past 20 years. We are already used to that. In its wake, prices for the well-behaved 190 SL also rose sharply, the Pagoda (230 SL to 280 SL) also increased in value and the R107 followed a little more timidly.
The successor to the last all-chrome car from Stuttgart, i.e. the Mercedes-Benz 280 SL to 560 SL (R107), the Bruno-Sacco-SL (280 SL to 600 SL), known internally as the R129, with an automatically retractable roof, electronically controlled and lightning-fast roll bar and wind deflector as standard, was still available as a youngtimer at very reasonable prices.
On April 12, 2017, however, Coys auctioned a bright red Mercedes-Benz SL 500 from 1996 for an incredible £ 56,640, which would mean EUR 66,825 or CHF 71,315 in more common currencies, including surcharges/taxes.
The auctioned car was not a special specification or a rare special model, but a "normal" five-liter with a rather less popular plain red paint finish, black fabric roof and a standard beige ("mushroom") leather interior. At least a few extras were specified at extra cost, such as heated seats, CD changer and a wood/leather steering wheel.
However, the story of the red SL is a little more special: the car had been a birthday present for a lady in Normand (Mayfair) and was registered for road use on September 27, 1996. After 75 miles, however, the owner apparently lost the keys and so the car remained parked in an underground garage in central London for over 21 years. And didn't roll a single meter in that time.
Before being sold, the now 80-mile right-hand drive car was gently serviced and recommissioned. Even good R129s with comparatively low mileages normally fetched no more than a fifth of the asking price, so at least two bidders were keen on the red SL.
However, it would be misguided to deduce a general price boom for this vehicle type from this. Firstly, quite a lot of these cars were produced in the 13 years of production and secondly, the supply of well-preserved vehicles with manageable mileage is considerable. However, one of these cars with less than 200 km is unlikely to be found very often. It may well be that this sale will now prompt other collectors with still-new R129 variants to offer them to the public. It will then be exciting to see whether the Coys coup can be repeated.
