1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE for sale $165,000

Introduced for 1970and#44; the Mercedes 280SE 3.5 Coupe was fitted with a powerful V-8 engine. Referred to as the engine of tomorrow by Mercedesand#44; they put much of their effort into making the engine both powerful and smooth. Featuring electronic fuel injection and transistorized ignitionand#44; the power output was a robust 230hp. And no American car of that time could match the new Mercedes mix of engineeringand#44; designand#44; performance and quality.

In a review of the car in the September 1970 issue of Car andamp; Driver they said Youd have to say that sustained high speeds are just about the name of the game with the Mercedes-Benz. We went out Interstate 80 a solid 20 milesand#44; and returnedand#44; and ran all the way flat-out (welland#44; maybe lifting just a touch for the longand#44; sweeping turns.) Zoom! Outand#44; and then (zoom!) back. and the car never gave any indication that it was doing anything strenuous. There was no rise in water temperature; no drop in oil pressure. That was a fairly convincing demonstration of high-speed capabilityand#44; with the speedometer (which proved to be quite accurate) reading up around 125–127 mph on the level. Impressiveand#44; tooand#44; for the quietness at those speeds .

Mercedes produced a total of only 3and#44;270 coupes and 1and#44;232 cabriolets of the 3.5 between 1969 and 1971. Other than the 600 Grand this was said to be Mercedes flagship modeland#44; made to compete with the Rolls Royce Corniche (and priced within $500). At around $14and#44;000 with options (almost everything came standard on the North American version)and#44; it was priced at almost twice that of a 280SL roadster. You really have to drive one of these unique cars to be able to describe the difference between the two.

This very original 52and#44;000 mile 3.5 coupe has the same beautiful color combination that was displayed in the sales brochure for the car in 1970and#44; dark red paint (542G) with cognac leather interior. And it is complimented with beautiful burlwood on the dash and A pillars.
The cognac leather interior is original and has the proper patina as one would expect on a car of this caliber. The chrome really tells the story of the car. (To re-plate chrome to look like this you would have to pay about $25and#44;000). Personallyand#44; I have never witnessed original chrome of this condition on any other 3.5.

The previous owner of this car had it in Arizona for approximately 15 yearsand#44; and it is believed to have been in a similar climate most of its life. I have had a few of these 3.5 coupes (including top award winners) and yet nothing quite compares to the way this car feels and drives.