Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

88 560sl Roadster - Tx Car With European Bumpers & Kinder Seat - Oldtimer on 2040-cars

Year:1988 Mileage:85728
Location:

Plano, Texas, United States

Plano, Texas, United States
Advertising:

I have decided to sell my beloved 560SL, affectionately named Helga.  She is one of the most reliable cars that I have ever owned.  She never failed and stranded me and she is a pleasure to ride.  I have owned her for the past 8 years and for the most part she lived a very sheltered life, always garaged with regular maintenance.

I will attempt to describe the particulars of the car to the best of my knowledge.  If I fail to mention a detail that you would like to know, please either call me or shoot me an email and I will reply as soon as I can.  

General history & pedigree of the car: I am the fourth owner.  I purchased it from a gentleman in Sunnyvale, TX, a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.  He purchased it from the second owner who was a friend of his.  The car was purchased at Park Place Mercedes-Benz in Dallas.  The odometer stands at 86,XXX right now, so it has been driven very little throughout the years.  Although, it has been a garage queen, I tried to drive it regularly to upkeep the rubber seals, tires and any other parts that age by just sitting in the garage.  

Mechanical condition & History: I am fairly knowledgeable in this circa Mercedeses so any maintenance needs were met swiftly and using a qualified mechanic.  The car was mechanically in excellent shape when I purchased it and it remains to be so today.  Regular maintenance (oil changes, spark plugs, air filter etc.) were done on time.  Specifically, the following was performed:
  1. Oil changes - I use Castrol GTX 20W50 on this car.  The engine tolerances at the time were not built for synthetic oil.  
  2. Transmission - Fluid and filter. 
  3. Brakes - Rotors and pads, brake fluid.
  4. Fuel System - Fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator
  5. Electrical systems -- nothing
  6. Steering system - steering gear box seals - read my rubber seal comment above, steering coupler - this actually is a culprit for the car to wander because of the play. Center link, tie rods
  7. A/C system - Compressor, dryer and expansion valve - A/C is a weak part of the car, center console pods - yes they do blow from the center.
  8. Heating system - Monovalve.
  9. Automatic climate control - whole module changed - I hate this part of the car just give me knobs to turn please.
  10. Coolant system -New hoses, new coolant reservoir, new water pump and thermostat with new belts.
  11. New muffler
  12. New tires
Mechanical Needs: Upper and lower ball joints need changing.  Nothing else is needed.  No leaks are detected on the car.

Body Condition & History: Being a Texas car, the car did not have a speck of rust at purchase and no rust since then.  Unfortunately, the old owner had difficulty putting the hard top and scratched the soft top cover and the sheet metal right before the trunk.  Also, the original soft top plastic windows were shot and yellowed out.  And...being a US spec car, it had the Panzer bumpers that US government regulations imposed on Mercedes-Benz.  The car was not designed with those ugly bumpers originally.  So, being picky, the following was performed:
  1. Body was taken to metal and painted with the original color (color code 9199 blauschwarz metallic) including the hard top.
  2. Soft top was changed - original soft top was black but I like the tan soft top color better.
  3. I found bumpers from a 1972 and voila....had European bumpers.
Body Needs: Over the years, we managed the put a couple of scratches on the new paint.  I tried to show these in the two pictures. These were entirely due to carelessness or limited space in the garage. Hence, the body is not perfect and it is not in showcase shape.

General Comments: The car has a hard top, which was painted at the time with the body.  It is in the shed and it is a nuisance to me.  I have never put it on so, please please don't ask me to put it on and shoot pictures.  When I bought the car, the only way to carry that monstrosity was to temporarily put it on.  I have to be honest.  The car looks real smart with the hard top on since the top still retains the old pagoda roof characteristics of the previous generation.  Having said that, it weighs a ton and a real back breaker.  In Texas, who needs a hard top?  Driving top down is the real pleasure of owning this car.  I even rarely put on the soft top.  I recommend you invest in a windbreaker to extend the season.  This is the device that you install right to the back of front seats that eliminates wind turbulence in the cabin.

Remember I was mentioning a qualified mechanic....the car is maintained by Don Boland of MB Haus.  When and if you are serious about purchasing this vehicle, I will provide you with his phone number and you can discuss the history and maintenance records of the car with him.  He always complains that I am too particular about things but gladly manages to charge me plenty and he is a terrific resource and mechanic for these cars.  He specializes in this belle epoque of Mercedes-Benz.  He is very honest and reliable.  If you are from the DFW area, and you are driving the old stuff, go to him and not the dealer.  Dealers don't know these cars in the US.  

This car was maintained very well and it is a teutonically robust pleasure mobile that feels so solid and well mannered that you will fall in love with it. German cars ain't Lexuses.  They have so much character and driving feel to them. I guarantee that you will have a permanent smile tatooed to your face driving my Helga.  

I hope I was able to describe the car to you.  If you have any questions, my cell phone number is 214-734-8031 and my email address is ntulmen@gmail.com.  If you need more pictures (I shot a ton but ebay only allows 24) or if you have any questions, please ask. If you are local, please come and take a look at it.  If you are in the Continental US, you can fly in and drive the car to your destination (we would have to put the hard top on it).  If you are a buyer from Europe, the car needs to be shipped to a port first and then shipped to a European port of entry.  I don't do this professionaly so we need to sort out the details at that time. Of course if you would like to have an inspection, then let me know and I will take the car to a place of your choice.   If you are a German speaker, my wife can communicate the details. Thanks for looking.




Auto Services in Texas

Z Rated Automotive Sales & Service ★★★★★

Used Car Dealers, Automobile Parts & Supplies, Automobile Accessories
Address: 316 County Road 266, Leander
Phone: (512) 355-3715

Xtreme Tinting & Alarms ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Window Tinting, Industrial Equipment & Supplies
Address: 6700 Louetta Rd, The-Woodlands
Phone: (866) 595-6470

Wayne`s World of Cars ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service
Address: 2124 Picadilly Dr, Leander
Phone: (512) 388-2052

Vaughan`s Auto Glass ★★★★★

Automobile Parts & Supplies, Glass-Auto, Plate, Window, Etc, Windshield Repair
Address: 6404 W Highway 80, Verhalen
Phone: (866) 595-6470

Vandergriff Honda ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, New Car Dealers, Used Car Dealers
Address: 1104 W Interstate 20, Kennedale
Phone: (877) 371-8471

Trade Lane Motors ★★★★★

Used Car Dealers
Address: 6375 Richmond Ave, Alief
Phone: (713) 782-1544

Auto blog

Mercedes raises the roof on new CLA Shooting Brake [UPDATE]

Tue, Nov 25 2014

UPDATE: As we feared, the CLA Shooting Brake is not currently slated for US availability. The text below has been adjusted accordingly. Of all the variants in Mercedes' smallest line, only one doesn't have a liftgate, and that's the CLA-Class. But don't worry, the German automaker is out to fix that too with the reveal of the new CLA Shooting Brake you see here. Based on the same platform that underpins the CLA four-door coupe, the A-Class hatchback, B-Class minivan and GLA crossover, the new Shooting Brake applies a similar formula we've already seen on the bigger CLS Shooting Brake but in a much smaller form – which is to say, it's a wagon, but a shapely one. The revised roofline means more headroom in the back seat and significantly more cargo capacity than the four-door's trunk. Mercedes will offer the CLA with a variety of engine choices, including a 2.1-liter turbodiesel with either 136 or 177 horsepower, a 1.6-liter four with 122, 156 or 211 horsepower. That last model will even be available with 4Matic all-wheel drive for those not enamored by the idea of a front-drive Benz, but the top of the range, of course, is the CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake that carries the same 2.0-liter turbo four – all 360 horsepower of it – as the four-door CLA45 as well as the A45 and GLA45. Driving once again to all four wheels, Daimler says it'll reach 62 in 4.7 seconds (even quicker than the crossover) and top out at the usual 155 miles per hour. Of course those options only apply to markets where the new Shooting Brake will be offered. And unfortunately, Mercedes-Benz USA confirmed to Autoblog that (like the CLS wagon) the CLA Shooting Brake won't be making the transatlantic voyage to US showrooms (where the E-Class is the only low-slung Benz wagon on offer). That leaves the four-door CLA and the GLA crossover still holding down the pint-sized fort for Mercedes. THE NEW MERCEDES-BENZ CLA SHOOTING BRAKE: SPACE FOR SOMETHING NEW Stuttgart. Breathtakingly sporty proportions and a powerfully dynamic design idiom with sensuously shaped surfaces already made the CLA unmistakable in its four-door Coupe guise. It is now followed by a further design icon, the CLA Shooting Brake, with a unique look all of its own. The lower overall height and the elongated coupe-style roof contour line, the low greenhouse and the sweep of the high beltline are the key design features of its distinctive profile.

Watch this perfectly nice Mercedes get crushed by a front-end loader

Mon, 25 Mar 2013

In a world where the YouTube hoax continues to thrive, it's hard to know what to think of this little vid, but here are the facts as we know them: a coupe that looks like a first-generation Mercedes-Benz CLK gets crushed by a giant front-end loader. There you have it.
Our questions arise in the aftermath - we know industrial resource machinery is heavy, but the Benz gets squashed so flat we wonder if someone's trying to play a joke on us. We hear that the white coupe may have been the heavy-equipment operator's foreman's car, but who knows? The on-camera interview seems awfully conveniently placed, yes? See for yourself in the video below and then leave us your thoughts in Comments.

Clark Gable's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing doesn't sell, then does sell for $1.85 million [UPDATE: w/video]

Sat, 19 Jan 2013

How much extra value does previous celebrity ownership add to of a car? Really, there's no way to know until the car in question hits the auction block and bidders start raising their hands. In the case of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing you see above, the celebrity owner is none other than Clark Gable, who purchased it new. After Gable's death in 1960, the car changed hands a few times before settling with Charles Wood in 1975.
A high-dollar restoration was performed in 1989, and period accessories added by Gable himself were kept in place, including the Rudge knock-off wheels and Nardi steering wheel. Any Mercedes-Benz 300SL is worth a big chunk of money. In the case of Clark Gable's old Gullwing, the bidding stalled at $1.9 million here at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. As one of the 5000-series cars, this 300SL carried a reserve, and a bit of after-the-fact dealmaking saw the car change hands for $1.85 million.
You can see our high-res image gallery above, and the car's official auction description below.