1964 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL

This beguiling example was purchased new in September 1964 by Mrs. June Brown of King’s Lynn. It’s fair to assume that she quite liked the car as she kept it for the next quarter of a century, eventually selling it to Mr. Clifford White of Southport. He seems to have liked the car too, as he kept it for another seven years before passing it on to Mr. Ewan McCosker.

Ewan was something of a car collector, so the SL barely turned a wheel in the time he owned it. He did lavish a huge amount of money on it though, so while he may have only driven it for few hundred miles at most, it was fully refurbished and brought back into rude good health while it was in his care.

Sadly, Ewan seems to have been a better conservator of his cars than of the paperwork associated with them as the bills, invoices and service history record from the previous two owners, as well as those for the significant work he had carried out, have been mislaid and are not available.

The current - and only the fourth - owner purchased the car in 2014 after a long search for the right car. He’s been a Mercedes man for the past forty years, and saw his first Pagoda when he was buying himself an MGB back when the 230SL was first released. He fell in love with the model and promised himself that one day he’d own one.

Which he did, falling for this car’s charming history and patinated leather seats, rejecting the over-restored examples he saw during his search as he felt they’d had their soul ripped out of them.

He is, in other words, one of us; a romantic, who happens to have damned fine taste in cars. Since then he has continued to treat the SL in the manner to which it has become accustomed, entrusting it to Mr. John Furber, the well-known Pagoda specialist, who has continued to fettle the car to keep it to the condition you see today.

Having used it for his daughter’s wedding and to enter a local car show (where he won first prize!), he’s suddenly realised that he’s only driven it for 337 miles in the past four-and-a-half years, so acknowledges that it’s time to pass it on to someone who can use it on a more frequent basis.

Kenrick Motors of Llangollen, a garage well-known to one of The Market team who can attest to their skills as old school engineers rather than the fitters you tend to find in garages these days, replaced a front wing and both sills before carrying an engine-out respray of the bodywork in Royal Blue (colour code DB332) in 2012/13. Whilst the works were obviously significant, it would probably be too much to say it had a ‘Full Body Restoration’ as it wasn’t that bad to start with – witness the limited panel count above.

The hard-top was sprayed to match the rest of the car, even though it was already in good condition, and the resulting job looks as good as everything else Clive Kenrick does. The car has since spent its time in the owner’s heated and double-glazed garage, so the bodywork is still fabulous, as you can see from the photos and video that accompany this listing.

A new hood was fitted at the end of 2016 following an attack by a rogue field mouse, in which the hood came off second-best. The hood remains in nearly brand-new condition and has never seen daylight, as it has been furled on the two occasions he’s driven the car since it was fitted.

The wheels and their chrome trims are bright and perfectly finished and the rest of the exterior chromework is as good as you’d expect, too. In fact, you really should come and see the car yourself (at The Market HQ or our stand 2-455 at the NEC Classic Car Show 9-11th November) to find out just how lovely it is…

Oh, and the underside is as clean as the topside. It’s been nicely undersealed, but that work has been done with the aim of preservation rather than concealment. Obviously.

The cream leather seats, piped in blue, are in fabulous condition, lightly patinated and tell the story of decades of loving use. The leather-trimmed dashboard is also lightly worn but still looks as regal as the day it left the Mercedes showroom. Neither has any rips, tears or other significant damage.

The door trims too are in very good condition and the refurbishment work in 2012/13 included a new set of dark blue carpets. These have barely been used since that time and so are still in ‘as new’ condition.

The original radio sits in the dashboard and the expensive wooden trim is in very good shape; the piece that forms the centrally mounted air vent is a work of art, as are the steering wheel and gearknob, both of which are as tactile as they are beautiful.

Oh, and the boot is as immaculate as the rest of the interior. Which you’d already guessed was the case, hadn’t you?  

The engine is believed to have had a health check, as well as a new stainless steel exhaust and fuel pump, when the car was resprayed in 2012/13.

The fuel injection system was fully refurbished and calibrated in 2014 by a Mercedes specialist at a cost of almost £2,000.

The owner has also given the car a complete service, replaced the brake hoses, and fitted a new battery. All the parts used were genuine Mercedes items.

As a result, the car starts, ticks over, revs, and drives like a dream, pulling strongly though all the gears. The engine bay itself is clean and well-ordered but not overly restored, which is just how we like them.

The car comes with a few recent invoices, a couple of old MOT certificates, but not much else. With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to come and see the car for themselves in order to accurately assess its condition and set their bids according to the car’s current condition.

Having said that, we think it’s a perfectly straight and honest car and doesn’t appear to have anything to hide, so if you can’t make it to us before the bidding ends, please ask your questions and we’ll do our best to answer them as honestly and candidly as we always do.

The owner sums the car up perfectly when he says: “Having the manual gearbox, I’ve found her to be a real driver’s car. It’s a refreshing change to see a car oozing patina rather than the ‘as-new’ trailer queen we see so often.”

Nor is it easy to refute his claim that “quality Pagodas in this condition are hard to find.” We’ve seen a few, and almost none have charmed us in the way this one has; to say it is patinated is perhaps a little harsh, because the paintwork is a solid 9.5/10 and the interior isn’t far behind.

But we know what he means, because it wears its history proudly, if lightly. Which means that it isn’t going to be cheap but we think it will be good value at £70,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at The Market HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.