Highlights

• Only 29,000 miles from new
• Valuable plate, DXI 211, will come with the car 
• Two keys 
• Original cream leather interior
• Undervalued modern classic
• Rare to see colour combination

The Appeal

The History and Paperwork

• Supplied new by Mercedes-Benz Cragside, now known as Harrogate, it has gone on to have a wonderful life
• At the time of purchase, this car would have been north of £60,000
• Doesn’t that just scream value for money today?
• From 1998-2001 it resided with its first owner
• Selling it just before its first MOT, it has since resided with the same owner 
• Originally in the name of the owner’s partner at the time, it has since been swapped to his name 
• Thus, the V5 shows 3 owners, however, it is effectively 2 
• On the subject of V5s, it still retains all of its V5s
• With this paperwork, we can see that it has always been a Newcastle car 
• The car also retains all of its MOT certificates 
• As has been previously mentioned, they have all been carried out at the same MOT station, by the same MOT tester 
• You’ll also find all of the original Mercedes-Benz handbooks and service record 
• Now residing overseas, the previous owner decided to sell the car to their friend 
• Also residing in Newcastle, it hasn’t travelled too far 
• Now it is your chance to get behind the wheel of a modern classic
• With low mileage and presented in beautiful condition this will sit amazingly well in your collection

The Interior

• Complementing the black exterior well, the light tan interior is in great condition 
• Opening the doors, you are presented with two lovely door cards
• Adorned with tan plastics, leather, and wood flashings they look great
• You’ll also find the controls for the electric front seats 
• Turning out attention to the front seats, you can see that they are in excellent condition
• The light leather is void of nasty staining, or even rips or tears
• If you want to get picky the leather on the driver’s seat has stretched a small amount, but this is a tiny detail 
• Unsurprisingly the rear seats are in great condition as well
• Moving down a little to the light carpets these are also in lovely condition 
• With large and well-fitting over mats in the front, the factory carpets will be protected for years to come
• Following up from the floor mats along the central tunnel is covered in some wonderful carpet
• Mercedes has always stood for quality and the interior of this R129 is a testament to this ethos
• In the central console, you’ll find some lovely original features
• The dark wood surround is presented very well and still retains a great finish
• The gear selector is even nice and clean 
• Just either side of the gear selector you’ll find the controls to the electric windows, and heated seat controls
• The latter will be a life safer if you intend to use the car in those colder months
• It still retains its original Blaupunkt radio with the all-important security card
• The current owner has mentioned that there is some slight milking to the corners of the windscreen, but this is still the original windscreen
• Now we get to the best part of this car, and that is of course the roof options
• It still has its original hard top with a panoramic sunroof
• When this is locked in place it feels like every other car on the road, this makes it incredibly useable on a colder or wet day
• You’ll be happy to hear that all of the central locking works as it should
• With the roof removed you have a very inviting space that is nice and open
• The final roof option is to have the soft top up, this is for those occasions when you’ve gone for a late summer drive and a rare English shower is passing over 
• Within the boot, you’ll find a spare wheel, that appears to have never been on, and some tools to help should you need to change it
• The boot is also void of any unwanted dampness
• Overall, the interior is in lovely and original condition 
• Good luck finding another one in this condition 

The Exterior 

• You may have seen an R129 before, but usually, they are either red, blue, or silver
• It is fairly rare to see one finished in this deep black colour 
• The original paintwork is presented in lovely condition 
• Having spent the last two decades of its life in a nice warm garage it has been well preserved 
• It was mentioned that if you run your hand under the wheel arch, you’ll be met with original Mercedes metal
• This is excellent to hear 
• Both the headlights are nice and clear with no hazing over
• If you look closely, you may find a few age related marks
• But don’t forget it’s a near 30 year old modern classic 
• All four of the alloy wheels are presented in great condition
• The numberplate you see on the car is the plate that will be coming with it 
• Towards the rear, the taillights are in great condition, and it still wears its SL320 badge with pride
• Underneath it looks to be nice and solid 
• Both the hard-top, and soft-top look very good 
• Overall, the exterior is in excellent condition 
• Wherever you wish to store or display the car it will always look stunning 
• If you miss out on this car, you may have to wait a long time to find another one like it

The Mechanics 

• This SL has been well maintained throughout its life
• With all its MOT certificates present, it will verify the mileage
• Because of course, the car has few miles on the odometer 
• Reading less than 30,000 miles it is almost like new
• It is reported to drive very well indeed
• The engine is nice and smooth delivering its power well
• It goes through a nice and smooth automatic gearbox 
• Opening the bonnet, it is remarkable how clean the engine bay is, you could quite easily just display this part 
• When the R129 was released, it was a highly over engineered vehicle 
• This should mean that they will live long into the future, which is excellent for you 
• Getting behind the wheel of this car with the wind in your hair will be unlike any other driving experience you have had

Summary