White Knight: 1985 Mercedes-Benz 380 SL R107

Tip from Jeff who writes: As a kid, I remember that my mother LOVED this things. One of my earlier car related memories is of her and I driving down the road in one while she euphorically chanted, "Oh my god! Oh my god!!" She was genuinely excited... about driving a car. Mom and I have too much water under the bridge nowadays, but I do love that about her. If I had this kind of "expendable change" lying around I would buy it for her.  Find this 1985 Mercedes-Benz 380 SL offered for $8995 in Houston, TX via craigslist.

Dog Leg Manual: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300SL

The R129 generation Mercedes SL convertible was built on a shortened version of the W124 E-Class sedan platform for a remarkably long 13 year model life from 1989-2002.  It was  available in the affordable inline-6 300SL, roarty 500SL V8 and nutty V-12 600SL - but if you want one with a clutch pedal, you'll have to go for the 300SL.  Find this 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300SL offered for $3,500 near Dallas, TX via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!

Collector Class: 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300SL

The R129 Mercedes-Benz SL roadster is destined to be a Pebble Beach concours classic in the future (when we have self-driving flying cars) and might be tempted to get a monster V12 version...but those were always mated to a recalcitrant slushbox...so you should consider a manual gearbox equipped inline-6 version. Find this 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300SL offered for $23,995 in SF Bay Area, CA. Tip from FuelTruck.

Euro Style R107: 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300SL

The R107 generation Mercedes-Benz two-seat drop-top mated the mechanical components of the W114 sedan with the engines from the W108.  This paradigm of reliability (yes K2, 80s Germans cars are reliable...ish) was packaged from 1971 through 1989 under one of the best looking bodies ever to come from Stuttgart any auto manufacturer. Even the post 1974 US market editions with cow-catcher bumpers looked good, but a Euro market slim bumper version with a manual gearbox for a few grand -- be still my beating heart!!  Find this 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300SL offered for $3,900 somewhere in Southern California via cars.com.  Tip from Steven.