Every collector’s dream – Barn Finds
A few less than pristine recent purchases
Photography from Roy Spencer
Our eternal hunt for interesting Mercedes occasionally leads us to some unique finds. While the random phone calls we receive offering cars sometimes disappoint – the 300SL roadster described turns out to be a 190SL – some calls yield gems and all are welcomed. Here are some recent finds that brightened our day, particularly the third car.
Dead 1971 280SE 3.5 Coupe
This tired blue (originally 050 white) 3.5 coupe is on its way to becoming a fully restored 3.5 Cabriolet!
Any 280SE 3.5 Coupe is an interesting prospect. This neglected car had been sitting outside in the east SF bay area for at least 20 years. Despite sitting out for so long, rust was minimal. Looks ok from the rear- a US model with correct period blue license plates.
There were problems up front however with moderate collision damage and missing front bumper/grille. Still a great find.
Interior weathered but intact and featured desirable floor shift selector. This is a massive project and will soon return to the road as a restored 3.5 Cabriolet!
1960 190SL
This began with a phone call some years ago and after routine follow-up calls a few times a year, the owner finally faced the fact she was simply never going to resurrect the car. A trip to California’s central coast secured it and we’ll soon see it be back on the road resplendent in its rare original Turquoise finish. A wonderful find.
Neglected 190SL was the victim of an aborted restoration effort and had been sitting for many years. Nose up attitude means no engine. It was in boxes. All the ingredients are there, decent panel fit, both tops and tolerable rust.
1960 300SL Roadster
This find is a few years old and we report it this month only because the car has been finally sold. It began with a phone call from the owner who had seen an article of mine describing an attempt to buy a basket case 300SL roadster some years ago. The seller noted that while his roadster was all together, it had suffered some light fire damage sustained when he inadvertently lit his house on fire while draining fuel from another car.
A very knowledgeable and straightforward guy, he wanted to sell the car to fund an enormous garage to house his car collection. With an estimate for his nice new garage in hand, he proposed a deal: If I could pay him the amount of the construction estimate, I could buy the car. This was one very expensive garage! He wouldn’t hear any offers so I flew to the car and paid for his new garage, just about to the penny. While it was a sad looking SL, it was remarkably rust free and complete with good panel fit, the correct engine and both tops. It will be back on the road in a few years.
You just want to cry when you see an SL in this state. Hiding under the singed paint is an originally silver with red leather, matching number roadster. This condition was a combination of massive weathering from sitting for 20 or so years and the fire damage.
Cloudy windshield a result of melted laminate. Note 300SL insignia on hood. It was all there, however, and will again return to the road.
The once cozy red leather interior had been ravaged by rodents and lightly damaged by heat soak from a garage fire.
Ex-King Hussein 300SL Gullwing “hedge” find
This mind boggling find was not mine but a car that one of my clients found 4 or 5 years ago. It began with a simple conversation in the Midwest during a classic car event and led to one of the more significant recent Gullwing discoveries.
When shown the car sitting partially in a hedge in a backyard, my client was dumbfounded. How could someone let a Gullwing sit in the garden for decades? And a rudge-wheeled example at that. It was simply incomprehensible.
The deal was made and upon researching the chassis number the new owner received a pleasant surprise indeed; the car was originally owned by Jordan’s King Hussein, an avid motorsportsman.
Quite a "hedge" find, a rudge wheel Gullwing. What was this owner thinking?
Whitewalls, no bumpers and almost beyond saving. What a shame.
When will we see this car on the road again? I see a $400k restoration project here. Red plaid seat trim can be seen in interior pictures. Could it be original to the car?
The Gullwing during its better days with young King Hussein at the wheel during a racing event. Looks like the wheel arch eyebrows have been chromed!
We’re avidly looking for cars, whether in barns, hedges or a nice warm garage and will fly to the corners of the US for suitable cars. Drop me a note at roy@mercedesheritage.com if you know of something interesting.
Roy Spencer, editor MercedesHeritage.com
Please comment on this article below.
12 Responses to “Barn Finds: A small collection of weathered gems”
Roy – I’ll be looking forward to seeing the final results.
i don t understand if you want to sell these cars..
What should one budget to convert a 3.5 coupe to a cabriolet and who has the skills to do it/
thanks
doug dees
They all make my 1956 220a Steel sun roof Ponton look ordinary. It had sat since 1978 in a barn and because it’s such an unusual car i’m restoring it and i have even spoken with it’s original owners. These barn finds are often harder to restore because long years of ’storage’ tend to cause a lot of damage. Fortunately for us foolish enough to attempt these tasks parts are available for even the truly rare mercedes.
To Doug Dees, It’s not a big job to remove a coupe roof and convert a coupe to a cabrio ,the differences are really quite minor but it will never be worth much because if the car was ever offered for sale it’s chassis number would give the game away.
The sill panels are heavier gauge,there is a boot for the top behind the rear seats and a tunnel strengthening plate under the trans. The top frames are getting hard to find and top material can be sourced easily .
Budget for a cost approaching $20,000 for a nice conversion .You will then have coupe worth maybe $40,000 reduced to a $20,000 converted coupe cabrio.
To each his own, but in my opinion it is a travesty to “restore” the W111 coupe to a pseudo 3.5 cabriolet. The honorable thing to do would be to restore the car to its original former glory. It is what it is, and that is a potentially once-again beautiful coupe and not a cabriolet.
The 190SL will be nice when finished!
I hope the burned 300SL roadster and the ex-King Hussein 300SL coupe receive faithful and caring restorations. What diamonds in the rough for one with the requisite skills and wherewithal.
Converting a 3.5 coupe to a cabriolet is not a good idea. You can never truly disguise one for the other. In the first instance the VIN gives it away. More obviously, the gap between the rear window and the top of the bootlid is different in the two cars and is immediately obvious to anyone who knows anything about the cars in question.
It’s really impressive and…moving; congratulations for such discoveries and
especially for the soon return on the road in their original state. I wonder a
question. How many searching time on average it is necessary before finding such
cars…? especially the Gullwing. Furthermore it is possible to have a
estimate the number of copies still findable – put out of circulation – to
number of models produced for example?
jim rohn , one of the modern greatest business philosophers of our times said …the three things to leave behind in our lifetime are ..pictures, library ,and persoinal journal…allow me to add a MERCEDES.
Hello
it makes no sense to convert a Coupe into a Convertible.
Most people think it is just cutting the roof away but in fact some 50% from the sheetmetal is different, many parts reinforced, the forward bulkhead with the Windowframe ist different the floorpans are doubeld up the boot lid is shorter,,,
Converting a Coupe to a Cabriolet is runing into a full restoration starting on a frame jig (Celette) with parts who are rare and expensive or reproduktions wich can be spotet by an expert sometime even without opening any door by just looking down the side flanks from the car.
The only way ist to scrap a Coupe for parts to restore a existing convertible.
Most fake Convertibles fech less money then a Coupe in a similar condition.
OK V8 Convertibles are quite rare and one from “the” collectors Benz in the future but most collectors want a Original car if possible down to the way the car left the factory. The marked for faked Convertibles will not be touched from the “weahlty” collectors and the “fun buyers” will not put serious money down to reach a RIO as long you need to pay someone doing the hack up job.
So converting the shown Coupe to a Cab will be wasting money.
On the other side with each salvaged Coupe the marked value for the left overs will rise.
There is a difference in Costumers shoping Coupes and Convertibles. The Coupe shoper mostly likes the sporty handling and how the Merc can be pushed to the limit without “showing off”. The Convertibe Costumer mostly seeks a smoth glider to show off. Most Coupe owners drive them often if not as daily driver while Convertibles are more the Investment bound to garages and some weekend drive outings.
Grüsse
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I have had 2 190 sl mercedes. Drove them collectively for 7 years. While I owned the second one, it was not reliable at the time that my dad, living about 45 minutes away, was dying. I could not rely on the car to get me to his side every day,so I sold it to a young man who did not appreciate it and let his girl friend total it. It is one of my biggest regrets, but at the time I had other priorities. I will always be sad about it, though.
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