I have been watching quite a few reruns of game shows from the 1970s and ’80s this year. I have always enjoyed watching vintage television programs in some measure, but since I began working exclusively from home since the middle of this past March, I have tuned into the BUZZR game show cable channel even on my lunch breaks during the week to catch episodes of “Classic Concentration”, hosted by Alex Trebek. A major key to a contestant’s success on this show was the ability of short-term memory, in addition to a keen sense of phonetics.
Working in the insurance and financial field, I have utilized memorization quite often as a time saver and efficiency measure, and so I like to play along. Another favorite I like to watch is the Alan Ludden-hosted “Password Plus” which aired starting in the late-’70s. Words, grammar, and synonyms have long fascinated me, so CC readers of late may not be quite as able anymore to make as fun a drinking game of my prolific use of the word “actually”. I’m a work in progress.
Getting back to memorization, it has happened on a couple of occasions where I’ve recognized contestants from different, earlier game shows. It made me wonder it some have made this a side job of sorts. It was fun to recognize one contestant, a gentleman by the first name of Troy, appear on an episode of “Classic Concentration” about four years after he had won a small fortune on “Press Your Luck”. One lady named Chou Chou cleaned up on “Sale Of The Century” about eight years after she had appeared on “Password Plus”. It was interesting to see how the appearance of each of these two contestants had changed in the intervening years. Both Troy and Chou Chou appeared to have aged well by their later appearances, even as their hairstyles and manner of dress had been updated accordingly.
This started me thinking about ways in which I have changed since ten or even five years ago. Some users of social media participate in a voluntary “Throwback Thursday” game, where one posts a picture of himself or herself from a certain point in the past. I think it’s great fun, and during quarantine, posting my own flashback pictures has been a fun way to reflect on all the living I have done before the current set of pandemic-related challenges put the (hopefully temporary) kibosh on the Adventures Of Joe Dennis.
Our featured 380SL has not aged well, even if its basic styling still holds up. There was a certain decrepit, “Grey Gardens“-ian quality to this example’s rust, dents, missing bumper guards, and the like. This isn’t even the first R107 generation of SL in far-less-than-perfect condition that I’ve spotted in my neighborhood, having written about a 450SL a couple of years back. As with that other example, I wonder what paths this one has trod over the past forty years, as any SL was a high-buck vehicle long before a degree of disposability entered into the picture for modern luxury cars. Lasting quality seems to have taken a back seat to technological sophistication.
The U.S. market 380SL iteration of the R107 model introduced for ’71 appeared for model years 1981 through ’85, featuring a 3.8L V8 engine with 155 horsepower. This mill was a smaller version of the 231-horsepower 5.0L V8 available in the rest of the world starting in 1980. Apparently, and even by the tail end of the so-called malaise era, performance of the 380SL was so uninspiring to some (at about eleven seconds to sixty mph) that a substantial number of buyers resorted to importing the more powerful 500SLs. I suppose that if one could afford one of these cars in the first place ($39,000 translates to $116,000 dollars in 2020), one might have had extra cash reserves to bring a 500SL over from Europe, extralegally. I honestly don’t know how that process works, but have read this was legitimately the case with some examples.
To put the upper-echelon nature of this Mercedes into perspective, its as-new base price was more than the total, initial principal amount on my home, which is in a building that had been converted to condos around the time this car was new. The funny thing is that when I had first moved into my place, many of the common areas of my building, with their abundance of beveled, smoke-tinted glass, walls of mirrors, and brass accents, looked like they were straight out of 1981-era episodes of “The Jeffersons” – and I mean this in a good way. Subsequent attempts to modernize the overall look and feel of the inside of my building have been partially successful and aren’t embarrassing.
The way I look at it, though, one should either totally commit to a complete remodel, or simply deep-clean and refurbish what’s already there, since where style is concerned, what goes around often comes back around. What has been done to my condo building would be akin to adding big wheels and a monochromatic paint scheme to this 380SL to try to pass it off as a modern-esque car. No matter. I love where I live, I love George & Weezy, and I also like this Mercedes, imperfections and all. Total R107 series production from 1971 through ’89 totaled just over 237,000, of which about 45,000 were 380SLs from their five-year run. The potent 560SL featuring a 227-hp 5.5L V8 arrived in ’86 to the U.S., a market to which this powerplant was exclusive.
I’m trying to think of the most neutral way to express this, but this model seems, to me, to epitomize ’80s excess in a way few other cars of its era can. Super-expensive, powerful, imported, exclusive… the ultimate status symbol for someone who wanted more of everything. This is why the condition of this particular car seems like such a spectacular comedown, sitting parked on the curb apart from the other, more plebian vehicles, with its tri-star emblem looking like an upturned nose. There are few combinations sadder than bourgeois and busted.
I have wrestled with the idea of “more is better” as I seek to entertain myself with buying things while I wait out this current pandemic. While my finger itches over the “purchase” button on some website for a new-to-me item, I ask myself if the acquisition of a new toy will meaningly improve the quality of my life or prolong it in some way. Often times, the answer is “no”, but the fact remains that time will keep marching on, regardless of whatever else is going on in the world. Like this Mercedes, which was born in an era that seems to be remembered principally for its increased emphasis on consumerism, I might as well just keep on functioning, responsibly, as best I can.
Edgewater Glen, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, June 21, 2020.
Tragic condition for such a great car. Euro bumpers must have been retro fitted as why would anybody import a 380 not a 500SL. So cheap for a quality car in the UK as US imports list on the “Bay” for as little as 5 grand for a good one
I agree with you 100% on the bumpers. These do not appear to be true 5 mph examples. My parents owned 2 R107 vehicles, a 1976 and 1980 450SLC, which were known in slang terms as “venetian blind” coupes. This was due to the slats which were at the back of the rear seat windows.
My first instinct regarding those bumpers was that they were Euro spec. When I looked at other pictures of 380SLs, I tried to picture them without the bumper guards.
It does look like they had been replaced with European units on this example, upon closer inspection. It makes it just a little bit sadder that someone had cared enough at one point to make this cosmetic change earlier on in this car’s life.
In my mind the 1970s was the decade of these cars. By the 80s the young and hip were choosing BMW and maybe Audi while older or more traditional buyers chose these, in the way those people were lapping up Cadillacs in the early 70s.
Perhaps I am just projecting, but while I could have tossed around BMW specs with about anyone in 1985, I had no idea that the 3.8 on the back of these identified a V8 engine – these simply were not on my radar at all at the time.
These cars had an incredibly long model run, and today I like them for what they are, though I still have no real desire to own one. But make mine either an earlier 450 or a later 560 as a 3.8L V8 in a car of this class is just silly.
a 3.8L V8 in a car of this class is just silly.
In Europe the 280SL six cylinder was the best selling version.
Was the European version as expensive as these were over here? The US versions brought crazy money when these were new. I suspect this would tie into your piece about relative differences in markets. At selling prices and fuel prices in Europe, that 280 version surely made sense. But that combo here in the US really didn’t, except for maybe that brief time around 1981 when everyone was afraid that we were running out of gasoline.
That’s hard to answer because of exchange rate fluctuations. But I would say that given the still-lower incomes of Germans in the ’80s, a 280SL was at least as unaffordable as a 380SL was here.
SL’s were thick on the ground in many American cities where the more affluent tended to congregate. That was certainly not the case in Germany. Places like St. Tropez and Monte Carlo. But not in Munich or Stuttgart or such.
There’s crazy amounts of Americans with lots of money who didn’t blink an eyeball at the prices of these.
One more thing: the 3.8 V8 was a “CAFE/high gas prices special”. It was designed for maximum efficiency, as the 4.5 V8 was a gas hog, designed for a very different era.
The European market 3.8 had 218 hp! That was more than enough for brisk motoring.The US 3.8 was a dog, tuned for efficiency and low emissions. It also had a serious problem eating its single row timing chain, which was a black eye for MBZ.
The 4.2 that replaced it in 1986 was much better, with 201 hp. And by that time the 5.6 was available too, thanks to improved efficiency across the line.
The European 280SL had 185 hp, or 30hp more than the US market 380SL.
Thanks, Paul, for this perspective.
I think (but can’t find) that the 500 motor was the iron-block extension of the 450, and the 380 was the new all-alloy engine that came with the W126, so it was altogether lighter.
The Euro 2.8 and 3.8 were also running on leaded fuel, making a huge difference to output. The 4.2 and 5.6 were designed for unleaded, hence the much better performance once the US got them.
I seem to recall that that timing chain issue continued into the newer engines as time went on.
Justy Baum,
You are correct up to a point. Both smaller M116 and larger M117 were introduced in 1969 and 1971 respectively as the first V8 engines from Mercedes-Benz. The blocks were switched from iron to aluminium-silicon alloy with Nicasil coating in 1978 for W126 S-Class. Mercedes-Benz foolishingly used single row timing chain for aluminium-alloy block M116, which led to the serious issue and damaging reputation with the customers. Mercedes-Benz reverted to dual row timing chains for 1981.
These are beautiful cars but if you want one you better get the best example you can afford preferably one that was loved and well taken care of and if possible with the maintenance records…They made alot these and alot of them have survived and so they are easy to find but buyer beware as they can be very expensive unless you are able to do all the service/maintenance yourself…and even if you do the maintenance and upkeep yourself the parts which are readily available are also expensive…still all in all beautiful cars…in the 70s they were on almost every TV show…I wish there was one in my garage but I’ve already got several other old vehicles that I am supporting/wrenching on…
To me this SL has always been more about status than performance, given its anemic 0-60 time. While granted that its intended function was more grand tourer than sports car, the price of admission for such touring was hadrd to justify IMHO, unless the owner was trying to make a statement of sorts. My opinion; I could certainly be wrong.
Good on you to work on grammar and diction;attention to both these days is the mark of a gentleman.
This car reminds me of Hart to Hart, Dallas and my weird high school friend John. His father had a blond late 20’s ….shall we say….trophy wife. It was an odd household. She drove a lapis blue 380SL. She once gave me a ride home from his older high end neighborhood to my….well…just older neighborhood – top down, just gliding along. I can’t think of another car that would have suited her better.
Jeffery, your account of riding in your friend’s stepmom’s example seems pretty consistent with my own type of mental image of these cars.
“one might have had extra cash reserves to bring a 500SL over from Europe, extralegally.”
Joseph – this was not really illegal nor more costly. They were imported legally, converted (or not) to US standards and sold by specialty dealers. The 500SEC was also popular to import. Both SL & SEC came in with more horsepower, better looking bumpers (SL) and for much less money. In the early ’80s the D-Mark was weak and MBNA was gouging American buyers. So the market responded with “grey market” cars. At Houston these were even flown in on 747 freighters.
Of course American MB dealers would not work on these cars and good luck with any warranty issue. Different times.
Here’s one we found in a junkyard (an S-Class, not an SL) that was a gray market import.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/junkyard/junkyard-classic-1979-mercedes-280se-across-an-ocean-up-a-mile-and-forty-years-of-stories/
During this era, it was a big business. There were several gray market “dealers” in and near Beverly Hills where we lived at the tie that had showrooms, with a number of federalized cars awaiting buyers. I would say that up to some 20-25% of Mercedes sales were gray market during its peak.
Sometimes when I read Joe’s pieces, I find myself more entranced with the metaphor than the featured car…
I have an old VHS of the best of The Newlywed Game. I think an old girlfriend gave it to me for reasons I can’t now remember. I do remember watching it with her and trying to decide which couple best represented our own relationship. It was funny to see how much both the styles and relationship politics had changed between the ’70s and ’90s, which the featured tape covered. And it was also funny how easily you could see who wore the pants in the relationship from just a 30 second clip.
Still have the tape, but no VHS player. Would be fun to see it again someday.
In keeping with the throwback theme, this car makes me sad, but more for myself than for it.
This was my dream car as a 10 year old in the late 70’s. I had a much-loved Corgi model in metallic blue. I can remember when travelling to the more exclusive town where my grandparents lived I’d keep a sharp eye out for the real ones, since they weren’t seen in our more plebeian neck of the woods. The R107 SL’s still represent the pinnacle of success and solid understated elegance to me. At my current age I often cringe when the word “class” is used, as most often when anyone calls anything “classy” it comes off to me as anything but. These SL’s, however, will always be “classy” to me.
The appearance of this one gives me the same sad feeling that my American Dream has become a tarnished memory as so many other recent sights and events have left me feeling.
I’ll still always look forward to opening a Joe Dennis post here, but today I alomst kinda wish I hadn’t:(
MTN, this got me thinking. The R129, introduced in ’89, was the new SL when I was in high school. I remember thinking it was one of the most beautiful Mercedeses I had ever seen. I spent a couple of hours looking at a car magazine while on a bus trip up to northern Michigan reading about it, the ’75 LeSabre convertible, and a few other featured cars.
While I didn’t covet the new SL for when I would be an adult, I suppose that seeing one of those in the condition of our featured car might be akin to what you’re describing here.
I do also get what you’re saying about use of the words “class” and “classy”. Sometimes, there seems to be a thin line between “class” and “crass”, but I agree with you that these cars still have it at their core. Just not in this condition. 🙂
An interesting car that makes you wonder if it has had the same owner for a long time as it aged like any car that is driven and sees weather does or if it’s a more recent acquisition by someone that just needed (on the surface) cheap wheels but which will be discarded when something (anything) remotely expensive breaks.
At the end of the day it’s still about 40yrs old, and there really aren’t that many cars of that age still rolling about on a daily basis of any type, most older MBs that are, generally are not actual daily drivers anymore but stored in a garage and probably washed more than they are driven. So at least it’s being used for its intended purpose.
Jim, I agree with you that it is good that this car is being driven and getting someone around. That is a plus. Curbside Classics come in all shapes, sizes, and conditions.
R107s like this are littered throughout the greater Chicago area, when I was a kid I’d see them all over the north side of the city when we’d go there, or all over the fox valley with the stables along army trail road going to St Charles or Geneva, which also had a ton within. I never was much of a fan, the proportions with the short wheelbase aren’t flattering and a lot of the styling elements looked out of date in the 80s – much more W116 resemblance than W126. The demographic seemed like the same “look at me and my wealth” yuppie type buying G wagons today, and probably a lot of older current day G wagon owners had a R107 in the past too.
It’s a strange phenomenon in the US it seems, we are weened on Mercedes Benz as a status symbol brand, the idea of E class taxis in Europe is unthinkable and literally foreign to us, and the result is there’s a sort of reverence that keeps the old models alive in spite of beat up bodies, rust, very expensive repairs etc. They rarely hit that point where absolutely nobody wants them and end up in a junkyard unless there is clear physical damage that insurance determined a total loss, but especially the R107, which I’m not sure I have ever spotted in my 13 years I’ve been going to junkyards in the area. There’s an intrinsic appeal to them that I’m not sure even the people buying them understand anymore, other than it’s a Mercedes Benz convertible, and a classic, and pretty damn cheap now, even if they’re basket cases that status symbolism can’t be corroded away.
One thing I do like about these, and really by extension the era of the late 70s and 80s, the auxiliary fog lights with not a hint of seamless integration into the bodywork. Maybe it’s a bygone age nastalgia thing for me but that look where they’re just hanging out there makes them look more purposeful and echos the rally cars of the era, they looked more akin to a race intel mile a splitter or spoiler rather than this Integral part of the cars lighting system people misuse.
*Race item akin to a spoiler*
Stupid autocorrect! can’t edit my comment to fix
XR7Matt, it has also been my observation that the greater Chicago area has a larger concentration of these R107s (not that I have been anywhere too far outside my neighborhood since March). Maybe a couple of weeks after I had seen this one, I saw and photographed a pristine red one moving in traffic (with even more Euro-spec accoutrements). This white one made a much more interesting subject, to me, so that other one will remain on ice.
I also see what you’re saying about the visual effect of the separate fog lamps. You’ve sold that whole idea to me. I dig it.
I live in Rogers Park, and I saw what I believe to be this car turning left from devon to clark street going north. I remember it because of the missing trim by the driver’s side front wheel and the euro bumpers.
Is this what they call the curbside effect?
Ryan, that was absolutely the CC effect! Just yesterday evening, I went for a walk and saw this same car parked somewhere else nowhere near this spot. Another instance.
In fact, the whole business of “gray market” cars is what led to the current 25-year-old import rules we have today. At least, that’s how I remember it.
MBUSA was not happy about losing business to 3rd party importers. The simple solution would have been to directly import the cars the 3rd parties were importing, and offer them at official dealers with official warranties, but that wasn’t done and I think the reasons had to do with emissions and fuel economy.
So instead, MBUSA (and perhaps other official importers of European brands) lobbied lawmakers to change the rules so that cars could only be imported through official channels, unless they were 25+ years old. And here we are.
Evan, thank you (and Constellation, above) for this big of enlightenment about the process of bringing over the European models. I honestly didn’t know how that whole thing worked, nor that these cars acted as something of a catalyst for implementation of that 25+ year rule.
The ultimate symbol of the 1980’s. American Gigilo’s (1980) Julian Kaye drove one as an example of the era’s excesses. One cannot picture the character aging as gracefully as Richard Gere.
I saw two kids in their early 20’s happily driving a 380SL with the top down on Wilshire in Westwood last week. Like a lot of R107s in LA, it was in close to mint condition. All these decades later you still see a lot of these cars in SoCal, occasionally driven by original owners but more often by those who inherited (?) them. They bring up bittersweet memories. A good friend’s 560SL was sold a couple of years ago as Alzheimer’s has taken away her ability to function daily, let alone drive that beautiful caGreat piece,
Joseph, thank you, as always. I sometimes feel as if I’m right with you back in Chicago, a city at the top of my list when we can travel again.
Oops, the edit function really is missing today. Excuse the typos.
CA Guy, thank you. I had watched “American Gigolo” for the first time on a network channel / rerun movie probably at the beginning of the year, and I had forgotten that Julian Kaye drove one of these. Now I remember.
I’m guessing that lower prices for these make them affordable for many. That does make me smile that some 20-somethings were enjoying some top-down motoring in one of these.
Which years had the square headlamps?
I don’t think any of the U.S.-spec R107s ever had them.
These things were in decline upon release.
But they were Mercedes and fearsomely expensive and so no-one dared point out that these Emperors were quite ill-proportioned and heavy-faced clumps. They had chrome of questionable taste and a slight over-doneness of being, which, when combined with the brand and price and mushy handling, meant that they sold to the rich for years past replacement time.
The one you see here dishevelled in Chicago isn’t faded of glory, because it never had any. It had a badge and it had badge-seekers. There is no aging gracefully when there was none to begin with.
They were well-made with good engineering beneath, but they rusted as badly as anything else. Worse, in a way. Beyond the inevitable doors and sills and arches, they have a fatal flaw of rust deep in the firewall that needs hugely expensive rectification lest they fall in half.
Busted rich isn’t necessarily a sad sight: Europe specializes in it, the occupants of some magnificent palace living in the un-touristed (and unproductive) quarter of it amongst faded drapes and general deshabille, but still living gracefully in the faded splendour.
The busted late 20th century rich man’s trinket that is this car is less sad than it is secretly pleasing to see. Schadenfeude made wheeled, if you will.
There are different kinds of “busted rich”, I suppose. There are many grand, old structures in worn condition that maintain a certain kind of grandeur. I’ve seen this both in Europe and here in the U.S. This car was not that.
But, and again to Jim Klein’s point above, this car is clearly drivable and usable as an automobile, and could be in shape a lot worse.
This was the official ride of the ladies who lunch in the early ’80s. Today’s equivalent would be a Range Rover or Porsche Cayenne. I suggest anyone who is knocking Mercedes-Benz over the condition of this car should think about the current condition of the car they were driving in 1981. It’s close to forty years old and still registered, even though any mildly substantial repair would have exceeded the car’s value for the past fifteen years. Incidentally, anyone who believes Mercedes-Benz’ claims about all parts being available for all cars will be disabused quickly by R107 ownership. A 3D printer is required.
These things were the epitome of “shoving your money” in eveyone’s face. These were everywhere in the late 70’s and 80’s. My neighbor had one, he could clearly afford it as his family owned a local winery. Does anyone remember American Gigolo? I wished that I could have looked as good as Richard Gere. I remember back then when I was a lot younger and thinner. I had a couple of designer suits and sports coats. Oh to be in my 20’s again!
See my post above. Trust me, he still looks very fine today. His brother teaches at UCLA, my home for decades, and I’ve seen him here on occasion (as well as on screen). BTW, he and his brother are extraordinarily decent human beings as well.
Here’s the picture.
Sorry. I’m totally out of it this morning.
Speaking of movies, I nearly forgot this is the spitting image of what Sharon Stone had in Casino, Other than the 5mph bumpers (which full advantage was taken of!)
Casino and War of the Roses – movies in which nice cars become the victims of bad marriage break-ups☺
The longest running Mercedes model ever, still selling in big numbers when it was replaced. Designed specifically for the US market, so the design represents a German take on American taste, which judging by the sales they appear to have got spot on. Given bigger and bigger low compression V8s to cope with US emissions laws (the Euro versions are much better). Forever associated with Bobby Ewing.
Based on the W114/5 platform, which was pretty advanced for 1968. Excellent spares availability from Mercedes themselves, aftermarket producers in Germany and specialist dismantlers worldwide.
The bulkhead, as mentioned above, is the expensive rust trap. HVAC repairs require dashboard out. Engines last very well. The 380 had it’s single row timing chain redesigned to a double after two years. Even the single isn’t a problem if properly maintained.
LJKS really liked them. Now starting to be appreciated for their usual Mercedes virtues. A nicely restored 70s 450 is a very pleasant way to go classic car motoring. Really cheap, there’s two restored examples on ClassicCars for £25k. All originally supplied with a hardtop. The SLC was the most expensive car in the Mercedes range apart from the Pullman.
Not the prettiest Mercedes and some pretty dire 80s associations, but if you can get over that, a damn fine motor car.