1978 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC

Built in June 1978 for export to Japan, this elegant left-hand-drive Mercedes-Benz 450SLC is showing just one former UK keeper: It arrived in the United Kingdom in 1997 and spent well over 20 years in the same hands before moving into the care of the vendor a year or so ago.

Finished in Anthracite with a fabulous red leather interior, it was clearly built to a high specification, appears to have only covered a low mileage and has passed the ‘bulkhead test’, something that should be number one on your list when considering buying any 107-series SL/SLC. It sits just right too with a perfect stance and an impressive level of fit ‘n’ finish.

It drives very well indeed, and the difference between the way this and the convertible SL feel on the road is striking: say what you like about LJKS but there’s no denying he knew a great car when he drove one…

The Anthracite coachwork looks terrific, with great panel alignment, consistent shutlines and a very good finish to the paintwork. The colour suits the car’s discreet lines very well too, especially given the bright red leather interior which gives a flash of dash to an otherwise sombre example.

The other thing you can’t miss are the new 16-inch, five-spoke, Penta-style alloy wheels. In a fabulous condition, their deep rims suit the car perfectly being muscular yet understated and were often added to period Mercedes. They’re fitted with a full set of matching 225/50R16 MAXXIS Premitra 5 tyres, which were fitted in September this year so are still like new and have their full depth of tread.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The chromework is pretty good overall with only light pitting, much of the hard work has been done in polishing etc.

Some localized repairs were made to the SLC’s nearside front wing and boot lid in June 2018. This has left the car looking good and, bar the sort of stonechips and minor marks that any car inevitably collects (please see the photos for the more significant ones), in need of nothing of any significance although we can see that the new owner will want to pop a new front numberplate on and perhaps catch the very small paint bubble that’s formed above the nearside headlamp.

The red leather interior is very, very red - and very of the period but if you’re going to buy a sportscar from the seventies then you might as well go all-in, eh?

The leather seats are in very good shape; those of the 107-series cars are weirdly firm and springy yet still supportive and comfortable and those of us who’ve owned one could probably identify the car blindfolded just by buttock feel alone. The condition of both the springing and leather is good, with only light creasing and shallow cracking to the finish in places but no damage bar an almost unnoticeable rip to the lower outside edge of the driver’s seat.

The vendor has commissioned some minor repairs to the seats; the work has been done well and is barely noticeable.

The steering wheel is a period accessory and the vendor, who’s a bit of a geek in this regard, tells us that it would have been very expensive when it was new. It’s in good shape but one of the horn buttons is missing.

Other lovely features include a period working Blaupunkt Boston radio/cassette player with electric aerial, working central locking, two keys, genuine MB rubber mats, boot light and the OE first aid kit.

The carpets are good and they sit on top of additional soundproofing and, as you can see from the photos, peeling this back shows solid floors. In fact, the vendor remarked that he was pleasantly surprised everywhere he looked when he was fettling it recently, so why not make an appointment to go and see it and ask him to talk you through it?

Everything else is good too including the wooden veneer trim, the chrome controls, the headlining, dashboard and door cards, although the latter shouldn’t come as a surprise given that it’s had two recent door card backings from marque specialists The SL Shop.

Oh, and the window winding mechanisms in the frameless doors have been stripped down and lubricated, so the window glass in all four of them is much faster to rise and fall than is usual on the model. Everything else in there works too but knowing the owner that doesn’t surprise us.

The boot floor is utterly solid, and while some of the bits of hard plastic are a little scratched the overall effect is of a neatly maintained, clean boot. It even still has its original tool kit and that’s in a spectacularly good condition and looks to have been barely used, if it’s been used at all.

The only other fault we can see are some white marks on the backrest of the rear seat and some very localized damage where a warning light for the Clifford alarm/immobilizer has been fitted to the wooden trim on the centre console.

A new Mercedes battery was fitted in February 2018, and the brake calipers were refurbished in June of the same year. Mercedes-Benz Waterhouse carried out a comprehensive service in September 2018 at 82,569kms, or less than 1,000kms ago; this work included new sparkplugs, a distributor cap, and fresh brake fluid in addition to the usual oil and filters.

The SLC drives very well indeed although the vendor did tell us that it take 20 seconds or so to warm up properly before it’ll take proper throttle from cold. Contrast that with the faffing about we’re all used to with the manual choke on most classics and you’ll realise that this is more a sign of his mechanical OCD than a genuine problem.

The engine bay is workmanlike rather than pretty and while the underside is strong and well-presented (as per its kind Japanese early life), the underseal is flaking in a couple of places so it might be prudent to get that touched up sooner rather than later. The vendor notes that when lubricating the rear windows, plenty of Waxoyl-style rust prevention could be seen inside the rear wings helping to explain its apparent good condition.

The SLC’s MOT certificate expired in June 2019, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

It has a small sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years. These include some of its Japanese service history, a rare find and one the vendor has translated as follows:

• 23.08.1978 and 6,478kms – first service

• 14.05.1980 and 10,299kms – second service

• 06.07.1995 and 66,800kms – service

The history is definitely not sufficient to ‘warrant’ the mileage, but the condition (that which you can see as well as that which the vendor has found in his titivations) would suggest a strong likelihood that it is credible.

It also still has its original owner’s handbook, book pack, and storage wallet plus the original wooden radio blanking plate; cars from Japan are almost always well preserved and it’s wonderful to see that this one’s paperwork has partially survived.

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 a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

The Mercedes-Benz 107 SL and SLC are firm favourites for a reason: they’re pretty, ridiculously well engineered, simple and straightforward to maintain, well serviced by a huge network of specialists - and great fun to drive.

And the SLC coupé is much sharper to drive than the convertible. It doesn’t, of course, offer the same full wind-in-the-hair experience but the pillarless and frameless design offers a close second and it drives so much better than the soft-top that only diehard Morgan owners would choose an SL over an SLC.

And yet, despite being widely lauded as the better car of the two, prices for the SLC have yet to catch up with its convertible cousin. This one, for example, which is nicely fettled, looks terrific and drives beautifully, is likely to sell for only £8,000 to £12,000, which is a pitifully small sum for such a nice car.

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’.