Description
For sale is my beautiful automatic Mercedes 280SE with the desirable 'on the column' gear selector,. I have owned this car twice..... I first bought her in 2016 for a specific trip to France and then sold her afterwards...... and regretting it, I contacted the new owner and bought her back in 2018. In total she has been with me about two and a half years. I have enjoyed every minute and taken great pleasure caring for her and keeping her in top condition.
Well, the facts are that I have hardly used her since she came 'home' and with a heavy heart I am putting her up for sale. I have two other modern, sports Mercedes that get used at weekends, and to be honest with my tandem garage it is a performance to remove the old girl. So, she comes out on only the very rare occasion now; from under her dust sheet in the dehumidified garage, she emerges on beautiful, dry days and what a pleasure it is. Each time, it feels like a special occasion. Lot's of admiring looks, kids pointing fingers as we drive past, and people engaging with me, sharing memories from their youth telling me how it reminds them of their Uncle's/ Dad's/ Grandad's/ neighbour's car...... This was a special vehicle when it was launched, and it remains so today.
This superb right hand drive car is called 'Winnie' and she is resplendent in ivory and tan leather interior. She is unburdened by unnecessary 1970's electrics, so the windows are manual, the aerial is manual and there is no air conditioning. I have installed a bluetooth stereo though have the original unit too. Fortunately the head unit has a digital clock....'Winnie's' clock doesn't keep good time, and ideally would be replaced, but I haven't bothered. I fitted seat belts all round (during the first time of ownership), a rear view mirror to the passenger door and sourced under bonnet sound insulation from Germany.
She was originally delivered to her new owner in June 1970 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Clearly she was chauffeur driven as the rear left passenger carpet is pretty worn and there was a single stereo speaker mounted behind the passenger's head! She came with bumper overriders which I have removed as I prefer the look that without (I have them). I have gathered as much history as I can and even started writing down a summary of the car's history. I made contact with the Mercedes Club of South Africa and they were able to put me in touch with someone from Mercedes who sent me a copy of the original Mercedes SA job card. In August 2003, 'Winnie' was expatriated to the UK.
In the UK she was cared for by an engineer that I understand worked for Lotus and he serviced the car himself. Seven years later she was sold on to another engineer, who rebuilt parts of the engine and looked after her meticulously for the next seven years. Then I came along and bought her on the spot when I saw just how well preserved she was, having no rust at all, and running like a dream. She has a wonderful patina, showing she has aged gracefully and the bumper chrome is in superb condition. I have kept the servicing up to date, with oil changes, changed the gear box oil and greased the nipples, and put under seal in the cavity structures of the chassis. She also breathes easier through a K+N air filter which gives her 'puff' to climb hills with ease. She has had relatively recent brakes (pads and discs), tyres are perfect condition. The starter key barrel did develop a problem and I could not get hold of a replacement from Mercedes, and I did not really want to trust a second hand part. So I had a starter button professionally installed. She has electronic ignition now to replace the old contact breaker points. Unwittingly I have let the MOT expire but as she is from 1970 she does not need one. (If needed by the next keeper, I can arrange to get the MOT checks done at my local Mercedes main dealer). The prior owner and I both had the MOTs done at Mercedes main dealers and there are no advisories.
Winnie is a really well preserved original car - all windows are etched with the second owner's South African registration number... I deliberately have not replaced the carpets for example but I did remove the stereo speaker that was mounted on the rear parcel shelf (it was pig ugly!), and I re-trimmed the parcel shelf in black so that all the dash, door caps and parcel shelf are the same colour. It matches well with the tan leather seats in my opinion. I have been told by a couple of people that a W108 expert could look at the car and tell it originated in South Africa - I believe the Ivory colour is a giveaway as is the stitch pattern on the seats and the roof lining... Winnie was the subject of a four page article I wrote for the Mercedes Club Gazette, in a story about how I re-purchased her. As mentioned above I took her on totally trouble free trip to Laon in France and I have never had any concerns taking her other long trips in the UK. She has never missed a beat. I do know I am going to regret selling 'Winnie' but she really needs to be in a collection or used more frequently than I am using her.
I am happy to answer genuine questions by phone or by email, but please, if you are an auction house looking for stock..... I am not interested in putting my car into an auction.
