1960 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL

Lot details
Registration No: 111 GHY
Chassis No: 1210422001540

Do you by any chance have any plans for next winter? If not, we've got the perfect solution - a 'barn find' 190 SL Mercedes in need of a full restoration. Take a look at the photos - there's surely nothing a little spit and polish won't rectify!

Okay, so perhaps it's not for the faint hearted, but how great it would be to resurrect one of these now relatively rare and desirable classic Mercedes sports cars. A righthand drive UK specification model, it is apparently complete, finished in Dark Grey and trimmed in Red, and even comes with a White hardtop in addition to its Black hood. It has remained in the same ownership for the last 40 years and lain unused for the last 30. An enticing project being offered at No Reserve.

The 190 SL was introduced in 1955 - the year Mercedes swept all before it on the Mille Miglia with the 300 SLR. Indeed, the graceful, new two-door, Convertible grand tourer was sold alongside the road-going version of the SLR - the 300 SL - whose styling it strongly resembled. In fact, the underpinnings of the two cars were quite different and, while the 300 SL had a purpose-built tubular spaceframe (W198), its smaller sibling was built on a shortened version of the 'Ponton' Saloon (W121) platform, which was of steel monocoque construction. The 190 SL also boasted an all-new engine - an over-square SOHC straight-four unit of 1897cc that produced some 120bhp, which was sufficient to propel the car to a very respectable maximum speed of 112mph. The engine was coupled to a manual four-speed gearbox operated by a lever between the seats. The suspension comprised double wishbones and coil springs at the front and coil sprung swing axles at the rear. Steering was by recirculating ball, and braking by power-assisted drums at each corner.