Looks so much better than any Mercedes made today

Having spent 50 years of my life with a 65' 230SL as an integral part of my life, I can speak glowingly about them. My father purchased ours Jan 31st 1967, for $3450, 87 days before I was born. Ours was the 4-speed manual and having driven both auto and manuals, I can say definitively, you want the manual in the 63-67 early cars. (The auto is more appropriate in the fatter 280SL's)  The very definition of the term "sports car" is any 2-seat convertible with a "sporting pretence", the W113 Pagoda really should not be considered a sports car. It is more of a car for the sporting gentleman and I think that is why they are so timeless. Unlike other sports cars of the '60s (E-Type, Corvette etc...), the Pagoda was never trying to keep pace with the competition. While those other vehicles chased horsepower and styling trends, the Pagoda stayed in itsown category, a category that it alone created. What the Pagoda is is high brow. No other car has ever matched it because almost no manufacturer has ever attempted to do so. (Lexus tried with the SC430 and failed miserably.). The W113 is also supremely usable being arguably the first "modern" car. When you drive one of these today, they drive surprisingly modern. They feel current. They don't feel "old".  They have a large trunk (boot), are easier to work on than Jack is suggesting, In parts are not as expensive as stated in this video, you just have to know where to find them. (eBay can be your friend). But the best thing about the Pagoda is it dead nuts reliability. Once you sort one of these out, they just run forever. We put 184,000mi on ours over 50 years and it never, not once, left us stranded.

I was 17 in 1985 and my mum suggested I save to buy a pagoda, she'd always loved them........should always listen to your mum.

Back then, and for the next 20 years - Mercedes were pure class - Now, especially the last 10 years - there's absolutely nothing I admire or aspire about them whatsoever. Pure crass.

What a beautiful car. I’d rather have one of those than any super car

Back when Mercedes Engineers engineered the cars - Not accountants engineering them.

Wow, the Pagoda is one of those cars where the price actually makes sense once you hear the history.

As a schoolboy in the early 60s in Nairobi, I remember one of my fellow pupil's mother turning up one afternoon in a white Pagoda just like the one in the video. As this would have been somewhere between 1963 and 1966, I guess it would have been the 230SL, but wouldn't swear to that. However, its beautiful lines did not go unnoticed among most of the school cohort who were extremely envious of the schoolboy concerned, me included. The name of the lad was Nick Cardwell, and his mother was the well known local rally driver, Lucille Cardwell, who drove for Mercedes in several East African Safari Rallies of the time.

Paul Bracq should have gotten a Nobel Prize for his designs including this ol gal.

@2:45 - 'Two cars for the price of.......well......two cars'.
hahahaha Cheers Jack - I just sprayed beer all over my laptop screen.
And it's coming out of my nose, too, god damn it!
Heh!
🤣

You get two cars for the price of two cars! Brilliant... I'll take two please...

Without a doubt an icon and worthy of being featured on this great channel, thank you for that! The reason why the 250 SL was only built for a short time can be found on the German-language wkpd page, but not on the English-language one, so I'll translate it: "In December 1966, the 250 SL followed with the M 129 engine. The engine and brakes are slightly modified versions of those in the 250 SE. The stated power output corresponds to that of the 230 SL, but at the same speed (4200 rpm) a significantly higher torque of 216 Nm is achieved, which primarily results in improved acceleration. However, the engine is heat-critical due to the paired cylinder arrangement, as in the saloons and large coupés and convertibles. With the 250 engine size, the concept of paired cylinders had reached its limits. Due to their production period of only a little over a year, the 250 SLs are the rarest examples of the W 113 series."

”Two cars for the price of two cars” 😂👍

I can remember a very spoiled daughter of a French countess being given one of these on her 18th birthday in 1963. It was a good accessorie to go with her Rolex and much older playboy lover. They were all on a different planet to me as a young boy. Beautiful though.

Just  LOVE these Pagodas.....I remember visiting a small storefront 3 car showroom Mercedes had opened in  South Orange NJ. Being 16 I finally summoned the courage to go in. The cars were gorgeous -the chrome, the fit, the finish, the paint - you could tell the quality was amazing. And so was the MSRP sticker price. $15,000...a Cadillac was $7000 and a very nice 4 bedroom house could be had for under $30,000. I wondered who could ever justify that price for a car, and yet in 2026 just look at the crap we gladly fork over $60,000+ for.

The parts are expensive but Mercedes support them properly,  nothing seems to be unobtainable.
A forever classic.
I know someone who restores them , nut and bolt restoration ( what other car has a chrome radiator reservoir tank?) ,Eastern Europe and the Balkans are cheaper for restoration.

I got to drive my mother's 230SL a fair bit back in the early 70s.  Lovely car - it's still on the road today.

It was probably about 1970/71 when a school chum showed up at my home  in his dad's 250SL. Yes, this car. He wouldn't let me drive it, well being terrified something might happen to a car he wasn't supposed to be driving at all  let alone allowing a friend to get his hands on it. But we did go for a spin. I still remember it quite vividly. When Tom put his foot into it it literally rushed forward as if it were some wild jungle cat sinking it's claws into the earth and not lifting its'  nose as cars of the time were wont to do, but rising up and leaping into the air. It really impressed me. Now, convinced by my still newish bride to live a little and well into my retirement I finally got my Mercedes,  a E350 Cabrio. Beautiful car with everything, but given the chance I would gladly swap it for that old 250SL. A magnificent car and a wonderful memory of that summer ride we took.

Good friend of mine (proprietor of a bar/nightclub where I was DJ)... had a red 230 SL... and after hours we'd take off downtown club hopping. It was mid 80s, and my introduction to WHY these are so desirable.

Believe me when I say the 230, 250, and 280 SLs became my favourite "vintage" sports cars.

Indeed... more of a sports car than the (later) GT SLs. 👊🏾

I was lucky boy still Cannot believe I was driving my 1st Pagoda  18 years old my father promise me one if I won the boxing championships of Great Britain I didn’t believe him, but I did go to win competition my dad and my mum was so proud of me within a few days they came back with a Pagoda. I was absolutely shell shocked.. I was always mad about these cars from back in a day I used to watch them go by in Knightsbridge FULHAM Kings Road Hampton Court Maida Vale, Warwick Avenue, Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove, Holland Park Chiswick I knew  exactly where these cars were driving around people used to go crazy over them and still do today. There’s something very unique about this because they came from the family as the GULLWING and Riadster 190SL they was not built by machine needs were done by hand. Yes I remember the doors and he bought it in the boot with aluminium. Had that unique sound when you shut the door in the boot so so well built it’s absolute class and a funny thing is at the time when my dad bought me the car he was actually driving an Series 1 Etype Roadster. Yes, they are chalk and cheese, the JAGUAR drives nothing like Pagoda reason why you could buy 2  JAGUAR E for 1 Pagoda the engineering was Street streets above. I fell in love with a car for years and years so much people near me through the car I ended up selling. 230 after eight years I then went on and bought a 1969 280. Which I think I kept for 12 years I’ve had many beautiful cars porsche 911s etc but nothing ever could turn heads and drive Women mad like the Pagoda SL No way ever.
I’m definitely going to treat myself to another-one sometime later in the year 100%