It’s a statement of fact that the most collectible Mercedes-Benz models are the two-door coupes bearing the famous three-pointed badge. Throw on a convertible top and the price nearly always goes up again. Models like the original Gullwing 300SL form the bedrock of this premise, but even the more mass-market Benzes adhere to the dictum.
Consider the W111 of the late 1950s and ’60s for a moment. While the four-door variants were cannon-fodder back in the day, even now, a good W111 sedan can be yours for between $10K and $50K depending on condition. But a two-door convertible W111? Nearer to a quarter of a mill. Same basic car,
big price difference. Something newer?
Okay, how about the mighty W124, often described as the finest modern Mercedes-Benz ever made. Sedans? Runners from about $3000; a really nice one for $10,000. But a hardtop two-door or a convertible? Bank on closer to $30,000 for either.
So when you stumble across a Benz that is both a two-door and a convertible, boasts cutting-edge tech for the day and has those classic Grace-Kelly-60s-headscarf-Monaco-coastline looks, then you know it ain’t gonna be cheap. You may also have guessed that the motor in question is the Mercedes-Benz W113 SL, otherwise known as the Pagoda Roof.
The stylistic work of Paul Bracq, the 230SL first hit showrooms in 1963 and immediately stopped traffic. When you look at it now, the W113 kind of forms the bridge that brought ’50s styling into the new age. The upright headlights and vaguely pontoon front guards are very ’50s, but the huge glass area and the way the car’s skin appears to be pulled taut, are very much ideas that are still being investigated.
And then there’s that detachable hardtop roof. It’s called a Pagoda Roof because of the shape of the roof from dead ahead where the concave skin is most apparent. It doesn’t take too much imagination to understand that there are echoes of the roofline of ancient Asian towers (often religious buildings) with their turned-up eaves.
In fact, the design was deliberate and had its roots in engineering principles. By designing the removable hardtop in such a way, the end result gave excellent vision out through slender, elegant pillars, yet was stronger than a flat roof. And let’s not forget that this melange of ancient architecture and modern car design was all happening decades before the Japanese were claiming their designs were sampling the motion of a fish through water or the rear-end of an antelope (and many other obscurities).
All production W113s were powered by fuel-injected six-cylinder engines, the earliest ones with a 2.3-litre unit (hence 230SL) and then a 2.5-litre (yep, 250SL) version in 1967. Capacity was further increased in 1968 to 2.8 litres and the resulting 280SL would take the model through to 1971 when it was replaced by the fatter, less elegant R107 SL, J.R. Ewing models, which had the US market firmly in their sights.
Although it looked cutting edge, underneath the W113 was a bit of old-school stuff, too. The platform, for instance was essentially a stretched W111 deal including the double-wishbone front end and the low-pivot swing-axle rear end with the compensator spring over the top of the diff. The brakes were disc at the front and drums out back, the steering was recirculating ball, and the car stuck with a four-speed manual gearbox when plenty of other exotics had five. There was actually an optional ZF five-speed offered, but it’s super rare to find one, and early in the car’s life, an automatic option was added.
The gorgeous car you see here is owned by long-time Mercedes fancier Phil Dunstan who bought the car about 13 years ago, after previously owning a similar car around a quarter of a century ago, selling it and regretting it ever since. “I sold it to buy a Porsche Boxster – which is lovely – but I missed the classic-car experience.”
Also, 2013 when Phil picked up this 1964 230SL, was also the year of the 50th anniversary of the Pagoda SL with a huge shebang staged in Canberra. So that was this car’s first major journey in Phil’s hands, but it didn’t go q-u-i-t-e to plan.
“Coming into Canberra, at the first set of lights, the car stalled. It turns out the alternator had died and, of the 58 Pagodas in Canberra that weekend for the celebration, five of them suffered the same problem,” he recalls.
“Luckily, we found a workshop that – would you believe – had five of the correct alternators on the shelf ready to go.”
Since then, however, the SL has been a model of consistency and a thing of joy. In fact, Phil gets very animated explaining what it is about the old Benz that he adores.
“What do I like about it? It’s the design, the visual satisfaction, the driving experience, the sound, the therapeutic value of driving a classic.”
The SL has covered a genuine 147,000 miles since 1964 and is an Australian-delivered car with full books and history. It’s never been hit or crashed and Phil reckons there’s only one thing that’s not ‘right’ on the car.
“That’s the inside of the boot lid which was painted in gloss when it was repainted after a hailstorm, when it should be painted matte.”
Suggesting, therefore, that the car’s perfection amounts to its only imperfection. But old Mercs are like that.
So, having propped up the theory that a two-door Benz will always be sought after, may we present the counterpoint to that argument in the form of the W209 CLK. This particular example is the daily drive of Jess Gruzevskis and was bought with help from her tappet-head parents Nick and Naomi on the basis that it was a safe car (ABS, stability control, airbags etc) it could fit her guitar on the back seat, and it was cheap.
Sorry? A cheap Benz two-door?
Yeah. See, the problem with the later Mercs is that they missed out on the bank-vault solidity and build quality of earlier cars. Some say the W124 was the last bomb-proof Benz. It’s hard to argue. The point being that these later models, particularly the C-Class-based ones are seen as classic Eurotrash. As in, nobody wants them.
Mainly, that’s because folks are scared of the things going bang in the driveway and sending the hapless owner to the poorhouse in the process.
But as far as the Gruzevskis clan is concerned, that’s not the case. And their 2005 CLK320 is proof.
“You need to find the right one; this one has the updated interior but the older engine, so it’s kind of the perfect combination. That’s the one you want to find,” Naomi says. “We bought the car back in 2019 from a family friend, and we chose this particular car partly because it’s the model that didn’t have the troublesome brake module.”
That doesn’t mean the car has been faultless, but Naomi reckons the repairs it has needed haven’t broken the bank.
“They do have some tech issues, though. At once stage the dash cluster went … it just lost everything. But Nick pulled the cluster out, sent if off to a mob in Sydney and 500 bucks later it was back in and working perfectly. A few weeks later the gearshift module died, so that had to be fixed, too. But since then, the gearshift has been much smoother and sharper, so it was a good thing in a way.
“Parts are pretty easy to get – some are a bit harder as time goes by. But there are lots of good indie mechanics and lots of online parts retailers and they’re actually relatively easy to work on.”
So it’s a proper, classy, two-door Benz, then?
“Yeah, it has that timeless look. All the bells and whistles work and it has good performance without being silly. Timeless with functionality, I call it.”
Fair enough. So the question now becomes one of whether these later two-door Mercs will start to gain some love among collectors and enthusiasts. Maybe they will. And although it’s a bit hard to imagine them ever achieving Pagoda SL status, maybe it’s time we started looking at these newer two doors with fresh eyes. And maybe grabbing a bargain while
you still can.
Vital Stats
1964 Mercedes-Benz 230SL
- Production run: 19,813 (48,912 all W113 SLs)
- Body: Steel, monocoque, two-door convertible
- Engine: 2306cc, inline-six, SOHC, mechanical fuel-injection
- Power: 112kW at 5500rpm
- Torque: 196Nm at 4200rpm
- Gearbox: 4-speed manual
- Suspension: Double wishbones, coils (f); swing-axles, coil springs (r)
- Brakes: 253mm disc (f); 230mm drum (r)
- Wheels: Steel 5.5 x 14-inch
- Tyres: 185 HR 14 radial
- Performance: 0-100km/h: 11.0 seconds (est); 0-400m: 17.0 seconds (est)
…………………………
2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK320
- Production run: 370,000 (est)
- Body: Steel, monocoque, two-door coupe
- Engine: 3199cc, V6, OHC, electronic fuel-injection
- Power: 160kW at 5700rpm
- Torque: 310Nm at 3000rpm
- Gearbox: 5-speed automatic
- Suspension: Independent, MacPherson strut (f); independent, multi-link, coil springs (r)
- Brakes: 300mm ventilated disc (f); 290mm discs (r)
- Wheels: Alloy 7.5 x 17 (f); 8.5 x 17 (r)
- Tyres: Pirelli P Zero 225/45 R 17 (f); 245/45 R 17 (r)
- Performance: 0-100km/h: 6.9 seconds; 0-400m: 15.4 seconds
