1982 Mercedes 380SEL Sedan - 2 Owner - 86,569 miles

1982 Mercedes-Benz 380SEL Sedan, Black with matching black interior, 86,596 miles, 2 owner

I am putting up my 1982 Mercedes 380SEL for a 10 day no reserve auction, I have had the car for a little over 2 years now and it is time to sell it so that I can move on to something else or put some money towards one of my projects.

I had the opportunity to buy this car when unfortunately the marriage of a couple here in my home town Sioux Falls, SD did not work out. They were in the process of getting a divorce and part of the stipulation was that most of their joint assets had to be sold to work out the distribution of ownership. The husband, who had an interesting history of being a decorated pilot, and the first person to land a Boeing 747 in Minneapolis/ St. Paul airport when they first came out, had a small collection of cars, fire engines, and military vehicles that had to be sold as part of the negotiations. My long time friend and mechanic to all of my classic cars knew the couple and informed me about it as he knew I had a small collection of cars myself.

He did not want to have to have all of his vehicles go to auction so I had the opportunity to look over his collection to see if I was interested in any of his vehicles. While I am not so interested in commercial vehicles or military rigs, he did have two 1982 Mercedes 380sel’s sitting under his storage lifts. From what I gathered, he purchased both of the cars after years as a pilot as a present to himself and his wife, one for each of them. The car I purchased was the one belonging to his wife.

As you can see in the pictures, the car is in wonderful shape. When I purchased the car, it had been sitting for over 5 years so I had my mechanic go through it and fully service it, clean it, detail it, and make sure everything was working as it should. The car starts and drives great, and goes down the road without any problems. The paint is in very good condition as well as the interior. However, you can see that the driver seat has some very minimal fading on the outside bolster, and some small stress lines where the dye has worn away towards the front of the seat. They are both minor and could easily be addressed by a vinyl repair shop in a few minutes if you’d like to have it fixed. One of the only other small areas is on the inside of the rear passenger door you can see the small trim piece between the window has warped a small amount. That could also probably be taken care of by any reputable vinyl repair shop or service.

Other than those minor cosmetic flaws (which is pretty common from what I have seen on these old mercs) the car doesn’t need any other attention for you to drive it and enjoy it. I also have all the paper work to go along with this car from new, including the books, manuals, title work, service records, inspection sheets, etc. These older Mercedes from the late 70’s-80’s are getting some what hard to find in good low mile condition, especially with a known history and paperwork to back it up. I’m confident that whoever ends up with this car will enjoy it, and be pleased with how well its been preserved over the years.

It is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I can keep it for a couple weeks or a month after the auction if you are distant and need some time to organize a shipper or plan logistics, I have no problem with that. I know a couple truckers I have used in the past for my cars, so if you’d need assistance with that I could help arrange it too, or at least help you find someone if you’d like. Message me with any questions about the car, if you’d like to talk on the phone, if you’d like to have it inspected, or come see it yourself. I’d be happy to answer any questions!