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QA: 1986 300SL 5-Speed Production Numbers
By Greg Magnus | October 12, 2009
Len Asks:
I have a 1986 300SL 5-speed manual. I love the car very much but note that outside of a Website in Germany, I almost never see manual gearbox R107 300SL’s offered for sale. Could you tell me, of the 13,000-odd R107’s that were produced in total from 1985 through 1989, how many were fitted with manual gearboxes?
Thank you.
John Olson Replies:
No, Mercedes-Benz has never released production quantities for specific options. There was a great deal of interest in learning how many 5-speed manual shift Pagoda SLs were built in the 1960s. It was thanks to the supplier of those transmissions, a German company ZF Friedrichshafen AG, that old records showed how many were delivered and for specific M-B models. Total was only 888!
About ten year ago, MBUSA was able to tell an owner how many 5 speed manual transmissions were delivered in the USA in the R129 SL. but that was only possible because the number was small and limited to one country.
Your six cylinder W107 SL was never sold through US M-B dealers as you know. Your enthusiasm for this model is common. Treat it like a permanent asset at it will become one. There are many good things about M-B sixes generally. They don’t break much, are less expensive to repair that newer V8 SLs, and are among the safer “old” cars when accidents occur. The R107 SL version debuted in 1974 as a 280SL, and received the 3.0 liter engine in 1985 when the 300E was launched in the USA. Engine parts are mostly interchangeable with the 300E models including the transmission, and body parts are interchangeable with the 560SL.
Topics: SL Market News | 1 Comment »
October 25th, 2009 at 5:50 am
Hi,
I have a 1987 300SL right hand drive delivered. I was wondering where I could find production figures for that model – the chassis number is WDB 107 041….
Thanks for your help.
Richard Watson