1973 Mercedes-Benz 200-Series

280SE Sedan

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

108067120158837

Gasoline

If you were wishing there could possibly be an absolutely beautiful Mercedes left over from the '70's, that was taken care of and garaged most of it's life; your wait is over....I have an amazingly well preserved Mercedes 280SE 4.5 that was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. The car was purchased in the summer of 1972 by a nice couple who only wanted to enjoy a luxury car and knew Mercedes was the car of choice. They kept this car and took extremely good care of it for 28 years. Unfortunately, the woman died and the car was sold to an airline pilot who wanted this prize for his wife. She drove the car for 9 years. They loved the car so much, they decided to upgrade to the 300SEL 4.5. They knew what a fine luxury automobile Mercedes made in the 280/300 series. These were the luxury cars with muscle! I have spoken personally to the other owners of this car, and they have nothing but great things to say. The car was purchased by a businessman here in San Jose in 2009. He bought it for his wife too. Is it the color, style, or what? Well, she didn't drive it much and wanted to preserve its beauty. He kept it mainly in his garage and I was able to take it off his hands! I love this vehicle. It is in just fabulous condition. Everything is working, except the clock and the intermittent odometer. This was addressed in 2003 and I will be getting it fixed should you win the auction. It is an intermittent problem and it was determined the cable(s) is/are needing replacement. Other than that, the records indicate the service and repairs that was done to the car. The electronics work. The A/C works. The windows work. The doors all close and open properly with vacuum locks. The interior is in phenomenal condition. The radio was replaced, but the original is being sold with the car. I am adding a passenger side mirror at close of auction. The original mat and hood liner are still intact. There is no rust on this car! It is solid! One spot the size of a nickel has rust forming where the paint was scratched. I will take care of this real soon. It is only superficial. The floors are nicely covered in blue rugs and the headliner is in great shape with slight dicoloration around the interior dome lights, Otherwise, you will not find a car in such great conditon for this year. The chrome is beautiful, and their are no major dents on this car. It was never in any accident, and I have inspected the vehicle myself. The engine is strong, and idles smoothly. The transmission shifts smoothly and the drive is exhilarating! Bid on this car before I change my mind. In 11 years, the car will be considered an antique in California and you could expect to double or triple your money if you decide to sell it one day. I love this car and I do not want to sell it, but I still owe $23000 in school loans! I cannot return to Poland with a federal debt. This is only why I am selling it. It is a perfectly great car to drive daily to work, but I feel it should be in a museum. I will keep it under cover until the auction ends. It will be stored in Wisconsin in a garage until 2022 if it does not sell for what I want. Do your research. The 2 door and convertibles are very expensive. This is one that is attainable and is considered by most folks a gorgeous car. It drives so well in town and on the freeway. Here is some history for you... The 108 and 109 Chassis Mercedes Benz vehicles are the last truly hand-built S-Class Mercedes vehicles (aside from some current AMG models). Starting with the 116-chassis, production was moved from a team, responsible for the entire vehicle from inception to the final touches, to an assembly line for efficiency. This allowed Mercedes to produce more vehicles in the same amount of time. The 108 and 109 vehicles were also the last vehicles with the infamous "Mercedes look" - stacked headlamps (on NA versions), curvy hoodlines, and a very large front grille. To this day, many people can still recognize a 108 or a 109's lines as distinctively Mercedes, even if they were not even born when the model was still in production. The two major chassis variations of this body style - 108 and 109 - referred to the vehicle's suspension system. 109 vehicles were mostly air-suspension vehicles (with a few early exceptions), and 108 vehicles had coil springs on all 4 wheels. The smallest engine available was the 2.5L inline 6 in the 250S and 250SE models, and the largest was the 6.3L V8 in the legendary 300SEL 6.3. The variations were S, SE and SEL: Saloon, Saloon Einspritz, and Saloon Einspritz Lang. The S versions were carbureted, the SE versions fuel injected, and SEL versions fuel injected with longer wheelbases. All 108 and 109 vehicles had overhead cam engines. The 250 The 250S came with a m108 engine - a 2.5L cast-iron block with twin carbs. Production ran from 1965 to 1968. The 250SE came with a cast-iron, Bosch mechanically fuel-injected 2.5L m129 engine. Production ran from 1965 to 1968. The 280 The 280S came with a twin-carbed 2.8L cast-iron block m130 engine. Production ran from 1968 to 1972. The 280SE came with an m130 engine that used a Bosch mechanical fuel injection. The 300The early 300SEL - made from 1965 to 1967 - had an aluminum-block m189 engine and air suspension. Later 300SELs (1968 and onward) used either the 2.8L fuel-injected m130, or one of 3 V8 engines - the 3.5, 4.5, or 6.3. The 3.5 Available in the 108 and 109 chassis designation, the 3.5 was available as the 280SE 3.5, 280SEL 3.5, and 300SEL 3.5. Only the latter was available in North America, and only for one year (1971). It was built from 1970 until 1972. The 4.5 Available in the 108 and 109 chassis designation, the 4.5L V8 was the North American equivalent of the 3.5L V8 for the "Rest of the world". It was built from 1971-1972 as the 280SE 4.5, 280SEL 4.5, and 300SEL 4.5 The 300SEL 6.3 A legend in its own right, the M100-powered 6.3 produced, by conservative estimates, 300HP. It was $10,000 US in 1969. With 434 ft/lbs of torque, it had a 6.5-second 0-60 time (which made it the fastest production sedan in the world for quite some time). Only 6526 were made in its production run from 1967 to 1972 - yet it has the largest fanbase of any 108 or 109 - or perhaps any MB, in fact. These V-8 engines were built to last and were considered the most solid engine built by Mercedes, along with the 6.3 and 6.9 during this period. Go to this link at photobucket for much more beautiful photos!! Enjoy http://s740.photobucket.com/albums/xx50/spujals/Mercedes%20280SE/?action=view¤t=Mercedes280se140.jpg http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx50/spujals/Mercedes%20280SE/Mercedes280se140.jpg