They were never cheaper: the Mercedes from the Baureihe R129, better known to the ordinary mortal as the SL-Class from 1989 to 2001.
The trade in this type of car has almost come to a standstill, which is strange because a better all-round coupé annex roadster is hard to find. The offer is therefore large and that translates into sympathetic prices. Can be driven hard with a hardtop, with a fully electric soft top very user-friendly as a lovely convertible. Well-documented copies are for sale from 15 grand and history tells us that that value will only increase over a period of five to ten years. So now is the perfect time to invest in an R129. My tips are: a SL 320 from after 1993 with a five-speed automatic or an early 500 SL eight-cylinder. Later copies are at a higher level in terms of driving experience, but the year of construction still plays a bit of tricks on you. Copies with a five-speed manual transmission drive fine, but are significantly cheaper. This also applies to an SL without air conditioning. And yes, there are. If that doesn't matter to you, you can have a car in competition condition from Germany for less than ten grand. Just so you know. Use it to your advantage.
Chris de Raaf.