Mercedes R129 – buy them now

By 1980, many cars had became very shiny. Throughout the 1970s, a number of car makers, particularly in Japan and America, sought to distinguish their more upmarket models from the base models (and cars produced by rivals) by adding more chrome. The Japanese, in particular, looked at Mercedes-Benz, and others, with their big chrome grilles and other jewelery, and decided that adding more chrome would make their own cars appear more prestigious. With each succeeding model, some cars gathered chrome in much the same way that, as people get older, hair appears in places it never did before. Chrome sprouted around the windscreen frame, it grew around door frames. It spread in strips around the lights, both front and rear. It covered the door handles and lengths of it ran down the side of even modest cars. There were exceptions, such as the Range Rover, but there was as much chrome on some lowly Toyotas as there was on a top of the range Benz. Then along came Bruno Sacco’s masterstroke. In 1982, the chief stylist at Daimler-Benz released the Mercedes-Benz W201 which was known to the public as the Mercedes-Benz 190. Despite being the company’s entry-level model, here was an elegant, up-market and fashionable sedan that, aside from its traditional Mercedes Grille, had no chrome. With a single model release, Sacco succeeded in making the chrome-laden luxo-barges that nearly everyone else was producing look chintzy and very, very out of date.

Born in Italy in 1933, Sacco studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin before starting as a Daimler-Benz stylist in 1958. By the time he was chief stylist, Sacco was able to combine a thorough understanding of Mercedes tradition and culture with strong engineering training and an Italian eye for style. After a quarter of a century leading design at Mercedes he was proudest of the MB 190 (and it was a watershed). Another Sacco design that is well worth a look at is the W124 E-Class that was available from 1985 to 1995. In coupe form, it is very, very nice to look at, if more reassuring than inspiring as a driver’s car. However, I think the R129 Convertible (aka SL 500 or 500 SL) is his finest work. All Sacco’s cars managed to advance Mercedes styling considerably, but remained absolutely true to the heritage of the company. All his cars appear to have been engineered, not just styled. Yet all have that tailored elegant form that marks out the best handmade suits. The 500SL brought these features together in a two seater convertible that sat at the top of the company’s model hierarchy and reflected a heritage going back to the 1950s gullwing Mercedes.

The Mercedes-Benz SL 500

The R129 was, when released in 1989, a technological tour de force. As would be expected, it had an automatic softtop and ABS. However, it also had a hidden roll bar that would pop up in the event of a roll-over and a host of other features that are still to trickle down to ordinary cars, such as optional electronic control of the shock absorber’s damping rate. Like two door Range Rovers, the Benz had a seat frame that was strong enough to take seatbelt mountings. This meant that the belt always held you securely in the seat, wherever the seat was positioned. It also meant that the belt moved out of the way when the seat was folded forward.

Under the skin, the car had a sophisticated multi-link rear end and electric everything. Contemporary road-testers seemed overwhelmed by the technology, build quality and thorough engineering of the car, but found it a little stodgy to drive. It was no MX5. However, the big Benz convertible was a supremely comfortable, extremely safe and very stylish way to get about. The car weighed just under two tons (about the same as the aforementioned model Range Rover). Most contemporary articles pointed out that the weight of the car made a mockery of the “Super Light” that the SL in the car’s name stood for. Nonetheless, with 320 bhp and 347 ft lbs of torque the Benz was able to comfortably cover vast distances and deliver its occupants unruffled to their destination. As an example of the thoroughness of the car’s design (and with thanks to Ken Rockwell (KenRockwell.com) for pointing this out, there is a light switch on the inside of the boot. You can use this switch to turn off the light if you want to leave the boot open for an extended period. It automatically resets the next time the boot lid is closed. In many current cars, such a light will eventually go out of its own accord, but hats off to the thoroughness of Mercedes in the late 80s. The car’s boot, by the way, is large and is not compromised by the soft top being stored in there when it is lowered (unlike the BMW 3 Series, for example). Instead, the folding roof sits in its own space behind the cabin and is covered by a hard tonneau that automatically lifts to allow the roof to fold. The tonneau then automatically drops back in place to cover the folded roof and make everthing tidy. The roof is fully automatic. It is not even necessary to unlatch it from the windscreen header rail (as it still is in a Porsche Boxster, for example). Whether in this regard, the Benz gilded the lily a bit probably depends on your dexterity. Certainly, the soft top was well made, but early versions had only plastic rear windows that always look cheap and tend to scratch and age quickly in the sun. Personally, I would have happily unlatched my own roof in return for a glass rear window. Fortunately, later versions of the car came with a proper glass window in the soft top.

In addition to its folding fabric roof, the big Benz came with an aluminium hardtop that could be easily removed and left at home if the car’s soft top would suffice for your journey. Despite the challenge of storing it when not on the car, the added refinement and security of the hardtop was a nice option for some drivers. My MGF has a detacheable hardtop and I have not fitted it in years. I only fitted it back then because I had to park the car in the street overnight and was worried about some idiot slashing the roof. In the case of both the MGF and the SL 500, the hard roof makes a handsome coupe out of a roadster.

The SL 500 was usually offered as a large two-seater, but there was also a desirable, and very tight, rear seat option that gave the owner’s dog a more comfortable spot to sit and the ability to move small people a short distance if needed. The two and four seaters are otherwise identical and the rear seat can be retro-fitted to two seater versions.

Today, the R129 is a bargain and certainly a future classic. All previous Mercedes Benz SL cars have a strong following in the classic movement and the R129 will certainly have its day. Now that the cars are twenty years old, many potential owners are scared off by complexity and high dealer service costs. However, if you are prepared to do a bit yourself, have a friendly mechanic and appreciate fine engineering, an R129 is a future classic sitting at, or near, the bottom of its depreciation curve. Benz parts are not cheap, but these cars were (as Mercedes-Benz said themselves) over-engineered. By today’s standards, they are not overly complicated. Remember that in much of Europe, Mercedes cars make up the taxi fleets and accrue stellar mileages. There is no doubt the cars are properly built.

Another good thing about buying an SL is that there are plenty around that have been owned by people who have loved them and have lavished care (and expensive servicing) on their car. While buying any inexpertly lowered car with non-genuine wheels is always a huge mistake, to buy an SL 500 in that state is just madness. They cost too much to put right and there are enough nice cars out there to mean there is no reason to buy one that has been molested, thrashed or crashed. One thing to remember when hunting these cars on the web is to check both 500SL and SL500s. The nomenclature changed in 1994.  The car was updated in 1995 and ran until 2002.