Digging for Buried Treasure – R107 SL Service History Nuggets

As the world’s leading R107 SL specialist, what do we look for when considering cars for our showroom? First and foremost, we are after quality in the entirety of the car. For the highest calibre vehicles, that means everything from the fog lights to the tail lights and the paperwork in the glovebox…

Here we have two superb cars that both contain buried treasure within the history file. An outrageously specced Impala Brown 300SL and a Signal Red 300SL that very nearly wasn’t.

The 300SL that was more than acceptable in the 80s…

We don’t need to tell you that the R107 was an expensive car back in 1989. The list price on a basic 300SL before options was £86,000 in today’s money, and the 1980s are well known as a period of excess – think Gordon Gecko and hedge funds. Not content with the £86,000 asking price, the first owner of this car added almost £10,000 in optional extras!

Whilst going through the service history, we also found a curious document pertaining to the fitment of a mobile telephone. This isn’t unusual for a classic Mercedes-Benz, but often the fitment of these devices comes much later into the 1990s. Although the document is undated, all the clues point to the supplying dealer from 1989! That means this car had a factory fitted telephone in the late 1980s, a time when mobile phones were only just being used by the general public. All of this paperwork research took place before surveying the car itself, and no mention of the telephone had been made when the car was supplied to us, so we assumed it was lost to the pages of history…

Imagine our surprise when the aforementioned telephone turned up, hiding beneath the original jack in the boot. This was a delightful thing to find, and a lovely accompaniment to what is a very nice car indeed.

If are looking for an Impala Brown Mercedes-Benz R107 SL, we are sorry to inform you that this car was sold before it reached the website; but we do have another one coming into stock very soon. Contact Bruce for details.

View the car in our showroom here

The Signal Red 300SL that very nearly wasn’t…

Back in 1989 the first owner of this car was excited. Their old 280SL was going to be part exchanged against a brand new, ‘last of the greats’ 1989 SL. They’d spent weeks poring over the sales brochure, researching the options and the trim levels, getting down into every last detail of the car.

After hours of research the deal was settled… It was to be a 300SL, with the boot spoiler from a 500SL with leather (including rear seats) air conditioning, paintwork preservation and a fire extinguisher, and most importantly it was to be White with Black Leather.

The order form was placed, the dealer confirmed the options and then, at the last minute… Cold feet.

It wasn’t going to be white, it had to be Signal Red. Maybe Bobby Ewing had something to do with it, but we’ll never know. A fantastic little addition to the story of this beautiful and low mileage R107, and a document that should be cherished for it’s curiosity alone!

This car is now available to buy in our showroom, click here to view.

View the car in our showroom here