1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL

West Coast Classics are proud to present an extremely rare and remarkably unmolested and original example of this last year 1971 Mercedes 280SL legendary series W113 Pagoda roadster with very desirable original factory/dealer options of automatic transmission, power steering, Frigiking air conditioning, Becker Europa AM/FM radio (removed and swapped with after market radio), automatic antenna, left rearview mirror, bumper guards, tinted glass, matching hubcaps, original interior, original factory hard top and matching Brown German canvas soft top!The car has no signs of any accidents with seemingly all original fenders with all original uninterrupted factory spot welds around the engine bay, front and rear lower body panels and factory correct inner fender notches by the headlamp bezels and its original factory numbered hood (#884) as confirmed by the cars original data plate/fender tag (see photos below).The car also has no history of any rust with all its original sheet-metal and with the floorboards and trunk with the correct factory indentations. Also the hood, trunk and door gaps and alignments are all as they should be. It is about as fine and unabused an example of this collectible last year model as you could hope to find anywhere. The car is very striking and was obviously always garaged and is still in mostly all original condition, apart from one original color Metallic Sand Beige (color code 467) professional repaint. The car has matching Brown leather seats and has outstanding original features with a beautiful original leather wrapped steering wheel, carpet, uncracked and unblemished wooden dashboard moldings, white bright work and chrome dashboard inserts, wooden center console and beautiful working gauges.By 1963 the 190SL (Super Light) and the 300SL Roadster were neither Super or Light and the 190SL was simply too heavy to compete with the likes of even the British MG or Triumph and completely underpowered compared to the Austin-Healeys or Jaguars. Mercedes had two choices, either return to the premise of the original 300SL and build another pure sports car or create a new grand touring sports car that would continue the reputation of the SLs as touring cars rather than super racing cars. Mercedes chose the latter with a compromise between the 190 and 300 with the introduction of the W113 platform 230SL which was a two-seat roadster/coupe, introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show and the series was continued through 1971.Like the Gullwing before it, the 230SL had a distinguishing feature which was its removable hardtop with a distinctive dip in its center to offer tall windows to create a better balanced side view and more headroom for passengers getting in and out while still maintaining a low sporty roofline from the front and rear and which earned the car the nickname Pagoda roof. It also proved an efficient way to remove rainwater and