1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SL

The vendor Simon is selling this car having owned it since 2004. It’s one of a number of classics (or toys, as he puts it) and moderns he’s driven regularly.

Rather than be a garage queen this SL has been used, albeit it has a reasonably low mileage showing. That means it’s required a bit of semi-serious bodywork over the years; the good news is that, as the invoices in the history file show, it has received the necessary restorative work when it’s been required. ‘The body is now excellent,’ he says. ‘Stripped, new metal where necessary. The bulkhead is done, with new lights and seals all round.’

The last of these took place in July 2018 at a cost of £2500, when the offside inner wing and bulkhead areas were repaired; this necessitated cutting out an inner wing section to identify the source of water ingress (a rust hole), but once done a plate was welded in and the area re-sealed and re-painted. In 2016, circa £8k was also spent to keep it cosmetically and structurally sound.

Prior to that the car had a full re-spray in 2005 (including the hardtop), with the work carried out by Sandydown Bodyworks of Stockbridge, Hampshire. At the same time a pair of genuine Mercedes-Benz front wings were sourced and fitted.

The big V8 fires first time and settles into a nice even idle. A part stainless steel exhaust system is fitted, and throttle blip elicit a deeper than usual note (not a bad thing at all!). On the move it still provides that consummate SL experience, and is a nice and very useable example.

Today, the SL presents nicely. Those long flanks are nice, straight and ripple free. There’s no evidence of corrosion to any of the wheel arches, and the Smoke Silver paintwork has a pleasant deep shine. Those heavy doors still shut perfectly, with little evidence of any sagging. There is a small rust bubble by the front grill where it meets the nearside front wing, which is a shame and a small scratch on the same n/s wing, but other than that in terms of both metalwork and bright work it’s a smart story.

With the hard-top not having shifted in a long time, the soft-top underneath hasn’t seen any action for a while. The material isn’t rotten and there are no major splits or similar, but as you can see from the pictures it is a bit mouldy in places and needs a serious clean up. Going at it hammer and tongs with some soft-top restorative products may do the trick and smarten it up, or alternatively the next owner may wish to replace it altogether and that’d lift the car’s top-up appearance.

Those with a keen SL eye will have spotted that the alloy wheels are from a later Merc’ and are therefore incorrect for this model (two new tyres have also recently been fitted); they’re also a little corroded, so we’d recommend the new owner hunts down a set of the correct rims. Again an outlay of a few hundred pounds or so will ensure that it looks right, and continue the smartening up process.

The interior is good and holding up nicely for a car that’s seen regular action. The optional-extra black woollen seat covers look at first glance a little incongruous – I mean why pay for all that leather and then cover them in woolly mammoth material. However, they were proper factory options and therefore have some period kudos, and are reportedly cooler in the summer. We’ve also checked underneath to ensure they’re not hiding a multitude of sins, and they’re not!

Its Burr Walnut Root dashboard and centre column panels are free from cracks, although the formers have dulled a touch. The original Blaupunkt radio cassette player is still in place and functioning, which is a nice thing. A new heater fan has just been installed.

All carpets are in decent condition, with thick rubber over mats at the front doing an admirable job of keeping those located there in just so. Like most 2+2’s, the little used rear seats (and carpets) look good as new.

However, the air conditioning doesn’t work and hasn’t during the owner’s custodianship. If the next owner requires it then it’ll need further investigation.

Despite the soft-top not having budged for a long time, and a key point, the hood mechanism still functions smoothly, and the soft-top well appears to some surface corrosion, but nothing of serious concern.

As you can see from the pictures in our photo gallery below, there’s a bit of surface corrosion covering some of the suspension components, most notably at the front of the car. However, nothing that appears to be untoward. Some areas of the underseal and stone chipping look fresher than others, but that tallies with the invoiced work in the history file.

A stainless steel system has been fitted from the exhaust downpipe back.

Lift the carpets in the boot, whip out the spare wheel and you’ll find a rust-free wheel well – this corresponds to lifting the cabin carpets, which reveals similarly solid floors.

Pop the bonnet and the big V8 looks used, but relatively well presented – again, it presents as a good, solid working example. Protective sleeves (usually split or missing on cars that haven’t been well maintained) are still in place on the electrical wires and cables. Our test drive gave no cause for alarm, the engine pulled well, and all other functions performed as you’d expect.

‘It’s just had a full health check,’ says Simon. ‘And the mechanics commented on how clean it was underneath. Recent outlay on the car has been £1600. I also spent a long time and spoke to a lot of people in order to get the rear boot seal to be rain tight. Eventually an old hand gave the answer, by suggesting it be off set so this has been done for efficiency and not sloppiness.’ 

There are invoices from the car’s supplying dealer, as well as a large number of later ones from a variety of main dealer and independent specialists including Itchen Motors, the garage Simon has used for over 40 years. Also included are a large number of MOT certificates, with which you can track the lowish-mileage and advisories through the years.

The current owner has provided a handwritten history of the car’s service history to back up the "stamped from new" service book, which again if you have the time can be matched to the invoices. Original manuals are present as well as three keys and the V5 document shows four former keepers.

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

The biggest engined (in the UK, anyway) SL is always going to be the most desired, and that’s the case here. It won’t win any concours awards, but then it’s been in regular use most of its life.

As a good, upper mid category car with an attractive mileage, we feel it’ll continue to provide sterling service as smooth cruiser for its next owner. There’s a bit of work to be done here and there (soft-top and alloy wheels, first up), so its functionality, and value, can be steadily improved.

The very good news is that invoices in the history file demonstrate that many of the bodywork elements that can afflict this model (sills, jacking points, bulkhead) have already been tackled and remedied. As such we think it’ll sell for between £18,000 and £25,000, which is a positive bargain for a 500SL.

This is definitely one to buy and immediately get out and use. Kudos, prestige and power await the next owner. Remember, this is not about the money (which is not a lot, at all) it’s about the power.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with at The Market HQ near Abingdon, Oxon; 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.