has anyone had a 450 sl
 

Hi folks,picked up a 78 450sl and wondered if anyone had any thoughts on the car good or bad.It's in great shape just not sure if it's a keeper.Thanks Marty

Yes. 77-79 were the best years. Bulletproof cars. Watch out for rust. Everything else is pretty simple.

Have a 1980 450SL, (last year), bought new. My Dad also bought a '76 new and kept it for 4 years. Those were the days when MB was the best car in the world, build quality-wise, hands down. The technology is ancient, (late '60s/early '70s development), but they are decent driving cars. Terrible gas mileage but fuel is cheap at the moment. Our 1980 calls for 87 octane in the owners manual. (8.5:1 CR).

Here it was last fall:

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1980 had significant engine/emission/injection changes, but was last of the 450's, as Denis points out. 1981 brought the troubled 380's. 1976 was the last year of the old-style injection, so '77-79 is what collectors seek out.

What are the colors? Any pics?

-Solid as a rock.
-Heavy as a rock. Not a nimble sports car.
-Great hiway cruisers.
-Highest quality car ever built.
-Sucks gas faster than a 747.
-Too bad they were never imported with a manual tranny. They're all slushboxes.

Drove my buddies for a week. I am 6'3" and I got tired of looking at the top of the windshield frame and visor. Nice cruiser, rivals any American v-8 for gas guzzling ability, not fast but not slow. always wanted one, now I can cross it off the list.

I'm 6'2" and I fit just fine. Are you sure you knew how to adjust the seat? (It's weird at first)

Car for Palm Spring socialites and MILF.

We have a '72. Right now it's a basket case, but back when the interior, paint and top were in better condition, it was a nice car.

Yes, i know how to adjust the seat, I have a real long torso I guess. If i owned it i probably would just ditch the visors, hell, its a convertible anyway

Deciding between a 450 and an SC, someone yelled:

"Dad, that is for old people!"


But then again, I would not mind owning a 450SL. They are classic.

No never had one but always liked those cars.
Figures our resident mr.Speeder would have one ;)

Congrats, I hope the car treats you well, enjoy!

Thanks, Rob. It's my Dad's car but he's 77 and rarely if ever drives it so he's sort of given it over to me. I doubt I'll ever sell it, (not worth much), so I'll probably have to leave it to someone when I die.

That was the day when men were men and cars were cars...

I've always liked the SL series (aesthetically) from the 60s to present for the most part. Nice looking cars. They always looked and sounded (5.0L V-8 some of them) like they should be fast, but never really heard about them being fast.

Thanks for the input everyone.
drove the car yesterday,motor sounds perfect,tranny had been rebuilt,interior perfect,body both above and below perfect,new top,but rattles and clunks like a tank from underneath.please advise.Marty

Were they available in Germany with a stick? 4 or 5 speed?

Yes, they were available in Germany with a manual tranny.

For several years, decades maybe, Mercedes decided it was not worth the hassle of getting DOT approval for manual trannys because Americans wouldn't buy them. The vast majority of cars sold in America are automatics.

The 230/250/280SL was available with a 4-speed. When the 450SL was introduced in 1972, it was only with an automatic.

It would not have been a hell of a lot sportier w/ a manual trans, IMO. They are cruisers. Not every machine is better w/ a stick, some just become tractors.

Point well taken.

i worked on Mercedes during that time. the engines were not bullet proof. the single row cam chains used to snap and ruin the engine. they upgraded the chain and sprockets to a double row. also the cat converters used to plug often. take off one of the valve covers and check for the upgrade.

I like the 86-89 560SL, nice cruiser, that at least finally had enough power to get out of it's own way.

You're thinking of the early 380's, not the 450's. I've never seen a 450 timing chain fail. But it was an epic problem of the 380's. The 500 went back to dual-row, and so it was a common retrofit to the 380's.

it's been a long time. you are correct it was the 380 model after the 450. my apology.

I bought an `85 380 SL for the wife (she wanted one) and frankly I'm not impressed. Drinks gas, poor acceleration, lousy handling. The car does look good.
RU saying it has single or double row timing chain? I noticed one valve cover is leaking. Is this an simple fix or does it involve more extensive removal of parts up front? (I've done my own brakes and do my own valve adjustments on the Carrera)
I apologize for the hijack but I've been meaning to ask this for some time

It was originally a single-row, but it may have been updated at some point. The valve cover is a simple fix (and you can then see clearly if it is single or double).

The 380 was unfortunately MB's solution to concerns over fuel consumption at the time. They made the engine a little weaker and eliminated one row of timing chain links as a weight saving measure. :rolleyes:

It's pretty pathetic to think of the state of auto engineering at the premier German car maker a few short years ago. It's also important to remember that fuel efficiency in their upper-market cars has always been unbelievably horrible. It's like they are intentionally trying to make them inefficient or something. And yes, it continues to this day. Rent a new S500 and do some hand-calculating if you don't believe me. We're talking big-block Chevy truck mileage.

They cater to folks who just don't care, or at least used to not care. The reason this bothers me is that they could task their engineers with designing a 400hp engine that gets great mileage if they wanted. They're supposed to be the best, right? :cool:

I've thought long and hard. Has MB ever produced a true sports car besides a 2-passenger convertible? Help remind me.

Sherwood

The Ace and Gary-mobile is pretty sporty.

http://www.mercedesbenzslr.info/imag...9_2007_amk.jpg

Hmmm. Thanks for the entries.

But I think more, "GT-ish".

I'll have to go back and rethink the term, "sports car" as it relates to MB. Sorry.

Sherwood

I owned a 73 450 SL. IMO the smaller bumpers and Euro headlights vastly transformed the cars appearance (and it lost a fair amount of weight in the process). It was not a sportscar, it had terrible recirculating ball steering but good handling, good brakes, adequate power, superb build quality and materials and was a joy on a nice Spring day.

There are fixes for the steering, aluminum hoods, other weight savers and of course plenty of handling and brake upgrades out there. I still wish I had her- but I say that about almost every car I ever owned.

what can you do to sport up the look a bit?Marty

I'm glad someone else had that thought about the SLR.:p

Mine.

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