Weekly Motor Fix: 1970 Mercedes SL 280 Pagoda

24 May, 2016

This 1970 SL280 top-spec hardtop/soft-top (two-top) automatic (left-hand drive) convertible in the exceptionally rare and exquisitely beautiful Horizon Blue (with navy interior) is one of the finest examples you’ll find.

Most recently, this stunning work of road-going art has graced Canterbury’s roads, and wherever it goes its unmistakable shape and inherent elegance draws compliments like a magnet. The car’s owner, Tanya, has often been greeted with bunches of flowers left at the windscreen … one man even exclaiming, “A man would marry you for a car like that!” — and who can blame him? That man used to own one, and sold it — he knew all too well how special these treasures are.

‘Pagode’ (pagode is the correct German term for Pagoda), currently sports original Bundt alloys (available from 1969 as an option, and later these became very popular on many Mercedes-Benz models). Pagode also retains her original Horizon Blue–matching hubcaps, etc., and is complete with her original 1970 key, genuine Mercedes locking fuel cap, and vintage highly sought-after Becker Europa stereo. Pagode also has an immaculate navy soft-top, believed to have never been put up before last year, and the car has never been used on the road with the soft-top up.

This list simply goes on and on, all those little critical things that the in-the-know Pagoda collector looks for are here on this car in abundance. As only limited numbers were produced, and the SL280 twin-top is the acknowledged King of the Pagoda line-up, ‘Sweet Pagode’ — as she’s known locally — shines out as ‘the one’.

This car is currently for sale and expressions of interest, or for any further information, can be sent to [email protected].

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.