1961 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

190SL Convertible

4 Cyl

4 Speed

12104210023451

Clear

Gasoline

For Sale 1961 190sl, both tops, car is running and registered. I found it in a garage in Rockville Center, NY in 1988 where it had been parked in 1983 when driven from California and not re-registered and driven after that. I had it flat bedded to Valley Stream, NY and did a partial restoration in 1988 - 89 concentrating on replacing rusted metal work. NOS parts and chrome were reasonable in 1988 so quite a bit was replaced then. In 1999 when I retired I moved it to NH and continued with the restoration. Clock and radio not correct or original to car. Damaged seat bottoms replaced with Vinyl. The car is registered and runs but I have never been able to get the replacement Mikuni carbs to work properly. I have the original Solexes that come with the car but got tired of rebuilding them every year to stop the leakage that they were always prone to. All numbers match the MB build sheet from 1961 including the doors, hood and trunk lid numbers. I have been a member of the International 190SL Group since 1988 and am listed in their directory. All of the MIG welding work that I did on it was to repair rust damage involved the floor pans, channels and battery box. The outer body work had previously been done before I purchased it so I am not sure of the extent that filler was used or how much but there is no visible rust on the car. It is a European model that came from California in 1983 and has been garaged since then. I am not aware of it's life before then. My current problems are trying to properly tune the carbs and it has a very annoying problem of stalling occasionally when I come to a stop (it always restarts). I did a compression test when I first purchased it and there is a variation between cylinders so the engine probably should be rebuilt in the future. The valves haven't been replaced with the newer ones for unleaded fuel so that is another thing to be redone at rebuild. The car comes with both tops, all of the 190SL Group newsletters since 1989, all of the MB service shop books including the valuable parts book and all of the parts I removed in 1989 to replace with NOS parts that were available then and some of the 190SL Group service books available through the club. The only recent trouble that developed this Summer is a leak in the drivers side heater core. I bypassed the core to stop the leak and have checked the availability of replacement cores from Millers Mercedes in CA ($225). These cores are very easy to replace as they are accessed from the engine compartment. Mileage on odometer says 5259km but I am sure that is not the first time it has been around as the car is now 51 years old.