1965 Mercedes 230SL Southern Car All Original In Dry Storage For 40 Years

1965 Mercedes 230SL

Unearthed after 40 years of sitting in a dark, dry, enclosed garage, this totally complete and very solid 230SL would represent a very viable restoration. With it's original engine, 4-speed manual gearbox, differential and rare White over Green color combination, this car stands out as a very interesting project.

This one owner 230SL was purchased new on Christmas Eve, 1965 in Nashville, Tennessee by a college professor who taught at Vanderbuilt. The professor accepted a position at the University of Georgia in Athens early in 1970. He and this car have been here ever since. The car was the professor’s pride and joy and he and his wife enjoyed it thoroughly, always being careful to properly maintain and pamper it. The professor’s wife, however, was not very good at maneuvering in tight spaces with the car and experienced a couple of parking lot scrapes. Then one day, in 1978, even though the professor’s wife had parked well away from other cars at the grocery store as instructed by her very patient husband, someone backed into the left front fender. The rear of the fender was damaged along with the front portion of the driver’s door. They had just had the car inspected for the following year’s driving. She cried all the way home, pulled the car in the garage and waited for her husband to get home to tell him. He took the news much better than expected and reassured her they would find someone to repair it. There was not a Mercedes dealer in Athens, Georgia at that time and good body shops were few and far between. Still, they felt they would find someone. In the meantime, since the Mercedes had accumulated 109,000 miles, they went ahead and bought another Mercedes for her to drive.

Time sped by and the 230SL’s repairs eventually got put on the back burner. The Professor and his wife’s jobs engulfed them and they had a small daughter to take up any spare time that could muster. The car just sat in the garage, gathering dust, boxes and anything else that could be piled on, only to be eventually forgotten.

Flash forward to January of 2018. The old couple had long since retired and their daughter had grown up and moved away. A fire ignited from a heater in an upstairs rear bedroom of their home. Luckily it was during the day and a neighbor saw the smoke and alerted them. The fire department arrived and saved the house, along with the 230SL lurking in the garage. Only part of the home was affected but they had to move out while repairs were effected. Given they are both in their 80’s now, they thought it best to move into an assisted living facility and sell their home when the repairs were made. This involved liquidating many years’ worth of accumulated material things, including their old friend the 230SL, which had been waiting patiently all these years for someone to save it.

The car is now in the care of Speedwell in Watkinsville and is being kept garaged until we find out who will be the car’s next caretaker. The original owner is hoping someone who can really appreciate this car’s classic lines will restore it and give it a new life. Given that we are a British Car restoration shop we have not pursued any repairs on the car. We put four good used tires on the car so it can be rolled around easily, gave it a bath and present it here to you on Ebay. We did temporarily remove the hardtop to take pictures of the soft top and top frame as well as pics of the top storage area. The mechanisms and latches for the top operation all worked well. All the glass is clear and in good condition. The windows wind up and down easily and the seat mechanisms all work well. The wiring is all intact as are all original switches and gauges.

The car does not run and will need to be collected with a trailer.

The body has very little rust. The floor pans are amazingly solid. The only rust we found is a little on the bottom of the storage compartments behind the seats and the bit you can see at the bottom of the rear fenders. The area under the spare and the trunk floor are very solid with just a bit of surface rust. If you go to Youtube and watch the video we have provided, you will see a link in the video’s description that goes to a Dropbox account which contains many more pictures of the car, including some of the above mentioned areas along with many of the underside. We were careful to photograph all the areas that would be of any concern to a potential purchaser. What you will see is an extremely solid and worthy car for restoration. Please let us know if you would like any other specific pictures via email.

The left front fender and driver’s door damage- The damage to the LF fender and left door did NOT affect the driver’s side “B” pillar as the door opens and closes easily and perfectly. This can be observed in the video.

Here is the Youtube video (Again, watch this on the Youtube site and you will see a link to MANY more pictures in the video’s description):

Lost 230SL - YouTube

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The car is complete, including the original Owner’s Manual, Service Booklet, Parts catalog and Service Policy (which, amazingly, still includes the original owner’s stamped service plates). The car will be sold with a Bill of Sale, Clean Title and current registration.

Shipping: Shipping is the responsibility of the winning bidder. Car must be picked up within two weeks of auction end. We have flexible hours for pick up and plenty of help on hand to assist in loading.

International shipping: The above applies, but in addition, we can offer transport via insured trailer to Port Charleston in South Carolina or Ports Brunswick or Savannah in Georgia for an additional cost. You will find us very communicative. We have all the car’s documents on premises and in order.