1988 Mercedes-Benz 420SL

With a first registration date of 8-8-88, this car could only be considered luckier by the Chinese if it were painted red. It was originally supplied by TH Bennett Motors of Blackpool and has had several owners in the North West, London and Birmingham areas who have collectively contributed around 131,800 miles.

The most recent owner - a former BL engineer from the West Midlands - bought the car in May 2016 from The Classic Connection in the New Forest and over 3-4 years drove about 6,000 of those miles in the company of his late wife. The SL has been very well maintained, kept garaged or dry stored and only used on dry days in recent ownership. Advancing years and the lack of recent use prompted him to sell.

The 420SL’s exterior is painted in “147 Arctic White” - a sharper looking and slightly bluer, less creamy white than the standard “050 White”. It underwent some bodywork improvemants in around 2004, which included new front wings and was repainted. It still looks good today, with no discernible damage or flaws of any significance.

The panel alignment appears to be pretty good, as you would expect from an over-engineered Mercedes and the rubber strips around the car look in generally good order, with maybe a little weathering on the rear bumper strip.

The dark blue soft top cover was replaced in 2015 and although a little creased probably from being stored folded, is in a good condition inside and out with no apparent wear or damage. The flexi-plastic windows are in good order too with no creasing or scratches and the whole thing deploys and folds neatly away under the rear cover as it should.

Most R107s also came with a removable hard top, which could be specified in either the same colour as the body or a contrasting shade. With the hard top fitted, the R107 is as good as a coupe but needs two strong people to safely remove it and store it carefully away.

Once these cars became classic, many owners rarely used the hard roof and they were often mislaid or left tucked away uncared for. But this one - painted in the same Arctic White as the rest of the car - appears in good condition.

The car sits on its original 15-inch ‘flat-face’ 15-hole alloys, which are in a largely good condition and all four are fitted with matching Falken Ziex tyres dating from 2017 at the front and 2016 on the driven rears.

The interior of the car is upholstered in a dark blue MB-Tex leatherette - perforated for comfort on the seat facings. MB-Tex is one of the best looking and hardest wearing of the vinyl-based faux leathers and has been used extensively by Mercedes since the early ‘60s. The seats and headrests were recovered in 2017 and look in very good order.

Of note are the rear seats, which would have been an extra cost option when new, although the reality is that unless everyone on board has short legs, the car is a 2+2 for brief journeys only. There’s an after-market wind deflector fitted across the back, which works better than you think it might and stops you losing stuff out of the cabin when driving top down.

The wood veneer inlays to the dashboard and centre console look original with the odd scratch and wear around the edges of the of the controls but no sign of cracking or other significant damage. The steering wheel looks original and is suitably patinated around the rim. The radio is a much more recent Kienzle unit, which features MP3 and Bluetooth capability.

There are a few heat shrinkage cracks in the dash top - some of which have had previous repairs and whilst they could be repaired again, it may be easier and more effective to find a replacement.

The original carpets are clean and fairly sound throughout, with just a couple of holes in the driver’s footwell that have been patched with tape. However, with the double layer of overmats this can’t be seen. Under the carpets, the floor pans appear solid. With the hard top fitted, the headlining can be seen and it appears in a very good, clean condition with no sagging.

Whilst not concours, the engine bay is pretty clean and tidy. By this late point in the R107 timeline, there was little in the way of room around the V8 engines with the upgraded or additional ancillaries filling the space. The electricals were updated a couple of years ago, with a reconditioned alternator and new battery and everything reportedly works just as it should.

The undersides of the car appear generally tidy and undamaged, with older underseal as well as newly applied areas. The exposed mechanicals are surprisingly fairly clean (thanks no doubt to only getting dry day usage recently) and aside from the odd patch of surface rust, the underbody and structures appear to be in a strong condition.

In the boot, the carpets and linings look tidy and intact with just a small patch of discoloration that someone has tried to colour in. To one side is a Mercedes first aid kit and underneath the floorboard is a full size spare alloy wheel, fitted with a Michelin Pilot tyre of adequate tread. Under the wheel, the metal floor looks in good order, although it is painted a different colour so may have been replaced at some point. The rubber seal around the boot looks a little dry in one corner but otherwise appears sound and there is no rust anywhere around the boot or boot lid.

The SL has a current MOT valid until May 2022, which it passed first time without a single advisory - as it has in the engineer’s ownership since 2016. The online history shows annual testing back to when records were digitised in 2006.

The various documents in the history file for this SL are not just jammed into a wallet, every one of them has been hole-punched and clipped chronologically into the appropriate divided section of the file - much of it up to 2015 has even been laminated. There are MOT certificates back to 1998 and numerous invoices for parts and maintenance back to 1999.

The car comes with a duplicate service booklet (although seemingly replaced very early on), which contains a full service history from Mercedes-Benz main dealers and independent marque specialists as follows:

Jul 1988 - PDI - TH Bennett Blackpool

Aug 1988 - 753 - TH Bennett Blackpool

Jan 1989 - 8,568 - TH Bennett Blackpool

May 1989 - 13,803 - Speeds of Blackpool

Oct 1989 - 21,670 - Speeds of Blackpool

Oct 1991 - 36,124 - Road Range Liverpool

Jul 1993 - 44,043 - Gerard Mann Birmingham

Dec 1993 - 48,901 - Reliance Motors London E4

May 1994 - 54,699 - Reliance Motors London E4

Oct 1994 - 60,811 - Reliance Motors London E4

Jun 1995 - 66,371 - Reliance Motors London E4

Dec 1995 - 71,927 - Reliance Motors London E4

Nov 1997 - 79,851 - Brunswick Mercedes-Benz Croydon

Sep 1998 - 82,813 - Brunswick Mercedes-Benz Croydon

Dec 2004 - 98,985 - Martin’s Autos London SW19

Feb 2005 - 100,415 - Martin’s Autos London SW19

Mar 2006 - 101,224 - Martin’s Autos London SW19

Mar 2007 - 103,294 - Martin’s Autos London SW19

Mar 2012 - 114,419 - Steve Redfearn London SW19

Mar 2014 - 118,747 - Steve Redfearn London SW19

Apr 2015 - 120,011 - Wayne Gates Mercedes-Benz Harrow

Apr 2017 - 127,235 - Haden Birmingham

Apr 2019 - 129,647 - Haden Birmingham

The car appears to have undergone a fairly substantial body repair and repaint in 2004. More recently, invoices show a new hood in 2015, rear windscreen and new seat covers 2017, alternator and battery 2019 and front windscreen in 2020.

It comes with two keys and alarm fobs.

The R107 Mercedes-Benz SL celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and is a stalwart of the classic car world for many reasons, not least its durability and reliability. It’s also relatively cheap and easy to service and maintain, and the fact that it is also effortlessly elegant doesn’t harm its cause either.

This good looking example has a rock solid service history and is in a great condition. It starts, drives and runs really well, one of the best sorted V8-powered SLs we’ve handled recently.

Asking prices of R107s vary hugely, from several thousand for a bit of a project up to staggeringly high five-figure sums, and are dependent on many factors including the specific model and colour as well as the usual things like mileage, history and condition. We think this one will fetch between £28,000 and £34,000 - which rightly puts it in the “well above average” bracket as an uncommon R107.

We’ve sold countless R107 models from 280SL to 500SL over several years but this is only the second 420SL to pass through our hands; a testament to their relative rarity with fewer than 600 currently registered in the UK.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near 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’.