In this Sports Car Market Buy Sell Hold video, Turtle Garage founder Philip Richter talks with John Nikas about the recent meteoric rise of the R129 Mercedes SL series. The R129 was a groundbreaking car when it was introduced in the fall of 1989. The design was an instant classic and the R129 was loaded with advanced technology including a pop up roll bar that would deploy if the car sensed a rollover. Today the R129 is gaining momentum in the collector car market and prices are steadily rising. This video covers the emerging trend of the R129 as a modern classic on the rise.
I think the same will be true of the R230, surely the most beautiful of the SL designs? (I should clarify that as the 2002-07 model before the 07 update). They are beautiful from any angle, drive fantastically with the adaptive suspension (Active Body Control) allowing drivers to really explore the performance of the engines. Along with the fact that you can change from hardtop coupe to open top motoring in 17secs and that the SL looks equally good roof up or down, I think now is the time to buy as they are surely at the bottom of their price curve and values can only go one way…
Who can argue that the R230 is one of the best SL’s ever? We are particularly partial to the SL55 AMG. The R230 is ripe to move up on the valuation curve.
Great conversation! I purchased a 94 SL320 – 6 cyl., last year for my birthday. 130k. Excellent condition. I love the car, all records are there.
Nice report. It appears that folks are finally realizing the values available in well-maintained 80s & 90s Mercedes vehicles. Almost pennies on the dollar to acquire, as compared to how much they were new. Find a well-serviced example with one or two caring owners, you can’t go wrong. The R129 was a flagship model for Mercedes in an era before the Chrysler merger, when their motto of “Engineered like no other car” held true. If you want a dependable, safe, comfortable grand touring vehicle for road tours and cruising around in, it would be hard to beat the R129 version of the SL.
Drove a friends 1990 300sl with 5 speed manual , he had a company in Costa Mesa Ca add a super charger , it moved pretty well but still showed its weight around town , He put a lot of miles on it and drove one trip to northern Nevada where he bumped against the rev limiter at 155mph and held it there coaxing it faster…needless to say when he offered to me i passed as buy thus time it had 150k hard miles…i would prefer the sl500 about time people started noticing these…. solid as a rock….