Friday, July 01, 2022

Automotif CCCXVI...


Here's a tasty gray market mid/late-'70s 280SL in Signal Red.

Unlike most R107s, which featured V8 power, the 280SL sported a 182bhp 2.8L DOHC inline six. This one's got a manual transmission to boot. (Mercedes never offered the SL with a row-your-own gearbox on the US market.)

Even without reading the "280SL" badge on the decklid or peeking in to see the shifter, you can tell it's a euro-spec car by the aero headlamps and the svelte chrome bumpers rather than the NHTSA-compliant 5mph battering rams that disfigured the bow and stern of official U.S. market imports.