Mercedes-Benz SL 300 (R129)
Car-ID: XT0063
Vehicle Description
When Diana, Princess of Wales, dumped her Jaguar in favour of a red Mercedes-Benz SL from the R 129 series, British media was in turmoil. The princess eventually had not choice but to return the “foreign” car.
A different, nearly as beautiful red 300 SL can be yours without any media storm. It’s a 1993 model which has found its way home from Lithuania. According to the consignor, the car has gone through only two ownerships, the latter holding it for 10 years and using it only during the summer months.
The SL appears to have been completely repainted, with most of the paint still in good shape and only little visible rust. The leather interior has been renewed at some point, it is in good condition. Dashboard and faux wood centre console are well preserved and devoid of cracks.
The SL features electrically adjustable, heated seats, power windows, cruise control, a leather steering wheel, fog lights and dual airbags. It runs on Lorinser 19″ alloys, not without curb damage. The tyres are in need of replacing. A body-coloured hard top is included.
Engine compartment and boot look clean, and the car generally makes a cared-for impression.
Under the bonnet, there is the 3.0 litre six-cylinder engine installed which produces 140 kW (190 hp) of power and is coupled to a 4-speed automatic gearbox.
Get a hold of this one now, and in a few years from now you can boast that you bought the SL for very small money…
At the 1989 Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz presented the new SL from the R 129 series. Its predecessor had been on the market for no less than 18 years, so the target group was more than ready for the new car and received it enthusiastically – so much so that early customers had to put up with a delivery period of several years. The aerodynamical wedge-shape design by Bruno Sacco won the international “Car Design Award”. Technologically, the new SL was very advanced, especially with regards to its safety features. They comprised a sensor-controlled automatic roll-over bar which would be raised within 0.3 seconds if needed, as well as integral seats.
The fabric top mechanism was no longer manually operated as it had been in the R 107, but electrohydraulically, it opened and closed within 30 seconds. The aluminium hardtop weighed about 10 kg less than the one of its predecessor.
The R 129 was available with a variety of engines, from 2.8 litres of capacity all the way up to 7.3 litres in the rare AMG V12 variants. A total of 204,940 examples were built over the course of 12 years, with two facelifts in 1995 and 1998, most of them equipped with V8 engines.
