by "sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg)
Published 02/10/2017 at 15:03
by "sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg)
Published 02/10/2017 at 15:03
Tags: Cars Of My Neighborhood
; 230SL
; Mercedes
; 1966
STARS: 9
An impeccable 1966 230SL removable hardtop convertible. Bask in it’s inline six glory!
I could be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure this one was not originally produced for the US market. It doesn’t have those bumpers over the bumpers, no side indicators, and the headlights look like the Euro-spec ones. I could be wrong, so feel free to add any expert opinions.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
02/10/2017 at 15:22, STARS: 0
Those are the US headlights, side indicators were in ’67 (IIRC) and only post-’73 cars are required to have screwy bumpers.
"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
02/10/2017 at 15:29, STARS: 1
Nice!
It’s the American model though. All the other ones have headlights that fit the space available and also have orange rear indicators.
Meanwhile I’ve seen this:
"fintail" (fintail)
02/10/2017 at 15:30, STARS: 2
US car via the lights. No park bench bumpers until MY 1974, side markers for MY 1968 (the W113 was a 250SL that year). Pretty car, which has doubled in value this century.
"sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg)
02/10/2017 at 16:20, STARS: 0
Cool. Thanks. I found a bunch of pics of mid/late 60s 230's with the lame bumper bumpers, and the confirmed US ones I found all had side indicators. The internet is a vast, semi-reliable resource.
It’s still a beautiful car. It was in such great shape, too. I wanted to stick my head inside, but I couldn’t find the owner.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
02/10/2017 at 16:27, STARS: 0
With something like this, Benzes particularly, most Euro spec cars have glass headlight covers where a US model has 7" or 5" sealed beam, like this does. Also, US manufacturers tended to lead the mandates on safety gear by a few years, but imports very often held the line until it was absolutely necessary. Example: Land Rovers with clear front signals up until ‘67 (‘67 mandate, most US consent in ‘63), no side indicators until ‘67, and no seatbelts until ‘66.
I made a point to search ‘66 230SLs to confirm and eliminate any confusion on the side indicators and bumpers from later model years, and what I saw was consistent with this being US. Some variability on the rubber bumper cleats, but all with this bumper, etc. etc.
"sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg)
02/10/2017 at 21:03, STARS: 0
I’m not a headlight expert. The description I read made me think they were Euro, but after finding a confirmed pic of the Euro ones, it’s quite easy to see.