I found a classic Mercedes behind a locked door! So of course I had to save it!! A very cool scriber contacted me about a 1980 Mercedes 450SLC that had been stored for years. He knew I was the only one who would save it. So a huge shout out to John from Oklahoma City for making this video possible. And a huge thanks to Randy and Nick at @AutoAuctionRebuilds for helping me get this car so we could begin the restoration!!
We Had To Break Into A Storage Facility To Buy A Rare Benz! Plus The Amazing Foxwell NT301 Scan Tool
A Mercedes-Benz enthusiast took his best friend on a road trip to buy a car. It was a car with a story. The grandsons of the owner are selling it, but they have to break into the storage space to set the car free. The SLC coupe hadn’t been driven in 15 years.
Mike, a.k.a. Monkey Wrench Mike, arrived at the storage space where the Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC is locked, accompanied by his good friend, Randy Sheer of Auto Auction Rebuilds, hoping to go home with the car on the trailer.
However, the ones selling the car needed to call someone to cut the lock on the garage door. Somebody must have changed it at some point, and they don’t have a key for the new lock. They are not thieves. They are the grandsons of the car’s owner.
The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC has been locked in there since 2020, but it hasn’t been driven for the past 15 years. It was acquired in 2011 and parked indefinitely. Their grandfather drove it home from the dealership, but it had a minor fuel leak. So, he parked it, planning to fix it one day, but he never drove it again.
The car spent five years in a garage, then was parked in grandpa’s driveway for five years. After the owner passed away, the grandsons decided to store it away in order to protect it from the elements. The last time it was registered was July 2012, which means it has been off the road for the past 14 years.
Their grandfather has a history with Mercedes-Benz cars. He owned one of the largest Mercedes used car dealerships in Michigan. He knew exactly what car was worth taking home. So he chose the 450 SLC, internally codenamed C107. The SLC is the four-seat coupe version of the R107 SL Roadster, featuring a longer wheelbase (14.2 inches or 36 centimeters over that of the roadster) than the open-top model.
The coupe was basically the model that filled the gap between the compact roadster and the brand’s four-door sedans. It comes with all the goodies of a coupe: no B-pillar, frameless windows, which was the next best thing to the wind-in-your-hair experience offered by the roadster.
It also featured a distinctive dome-shaped rear window and provided the comfort that only the sedans of the era could offer for long-distance driving. Besides, Mercedes-Benz fitted it with power windows, a sunroof, and a leather interior.
Under the hood of the coupe sits a 4.5-liter V8, producing 217 horsepower (220 metric horsepower) and 265 pound-feet (360 Newton meters) of torque. The coupe could accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 kph) in 8.5 seconds and max out at 134 mph (215 kph). It may not sound like much of a sports car, but the SLC was about comfort more than anything else.
Now, the grandsons broke into their own storage space, basically, because they are selling the car that their grandfather bought 15 years ago. After all those years in abandonment, it is covered in dust and grame and animal footprints are visible on the hood and windshield. The windows are so dirty that they have completely lost transparency.
The cabin looks frozen in time. A four-spoke steering wheel, the wood trim on the dashboard and center console, as well as the bucket seats wrapped in brown leather, have held up well over the years.
Mike and Randy pop the hood to see that everything is original in the engine bay, even though completely dead after so many years of storage. The two of them did bring a jump pack and a new battery, hoping they could fire it up.
The car is sitting on four flat tires, and one of them looks cut. Randy and Mike make a bet for $20. Randy swears the front driver’s side tire will hold air, while Mike is skeptical about its capability. Minutes later, Mike owes Randy $20. Randy trusted the good, old-school Michelin rubber.
They push the car right out into broad daylight for the first time since it was stored away. The original toolkit is still in the trunk. Randy uses the pliers to unstuck the fuel cap. A terrible smell comes out of the fuel tank. That is the smell of 15-year-old gas.
“Very familiar,” one of the grandsons’ jokes. No matter how much he rode in his granddad’s Benz, it surely didn’t smell anything like old gasoline. John, the one who orchestrated the sale, punches a hub cap back into its place. He is the one who called Mike after finding out about the Benz.
The buyer finds two notes in the back seat. One warns a certain Rob that “the starting system is touchy.” The second one says the battery was dead. “We had to jump it to start it,” the note reads.
It is not the first time the grandsons have tried to sell. Back in 2011, it was listed for $5,500, but it didn’t go anywhere, so they were stuck with a car that didn’t run and didn’t drive, and they were by no means interested in driving it. The grandfather had acquired the SL for $4,000. The price for the new purchase remains undisclosed.
Randy and Mike winch it up the trailer. Hours later, it is unloaded in Mike’s yard. It looks like a lot of work, but it will surely look way better after its first wash in 15 yeaers.
