112 023 22 003061

Vehicle History:

Looks like this one has had a sad life late. Was advertised by the Beverly Hills Car Club (which is a business, not a club) in December 2011. It was also listed on eBay.

The eBay auction description was as follows:

1966 Mercedes Benz 300SE Cabriolet, very rare Right Hand Drive, same elderly gentleman owner in California for many years, missing engine and transmission.

Chassis # 112-023-22-003061

The car is located in beautiful Beverly Hills, CA. Please email or call with any questions! We also welcome all international buyers. We can help with shipping quotes and arrangements.

Pictures show it missing some major components like the engine, transmission and bonnet. Also is rusty, but being a RHD Cabriolet would still be worth restoring.

In August 2022 it surfaced again this time on eBay, listed as being located in New York, New York. Description read:

1962 Mercedes-Benz 300SE cabriolet right hand drive

This car was delivered new to Great Britain according to MB; I have a pdf copy of the datacard from them. It was originally 334 light blue with a gray leather interior (which you can see thru the wear spots-yes, that's the original Roser leather), had the M189.IV engine (189.985) with the 2-plunger injection pump and automatic transmission. This is a very rare car-only around 80 300SE cabriolets were built in right hand drive. Somehow it made its way to the United States, received a face lift (metallic red paint, professional dying of leather cream and red) and ended up in a body shop in California sometime in the 1980s where it stayed for many years, eventually losing its engine and transmission (and hood) and undergoing other alterations.

Looks like the car has 3 coats of exterior paint on it-original 334 blue, which you can see in several areas, then white, then the red which could be DB571 red metallic, but I haven't tested it. It also seems to be lacquer, which would be unusual today but not for the 1970s or 1980s. How do I know it's been languishing this long? The date codes on the tires (not to mention the structure-look at the pics) indicate 1980s vintage, and the tires are actually almost unworn; and, of course, the originality-the original leather and dash wood are in better condition than they would be if the car had been put into storage just a few years ago-in fact the springs and horsehair pads are still quite resilient, they do feel like the frame's only got 67k on it. Engine compartment and trunk have been oversprayed in black. As mentioned, leather is original but (professionally) dyed-I kind of like the color scheme. If you want to see what the original gray looked like the soft top well is undyed, see my YouTube slideshow or Dropbox pics-it was a dark gray, must've been rather hot. The dash face wood is original except for the ashtray, and the instrument binnacle and windshield bows were refinished (and again, not subject to sunlight very much afterward). Windshield side wood trims and center console tray are missing. Interior and exterior chrome generally has pimples on it to varying degrees. The soft top fabric is in very good condition inside and out, though the frame is a bit rickety but it is functional-the fabric was definitely replaced at some point while it was in that body shop. Looks like they also tried repairing the heating system (and failed), and the blower motor is missing. The center gauge pod has broken glass and is missing the rheostat, the circular gauges look good; mileage may very well be original, since it's been off the road since the 1980s.

Body sheetmetal varies depending on area. As noted above, I got the car without a hood and managed to find an early hood (different latch mechanism from the later type) which has a few areas of minor corrosion and a lot of surface rust but is amazingly the original color, DB334. The front crossbar is good on the left, a bit mangled in the center and on the right. The left inner wing and front drain area are significantly corroded (typical for these cars), the right front drain area somewhat corroded. Left outer rocker is largely corroded, and right front outer rocker has been collapsed (someone probably tried to jack the car in this area). There's some corrosion where the rear wheel wells meet the quarter panels, worse on the left. Both trunkwells have been repaired (another typical rust area) with nonoriginal parts, and there are also metal patches on the left rear framerail and corrosion on the rear panel at the left bottom. That said, the floors and inner rockers and framerails are original and sound, and the frame is structurally sound-I jacked the car up at several corners one corner at a time and checked the alignment of the doors by opening and closing them and they didn't change a bit, so the car needs rust repair and some of it is structural, but the basic structure is sound.

Though there are missing parts for this car, most of the RHD parts are there, as are almost all of the (non-engine) air suspension parts including all of the early-style valves (alcohol jar air filter is missing). Axles are original as well (note the pic of the hashmarks on the left upper inner), rear axle ratio is 4.10:1 (datacard is in error at 4.08:1); and the car still has it's original Dunlop disc brake calipers. I received a box of removed parts when I bought the car, which include the power steering reservoir, the air cleaner bottom, the right main horn, the suspension air tank, the brake booster, and the right ventilation duct. Missing parts include engine, (automatic) transmission, transmission mount bracket, 3rd horn (300 series cars had three 5" horns), glovebox and glovebox light, soft top courtesy light and grab handles, radio (although according to the farzeug-daten,the car didn't come from the factory with one), heater blower motor, windshield side wood trim and center wood console, and several pieces of chrome exterior window trim including the 3 pieces around the bottom of the soft top.

Here is a Youtube link from the same time: https://youtu.be/rBoamxUZBic

Dropbox pictures here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bxbs0344oz4cp9o/AABs3RDkirEiKyBEUFUd_C59a?dl=0