1961 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

Convertible

4 - Cyl.

Manual

190sl020385

Clear

Gasoline

For sale is one of the finest 190sl roadsters in existence. My partner and I own one of the oldest and most respected Mercedes restoration shops in the country. We have specialized in Mercedes, Jaguar, and Porsche restorations for over 35 years, winning many shows with our work. When I purchased this 190sl, I was in search of a completely original unmolested and never wrecked car as our next restoration project. This car was an excellent running, complete and presentable car when I bought it from the second owner. He was a university professor who purchased the car from the first owner over 30 years ago. The car had obviously spent most if not at all of its life garaged when not being driven. I have a letter from the original owner to the second owner regarding the sale of the car. Many of the parts on this car are the original parts from when the car was new. They were put back on the car due to the fact they are still in excellent condition. The seat leather and the carpet were relpaced due to some wear. However, the leather tonau cover, rear suround, and door panels are original from when the car was new. They were much too nice to replace. The color of the new leather was matched to the original. The convertable top and square weave carpet were replaced with original German materials. The original trunk mat, dash components, radio, hubcaps, inner and outer door handles, and window cranks were in near perfect condition, so they were not replaced or rechromed. We would have replaced the original windshield due to the wear of 99,800 miles of driving, but the original factory replacement windshield was not available when we finished the restoration. It is still in fair condition. All of the mechanical components were completely refurbished and rebuilt, including all of the suspension, brakes, rear end, and a proffessionally rebuilt engine. We rebuilt the original Solex carburators and they will be sold with the car, but we did a professional Weber conversion, due to the fact the Weber carburators work much better on these cars. The Solex carburators were the weak link on a 190sl and the source of many headaches. You can get them running good for a while, but they need constant adjustments and they wear out after a few thousand miles. In order to get the maximum points in a show they need to be fitted back on the car. But the Webers make the car a much better driver, so you get both the Webers and the original Solex' with this car. All of the wheels have the correct date stamps and the are the original kahke green on the inside. They also have the original orange marks on them from the factory (not repainted). It is very rare to find the orange dots still intact. These cars came with one of two colors on the underside of the body, hood and trunk; either satin black or a kahke yellow, which this car is finished in. These cars were never undercoated from the factory, but most dealers sold the customer on an undercoating, which really only speeded the corrosion process by trapping moisture. The manifold was coated inside and out with a high heat alloy and the exhaust pipe was nickel coated, which greatly improves the engine's performance. The muffler and tailpipe was powder coated silver. The subframe, springs, suspension parts, and gas tank were all stripped to bare metal and powder coated. The body of the car was stripped to bare metal and repainted in single stage Glassurit urathane paint. The color code on this car is 190, which is one of the most desirable colors, also used on many 300sl's. The front bumper guards were left off due to the fact (personal and widely shared opinion) they ruin the beauty of the front end. The factory left them off of many of the 300 sl's and some early 190sl's. They were primarily fitted to comply with US safety standards. I have them and they will be sold with the car. I will fit them to the car at no charge if the buyer desires. We will provide ground transportation to and from the SLC International airport for anyone interested in looking at this car. A $500.00 Deposit is expected within 24 hours of the auction's close with the remaining balance due within ten days. Please use the following link for more photos: >IMG SRC=http://www.photobucket.com/mark190sl http://s953.photobucket.com/albums/ae13/mweston44/?action=downloadpage&download_id=486921&evt=dl_email_click&loginFirst=true