1998 Mercedes-Benz 320SL 40th Anniversary

This car is 1 of the 50 Designo SLs (25 being 320SL in flavour) built for the UK market, and 1 of only 250 constructed worldwide, to celebrate the end of the R129 SL’s production run.

As well as that glorious ‘Designo’ Sea Blue paint, it comes with a lovely Grey Nappa leather interior. The exterior colour lends it a real touch of exclusivity and makes a lovely change from the uber safe, go-to SL-Silver that most others seem to wear.

The V5 shows five owners in total have enjoyed this fully loaded car. Specification includes a wood/leather steering wheel; burred walnut root wood trim; hard top; electrically adjustable steering column, seats (also heated) and wing mirrors.

The mileage is currently showing 59,230, which is still relatively little for one of these hugely capable machines. It has a current MOT test certificate, which runs until the 12th of July 2022.

“It’s a rare and lovely car,” says vendor James Lockyer. “And as a very last-of-the-line SL, I think it’ll appeal to collectors out there. “Everything works just as it should. The car drives perfectly and is an absolute joy to cover long distances in.”

The static photography in our Gallery below is carried out to the usual high standards but even still, it simply doesn’t do justice to that mesmerising Sea Blue paintwork. In the flesh it’s truly lovely to behold with an incredible depth to the paint finish; the colour changes depending on the angle that light hits it, varying from a dark blue to a vibrant green.

It's generally unmarked with excellent panel fit. All we could find to grumble about is a few small lacquer pits towards the front offside of the bonnet – even then, they are very minor indeed. Door shuts and sills are immaculately clean, with the latter clothed in lovely, brushed aluminium ‘special edition’ covers.

Finished in dark blue canvas the soft-top is in good fettle. The material looks good, as do the plastic viewing panels (which at over £1k alone to replace is good news). “The hood mechanism works perfectly, both lowering and raising the top smoothly and quickly,” says James.

The six-spoke factory alloy wheels (special edition Evo II 17-inch units) all remain in top post-refurbishment (carried out in 2010) condition with no signs of corrosion or kerbing; tyres were replaced at the same time and have seen around 9k miles of action since, so have plenty of remaining tread.

Hard-tops are a two-man job both to fit and remove, and as such can get easily damaged over the years. This example’s remains in very good condition, and the unmarked paint finish demonstrates that it hasn’t seen much action since new.

“The Orion Grey leather with dark walnut veneered trim (including part wooden steering wheel) works wonderfully together,” says James. “The seats are absolutely as new and have the benefit of an electric memory function for both driver and passenger.”

The burr Walnut root wood retains its lacquer and presents as new. These are electronically complex cars, so you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve checked the vendor’s earlier assertion that ‘everything works as it should’ and it does.

New ribbed Mercedes carpet mats have recently fitted to spruce things up a touch, and carpets remain in good nick too. The original Mercedes Becker special radio cassette is still fitted, with the original CD changer in the boot.

There you’ll also find the original toolkit, warning triangle, jack and first aid kit.

The engine bay is perhaps the best indicator of this car’s condition because on popping the bonnet you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve been transported back to the showroom circa 1998 – it’s that good. There are no signs of any leaks and it’s only a handful of lightly rusted screw heads away from being absolute show standard.

“The steering is perfectly weighted,” says James. “It’s such a comfortable car to drive, yet it remains taut and direct in its handling abilities. That M104 3.2-litre straight six is one of the most reliable engines ever produced by Mercedes and coupled with the five-speed automatic gearbox is very refined.”

We’ll second that, in modern terms 231bhp doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s powerful enough and this SL doesn’t lack in the oomph department. The chassis is very pleasant and rewards the driver with a more sporting experience than the previous generation SL.

This car’s underside has a touch of surface dirt but still looks solid and well protected; that said, if the next owner wished, there’s a light touch of surface corrosion here and there that could easily be touched up.

You’ll find the original Owner’s Manuals (exterior, interior and driving) included in the car’s history file, as well a previous MoT test certificate and numerous invoices. The current MoT expires 22nd July 2022. The latter show that the car received the outlay necessary early in its life to keep it in fine fettle; there’s not as many in recent years, which corresponds with a decreasing annual mileage.

The tyres were replaced, and the alloy wheels refurbished, in 2010 (at a cost of £974) when the car’s mileage was 50,034 – so not long ago in mileage terms. The SL comes with both keys and a quick check of its online MoT history shows nothing untoward; the odd failure (due to corroded brake pipes/offside headlamp too high then too low!) being quickly rectified.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of the paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

This is a very rare R129 ‘Designo’ 40th Edition SL320 and one that presents very well indeed. The Sea Blue exterior really helps it to stand out on UK roads, and is a colour that you’ll never tire of admiring.

It’s been well looked after from new and that’s indicative both in terms of exterior, interior and under bonnet and underside conditions, as well as (most importantly, for us) the way that it drives. As such, we think this sultry beauty of Stuttgart will sell for somewhere between £15,000 and £20,000.

Prices for this generation SL remain comparatively low. The R107 SLs took a while to take-off, but they’ve certainly shifted in the last six years and we feel it’ll only be a matter of time before the younger cars follow.

In the meantime, this stunner is ready for its next owner to cherish, drive and enjoy it. Top-down Teutonic road trips? Yes, please.

Inspection is always encouraged, and this particular car is located at The Market HQ in Abingdon, Oxfordshire; 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’.