Unrestored SL achieves £674,000 at auction A classic Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster that had been part of a private collection for almost 50 years achieved a sale price of US$895,000 (£674,000) at a recent Bonhams auction, which took place at the Greenwich Concoursd’Elegance in Connecticut, USA.
The car was built in July 1959 and was originally supplied to a dealer in Michigan, covering 12,000 miles in its first year of ownership.
By 1961, it had covered 21,000 miles and was sold to a new owner in Colorado, before moving to its next owner’s care in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1969, by which time it had covered 48,000 miles.
The unrestored SL, in white with black leather, has since been owned by two cousins – the most recent (a prominent celebrity dentist) was a student at the time his older cousin bought the car, and since acquiring it in 1970 he has used it irregularly, mostly for high profile classic events.
It has now covered a documented 92,500 miles and has never been painted. The car was sold with a matching hardtop, along with all of its original books—including the owner’s manual, service book, sales brochure, Becker radio instruction book and even a map of Germany.
Details of the new owner are unclear, though it’s believed that the SL could now be on its way back to Europe.
