Fantasy Junction

Description

1957 Mercedes-Benz 190SL
s/n 1210407501905, engine no. 1219217501936
White with Grey Interior

Introduced at the 1954 New York Auto Show in prototype form (alongside the 300SL Gullwing), the 190SL was a glamorous yet affordable way to enjoy Mercedes quality and robustness in an open air form. Like many other contemporary European sports cars (most notably the Porsche Speedster), the arrival of the 190SL in the United States owed much to Max Hoffman, the contemporary US distributor for many European car companies, including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, MG, and Triumph. Priced at around $4000, the 190SL was slightly more than half the price of the 300SL, and consequently, nearly 26,000 examples were built between 1955 and 1963, compared to about 1800 300SL Roadsters. Therefore, today, the 190SL remains a considerably more affordable and easier to live with (but in many ways, equally striking and pretty) car than the 300SL thanks to superior parts availability and more simple mechanicals.

This particular example has been with the same owner for 30 years and believed to have been in California from new. Its most recent owner believes he is the second owner. It is a matching-numbers car with hard top that was sold new in Southern California and has been comprehensively restored to high standards. The restoration was done in 2001, and included bare metal respray, mechanical components, new chrome, new interior and top, and restored radio. A copy of the original data card confirms the car’s original color combination of white with light grey interior, although the car originally had black hubcaps and hard top. The owner of the car was very active in the 190SL owner’s group and even hosted the 2004 club concours in 2004. In more recent use, the car has been used minimally and recently underwent a recommissioning at Mercedes expert Import Motors in Oakland, California.

The car is in excellent condition with high quality paint over straight panels. The gaps are good and the overall presentation is of a nicely restored and crisply presented car. There is one scuff and minor dent on the right front fender. The chrome is in good shape, with minor aging but strong overall presentation. The glass and lights are excellent. The soft top is in excellent shape.

The interior is also in excellent shape, with high quality materials and workmanship throughout. The leather seats are in excellent shape as are the correct square weave carpets. The dashboard top was retrimmed in matching grey leather, and the dashboard restored. The instruments are in very good shape, as is the remainder of the dashboard. The ivory colored steering wheel and vintage Blaupunkt radio is in excellent shape as well.

The engine compartment is clean and nicely detailed, having been cosmetically restored during the restoration. Aside from some cracks to the rubber grommets through which the hot air passes through the firewall from the heater boxes to the interior, there are very few signs of wear or aging since the restoration was completed. The trunk was also restored, although it has a non original trunk mat. The jack is present.

This is an excellent opportunity to acquire a nicely restored and recently serviced 190SL with matching numbers. Coming from 30 years of ownership with the same California owner, this car was restored in its original color combination, and is believed to have three owners from new. It is a high end driver that is complete with its Classic Center Zertifikat, copy of its original data card, hard top, and service records.

The above vehicle information is complete and accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time it is posted to this website. Corrections or additional information is always appreciated. All advertised prices exclude government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document preparation charge, and any emission testing charge. Vehicles are subject to prior sale. All advertised to be true but not guaranteed. We assume no liability for errors or omissions.

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Fantasy Junction  •  510-653-7555  •  1145 Park Ave, Emeryville, CA 94608