Lot details
Registration No: LFV398F
Chassis No: 113.043-22002137
Mot Expiry: Aug 2012

Ever since the landmark 300SL was unveiled in 1954, Mercedes have produced an SL (Sport Leicht) model or range of models. The similarly styled, but mechanically unrelated, 190 followed in 1955, completing the first generation of cars. The latter's immediate successor was the W113 series 230SL, which proved to be more comfortable than the former and faster than the latter - a point emphasised by Eugen Bohringer's 1963 Liege-Sofia-Liege rally victory (that most famous of SLs is now part of the permanent collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart).

The rarest W113 variant, the 250SL, was officially introduced at the March 1967 Geneva Salon. Blessed with the same effortlessly elegant Paul Bracq styling as its earlier relation, it was powered by a new seven bearing crankshaft 2,496cc SOHC straight-six engine that developed some 150bhp and 159 lb ft of torque - sufficient output to endow the Mercedes with a 0-60mph time of a whisker under 11 seconds and a top speed just north of 120mph. Suspension was independent all-round by double wishbones and coils springs at the front and swing axle, radius arms and coil springs at the rear. Braking was by power-assisted discs on all four corners, and steering by power-assisted recirculating ball. The newcomer's wide track gave notably sure-footed handling.

Able to blur the divide between city streets and open roads with ease, the majority of 250SLs were specified with four-speed automatic gearboxes. The SL was available in 'Californian Coupe' (2+2-seater), 'Convertible' (2-seater) or 'Coupe Convertible' (2-seater) guises, the last of which came with both a soft-top and the famous 'Pagoda' hardtop roof (so called because of its gently scalloped centre section). Faster than the 230SL which preceded it yet more stiffly-sprung and agile than its 280SL successor, the 250SL remained in production for just a single year, accounting for a mere 5,196 sales worldwide, more than a third of which were exported to America. A cult car by any standards, SLs have had countless celebrity owners from Charlton Heston to Kate Moss, John Lennon to Sophia Loren and Peter Ustinov to Stirling Moss. They have also starred in myriad films, including: Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Baader Meinhof Complex and Frost/Nixon.

The Pagoda-topped Mercedes-Benz now offered is a 1968 250SL model equipped with automatic transmission and both hard and soft tops. It has been the subject of considerable expenditure with Berry's Garage of Colwyn Bay in the last few years, with some £7,000 being allotted to the engine in 2009 and £9,000 for the respray carried out in 2010. A further £1,000 was lavished on the period Becker radio. These days the vendor considers the bodywork to be 'very good to excellent', the recent paintwork to be 'excellent', and the interior trim to be 'very good', along with the six-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic gearbox.

For many, the Pagoda SL is the definitive model in the series - modern enough to drive well, but classic enough to retain an individuality and purity of design that is arguably missing from the subsequent evolutions; great cars though they most certainly are.