1984 Mercedes-Benz 380SL

With just five former keepers, and under 50,000 miles this delightful Mercedes-Benz 380SL comes with a comprehensive history file in addition to both folding and hard roofs and an almost immaculate interior.

Presented in the timeless colour of Astral Silver, it’s in very good condition, striking us as a superb, honest and straight example of the marque, largely thanks to what appears to be some meticulous previous owners and some significant recent remedial work and a history of on-the-ball servicing.

The metallic Astral Silver coachwork is in very good condition, being shiny, straight and very presentable. The paint is largely older so there are one or two blemishes in it, but genuinely not enough to photograph. The panel gaps are good, so if there has been restorative work carried out – and given the car’s age that’s pretty much a given – then it has been done well.

The extensive chromework is all good, as are the wheeltrims. The wheels themselves are shod with matching Fulda tyres; you’ll be tired of us telling you this by now but matching tyres are an almost infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner, i.e. just the sort of person you want to be buying an old car from.

The black folding roof is in fine condition and tucks away neatly beneath the body coloured metal lid when it is furled. The lid itself still has the two foam blocks to prevent scuffs and rattles, which is quite rare as most them get damaged and broken thanks to the ministrations of ham-fisted owners.

It also comes with a matching Astral Silver hardtop, which turns the 380SL into a genuine all-weather coupe. The hard-top is in very good condition, and fits as snugly as it should. Imagine using this old Mercedes all year round, with winter tyres for the cold weather, and perhaps a ski rack on the back. Really, classic car smoking doesn’t come any cooler than that, does it?

Now for the negatives. Some of the edging chrome strips have started to pit a little, but it’s not at all bad and doesn’t detract from the way the car presents at all. Oh, and the nearside mirror glass is starting to blacken, so you might want to pop a new insert on your (very short) shopping list.

Of course, while we are cautiously looking for the drawbacks, a curious bidder might suspect that the chrome wheelarch trims are hiding something, possibly original dealer fit - we’ve had a peek and don’t think they are but we’d encourage you to pop along to The Market HQ here in Abingdon to take a look for yourself. If you do, please leave plenty of time to be able to appreciate the rest of the car, especially the interior, which is fabulous, as you’re about to find out…

While the rest of the Mercedes is good, we think the interior is a real strength. The tartan cloth centre trim on the seats looks fabulous, and is set off by the black leather edges. The seats are, of course, free of anything so much as light wear, much less the sort of rips, tears or sags you see on inferior examples.

As firm and supportive as they should be, they might feel a bit unyielding initially but in this case familiarity breeds respect; they’re super-supportive and very comfortable, even after long days behind the wheel crushing continents, a role the car should carry out with consummate ease.

The wooden veneer on the dashboard and centre console is very good, and the top of the dashboard itself is free of cracks and other sun damage. The door trims are good too, as are the carpet. The car also benefits from a modern, but sympathetically styled, digital head-unit.

The tan-coloured interior of the folding fabric roof is a bit grubby, but the worst of that could probably be cleaned off without too much effort. More importantly, the roof itself is taut and free of damage, seemingly as wind and water-tight as a new one, which will save you a few quid if this one cleans up as well as we think it will.

The metalwork inside the boot could do with some gentle TLC to remove some light surface rust but everything that should be in there is, including a genuine Mercedes-Benz first aid kit. There is also an aftermarket emergency warning triangle and a cloth tool roll with some tools inside. The boot carpet is as good as the rest of the interior, which is to say that it is very good indeed.

The Mercedes has been the subject of much recent work, including a replacement exhaust manifold, a resealed EGR valve, a full service, which included new spark plugs, fresh engine and gearbox oil and a new oil filters for both, a new fuel filter and air filter, and a change of coolant fluid.

It’s also had a new electric aerial, new front brake calipers, and new discs and pads on all four corners, new front droplink bushes, new rear metal brake pipes, a new alternator belt, steering belts and damper, and repairs to the radio wiring. The underside and wheel arches were Waxoyled at the same time and the handbrake mechanism was fettled to get it working properly. This work came to well in excess of £3,000 but was money well spent as it should leave the old girl fighting fit for a few more years.

A windscreen leak was professionally sorted out too, and a new set of Bosch HT ignition leads, distributor cap and rotor arm were fitted, along with five new fuel injectors. Another engine service and fluid change was carried out in 2017.

The engine bay itself is very neat and clean; not concours, but we can’t see that it would be beyond the means of a moderately talented DIYer to get it to a condition where it could win awards at local car shows.

Other work to do? Well, given how good the car looks both inside and out, and how well it drives, including the 100 mile journey to our HQ, we’d be tempted to spend a weekend underneath the car with a wire brush to clean up the light surface rust that has settled on the suspension components. This would be an easy, cheap and very satisfying way to spend a weekend, yielding an immediate improvement and quite possibly adding value too.

It is important to mention here that the odometer currently reads circa 40,000 miles, but there a documented change of speedo at 9,288 miles, so the actual mileage on this 380SL is around the 50,000 mark.

The online MOT history shows nothing of concern whatsoever and confirms the car’s mileage. The last MOT test, carried out in March 2019, was free of advisory items. In fact, the car’s MOT history is remarkable: it last gained an advisory in January 2017 for a slightly weeping power steering union. Other than that, there are mentions of imbalanced brakes and a minor exhaust leak. Oh, and it did fail an MOT. In 2014. For an offside headlamp that was aimed too low…

The car comes with a large number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills dating back to 1987 in addition to some expired tax discs. It also comes with a stamped service history book, the owner’s manual, and some old V5 registration documents in addition to the current one.

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

The price of good Mercedes R107s has been steadily rising in recent years and we think they’re always going to provide a safe place to put your money given their reputation for bulletproof reliability and almost indestructible mechanicals.

So, good cars will always find a good home – and should be easy to sell on if/when you decide to change your classic car collection. And this is a very good example, so given its condition and history, we think it will sell for between £16,000 and £22,000, which is remarkable value given the current market.

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: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.