This beautiful 280 SEL (W108) was purchased new by a geologist in the Denver area. He was on vacation with his family in Europe and could not find a car with air conditioning to rent so he contacted Mercedes and arranged for European delivery and after his trip shipped it to Colorado. As it turns out my dad purchased my mom a 1972 Mercedes 280 SEL brand new in 1972, equipped exactly as this one. In the Fall of 2007, while perusing the internet, I saw the ad for this grand old car, flew out to Denver and drove it back to Wichita with no problems. In 2012 I sold the car to my brother who also fondly rememberedmom's Benz.Shortly after purchasing the carmy brotherlearned he had cancer and passed away in June of 2013. I boughtit back from my now widowed sister in law making methe second and fourth owner.
This car runs and drives great with all of the power and luxury of it's era. The original wood trim and leather seatsare invery goodcondition, rare for a MB of this vintage. This is a beautiful andwell pedigreedsurvivor. I have the original tool kit, tire irons, medical kit, owners manual, "protecto" plate and even the European required reflector in the Spare tire assemblage. The original Becker radio works as it should. In addition there is a complete extra set of rims that the original owner used for snow tires.
Now this is an original car and it has it's flaws. Cosmetically there is a small dent in the trim on the left side of the trunk and the rear bumper, visible in the pictures. Also a light crease approximately 11 inches in length in the right quarter behind the wheel well that did not break or even scratch the paint. There are small rock chips on the front of the hood between the headlights and grill. Finally there are a total of about three very slight hail dings on the hood and roof. Again this is a survivor, it has not been restored at all.
Mechanically she drives out great. Transmission shifts as it should, and she makes great power. My brother purchased new tires in late 2012. All the windows operate as they should, the central locking system functions as it should and of course lights, turn signals, etc.. are all good. The vehicle has been in storage and currently the A/C is not cold but I have not had a chance to service it. The sunroof functions but is slow, I imagine the tracks could use a good lubrication. Finally the generator light dimly lights when running. I have not had a chance to sort that out. I assume it's a regulator or the alternator. Again, all of these can be sorted but I don't have the time, another reason I am selling my vehicles.
This is from my personal collection but is located in the showroom of one of my car dealerships in Wichita, KS.