Monday, June 4, 2012

Junkyard Find: 1978 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC

The Mercedes-Benz R107/C107 is one of those cars that tends to be valued according to a binary system: a near-perfect example sells for a healthy five-figure sum, while one that's even slightly beat is worth about as much as an '86 Nissan Sentra with an alarming rod knock and a glovebox full of used syringes. That means that examples of Mercedes-Benz's SL-Class machine of the 1970s and 1980s are not at all uncommon in self-service wrecking yards.
At the same time, most car freaks who never set foot in wrecking yards just can't believe that you can get running 107s for pretty close to scrap value. The outcry of "that ain't no $500 car!" that I heard when Rally Baby Racing's 1975 450SL showed up to to the Real Hoopties of New Jersey 24 Hours of LeMons was just deafening. Rally Baby applied the large economy size bucket of Bondo to their car, than shot a looks-great-from-100-feet coat of silver paint onto it while in a dirt field at New Jersey Motorsports Park on the night before the race. Bugs in the paint and all, this (street-registered) race car looks so good that I've been trying to buy it ever since.
Most of the junkyard R107s I've seen have been the 80s-coke-dealer-motor-pool 560SL, and they're much more common in California yards than here in Denver. Still, I know that if Rally Baby Racing ever retires their race car and sells it to me (or if I build one myself) I'll have no problem finding parts.
It's hard to beat a red leather interior if you want to be King of the Malaise Era.
From the finger-bustingly cramped engine compartment stuffed full of 4.5 liters of overhead-cam V8 to the bewildering electrical system to the über-upscale interior pieces, these cars are challenging for the backyard mechanic and utter nightmares to restore if you want a really nice one.
They're also shockingly heavy for their size and not particularly quick; the '78 450SLC had 180 horsepower to move 3,715 pounds.
What was the original price tag on this totally-used-up Benz? $27,090, or about $95,500 in 2012 dollars.

17 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 01 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 380SL race car - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin

from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com




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