Offered by John Olson, Inc., a 1957 300SL Ro (Mercedes-Benz Roadster) is being auctioned by telephone bid sale. Additional information is available to qualified buyers.

Below please find a video with additional details:

Telephone Bid Sale Details - How it works (click here).

One of the world’s most desirable and ageless Classics. This example began life in Austria, was raced in California during the 1960s, and graduated to accumulating show trophies and rally participation with its present owner of 36 years.  John Olson personally guarantees all bids are real. Meet the owner and inspect the car just as any private sale. Car is located near Denver, Colorado. Call us at 612-377-0155 or via email here.

Q: My 230SL needs a new interior. The original cognac color is attractive but all the replacement cognac materials that I have seen do not match the original cognac color and they are also not very attractive. In your opinion do I hurt the value of my 230SL if I change the interior vinyl color from cognac as on my vehicles data card to something like bamboo or tan? Please advise your thoughts. Thank you.
Best, Steve

A: Short answer: Unless the car is too original already, go ahead and change the interior color.

Long answer: There has always been a “romantic notion” that preserving a car’s original color and equipment make it more valuable. In the real world it is only true for cars in good-enough original condition, overall, to be eligible for the newly emerging “Heritage Class” of cars at prominent Concours d’Elegance (different labels for different shows). A car can easily fall out of eligibility for that distinction, when only one component, such as interior, or paint get bad enough that they would only be placed in, but never win even a third place in this category. A a well executed interior or exterior color change, will not hurt, and may well help the value of most collectible cars. By “well executed” I mean a correct paint color or upholstery material for the year the car was built and well enough executed that it impresses the judges at a car show. In this same vane, adding authentic period options, such as an up-graded radio the was in fact available through the original manufacturer that year… is never faulted if I am chief judge. Each concours has it’s own rules of course, and sometime it extends to allowing after-market options if they are correct to that time period… such as metal, exterior sun visors common to cars of the 1940s and 1950s.

Many a trophy winning car (75% in one survey I did a few years ago) has had a color change, or even an engine replacement. As long as it is correct for the model and year in question AND the especially when earns car show awards, it will not hurt value. Preparing a car for judging is not for everyone but if a Condition 1 level valuation is sought show-judging bring a “third party” (not the owner and not the restorer) measure of workmanship and authenticity lined up along side other cars vying for the same distinction. For me, even a fresh “total” restoration does not earn Condition 1 status until it has been so judged by third party judges.

Question: Sportscar Market Magazine’s 2008 Price Guide is putting 300SL Roadster values higher then the Mercedes-Benz Gullwings. Can this be true?

Olson Replies: The SL Market Letter has been charting this relationship since these models were new. The 300SL “Gullwing” Coupe is one the few great cars where a closed body-type has commanded higher prices than its convertible counterpart. This has prompted decades of prognostication that Roadsters would eventually eclipse Gullwings. Besides, 300SL Roadsters do contain more parts than Gullwings…. full restorations can involve 20% more labor on parts to be rescued or replaced. Roadster reupholstering takes five hides of leather. Even when new, Roadsters cost 25% more. And enthusiasts know that Roadsters had dozens of refinements. All reasons for them to be higher priced today. The following chart shows that after recovering from a low of 56%, Roadsters took 17 years to claw their way to 85% of Gullwings (using averaged prices). During the last ten years they have more-or-less hit a plateau between 80% and 85% of Gullwing values.

The 2007 auction scene has seen several surprises. Not only several 300SL Roadster sales passed $700,000, but they were early production, iron block cars, not late, alloy engine, disc brake models. At the same time there have been fewer spectacular Gullwing sales. If we go solely by these high-profile Roadster sales, sure, we could say, heads up… something special MAY BE happened. As a 300SL Roadster owner myself I should be delighted but I have to say the evidence is thin. I know a lot of these owners. The reason we’ve seen less Gullwing sales: less owners are sellin’! They’re sitting on their hands! Those willing to sell are very coy/reluctant about putting prices in their ads. We’re preparing our next 300SL Price Trends report for the SL Market Letter now, for late February or March release.

Model            300SL              300SL           Ratio
Year              Coupé              Roadster     Rdstr to Cpe

Roy Spencer has posted a summary of the Mercedes SL scene, as of 2008, that’s so good I might have written it myself! “An SL for any Size Billfold” might be another name for this four-part article covering four decades of SLs. Whether you’re curious about adding another decade to your SL collection or still seek your first, take a gander at these four articles:

• View SL Market Analysis Part 1 - 1950s and 1960s
• View SL Market Analysis Part 2 - 1960s and 1970s
• View SL Market Analysis Part 3 - 1980s
• View SL Market Analysis Part 4 - 1980s

A few cautions about prices: While 1950s and 1960s SLs now sell for many times their original price and are still climbing, two things temper newer decades… 1) the role of attrition and 2) quanities built (which are growing with each decade). If your goal is simply a great, fun car, any decade will work. If your agenda includes an appreciating asset, maybe a hobby that pays for itself… try repeating ”Buy the oldest SL I’m brave enough to buy” about a dozen times. Or, if you’re into “Buy Low, Sell high” — that bridge is now at approximately 1972. The decade of the 1970s has some terrific bargains… unrestored original cars that will never need to be restored if you become their faithful custodian as they move into their golden years. If you’ve got more bucks than years left – go for the gold now! But read Roy’s series first. AND include the SL Market Letters in your shopping; our subscription based newsletter covers price trends and includes a comprehensive classified listings for the Mercedes-Benz SL.

Question from subscriber ….
 
Hello John.  I wanted to pick your brain on a transmission question.  I have a '71 280SL.  According to some rumors floating around, a manual from an '86 300E, would fit the 113.  Supposedly, the 300E manual is a smooth 5 speed. Do you know if this would be a fit and if so, would it simply be a plug-n-play arrangement ??  I would love to convert my auto to a really nice manual.  Thanks.  Attila.

Reply by Olson ….
 
No, a 1980s transmission is not a "natural" implant. Bell housing would require significant change, length of trans. is different — requiring custom spacers, and worst, it is a "side shifter" — the control levers do not come out of the top of the box as on the 113 manual transmissions…. this means more improvisation and odd location for the lever coming out of the tunnel.
 
The correct 5 speed manual transmission for your "Pagoda SL" (and most other 1960s Mercedes-Benz) is a "top shifter". The smartest way to acquire one is actually buying a 230SL with a 5 speed box (the most plentiful source), swap all the parts and sell the donor car. That is because buying a transmission is only the beginning. Drive shaft is different. If you're changing from an automatic the fly wheel and ring gear is different. Also you can know it shifts OK and is quiet before you buy it if you can drive the car. BUT… see next paragraph.  
 
The whole project is unnecessary as changing the rear axle/differential (rear-end gearing) is infinitely easier. I now favor changing rare axle ratios to finding a five speed, for 1960s Mercedes-Benz. 280SEL 3.5 or 4.5 sedan parts offers soe nice ratios. Identical measurements. Everything fits. Your 280SL probably has a 4:08:1 rear ratio. That's OK if you live on Pikes Peak. For anything else there are three sedan rear ends (good: 3.69:1, better: 3:46:1, and best: 3.27:1) that will move fourth gear into overdrive with quieter highway cruising. There's only minor reduction in low speed performance. First gear is already so low that it can accept a longer legged (lower numerically) rear end ratio. I did this with my 300SE (six cylinder) sedan; installed a 3.27:1 differential from a 280SEL 4.5… and I love it. MGP climbed 15% too.

280SEL 4.5 sedan differentials with either 2.24 or 2.27:1 ratios are lurking in many Mercedes recycling yards. You'll want to replace the axle bearings on principle, but for a small fraction of the cost of a new differential, you'll probably be as happy with the results as I am.

Purchasing, selling, restorations…each of these usually involves big bucks! If you need help or coaching on the phone before your current car decision, you've come to the right place. Editor John R. Olson is available for two hours every weekday for over-the-phone consulting on any Mercedes-Benz related subject.

While the SL Market Letter leans toward models most likely to hold long-term value, the questions that John receives are 50/50 between newer and older models. If John is unavailable when you call, leave a message stating when you will call back, and John will do his best to accomodate you. Or contact us by email. This service has become popular with people who are new to Mercedes-Benz or new to the specific model that they now seek.

Source: SL Market Letter #329
Author: John Olson

While crunching price trends numbers for the SL MARKET LETTER other information crops up. About a third of sellers include their car's mileage in ads — usually those people with the lowest mileage. Other people either don't know their car's mileage or wish they didn't. As many things in life this is a double-edged sword. We've all heard mechanics say we must drive our cars; use 'em or lose 'em. A study on engine wear described in the book THE SL EXPERIENCE (Delusions of Low Mileage, page 184) cautions that 12,000 miles on a city-driven car can cause as much cam shaft wear as five times that mileage on the highway.

Intended usage is the big factor in choosing or bypassing the lowest mileage cars. If you drive the car regularly, or even two seasons of the year, you will "consume" the key thing that makes low mile cars special. You might respond "All new cars come with nearly zero miles so what's the big deal?" True enough and the strong sales of new Mercedes affirm the willingness to pay for that luxury but discovering an unmolested 25+ year old car with under 25,000 miles is something else. Once it's gotten that far in life without deterioration it "deserves" to be preserved, not consumed. These cars deserve to go to new custodians of like mind. If you're one of those guys, then go for it! Pick the lowest mileage car with the most authentic options you can find. And find them you will. In every SLML issue there are dozens. To emphasize them in this issue there's a grey-highlight behind the three or four lowest mileage cars in each category. If you like this feature let us know and we'll continue it.

Sure, low-use cars have there own set of problems — dried out hoses, rubber seals and gaskets, the effects of humidity and condensation, heat and cold. Just starting a dormant car can snap piston rings and suck rust and died gasoline residue into the fuel injection pump. Tires that look good blow out in 500 miles. Brakes often misbehave. Fixing these vulnerable areas on an old original is a smaller task than restoring higher use cars because with use everything wears … from instrument switches and door latches to ball joints.

You'll also see average reported mileage in these Price Trends charts. While we don't learn the mileage of every car, this still is an indicator of what can reasonably be expected on the better cars with each engine. Between that number and the lowest mileage cars (in shaded boxes) you'll find some sweet cars. Never assume mileage or any other claim about a car for sale is true without verification. For mileage, the best validation is a series of service invoices showing the progressing mileage accumulating over decades. ALWAYS save major and minor service bills on your own cars. They help sell any car regardless what is revealed.

One surprise to come from the current "crunching:" V12 owners may be driving their cars more than V8 or six cylinder SL owners! As with the other data, our samplings exclude the high mileage cars but since this has occurred on all three models, the results still suggests 12 cylinder and 6 cylinder SL owners are logging more annual miles than V8 owners:

• Overall average - Sixes: 6,970 miles
• Overall Average - V8s: 5,340 miles
• Overall Average - V12: 7,280 miles

These numbers come from averaging all years for each model to expand the sample groups.

On an unrelated subject a General Motor's Power Train VP, Tom Stephens, has announced his company will begin selling "image engines" for prestige. Sounds like they're taking a chapter out of the AMG book.