Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster

Launched in 1955, the Mercedes-Benz 190SL was a beautifully refined cruiser aimed at the mere mortals who could not afford it's hyper-expensive race-bred sibling, the mighty 300SL, which it closely resembled. Sharing the same wheelbase as the 300, it also had similar double wishbone suspension at the front and swing axles at the rear. However, the 190 did not use the 300's purpose-built tubular spaceframe platform, but was instead built on the shortened monocoque platform of the 180 saloon, with aluminium doors, bonnet and boot-lid to save weight.

Power came from an all-new 1.9-litre overhead-cam straight-four producing around 110bhp that combined 100+mph performance with 25-30mpg economy. With a four-speed manual synchromesh gearbox, servo-assisted hydraulic drum brakes and excellent handling, the car was in a league of it's own when it came to refinement and build quality. Even today, a well-sorted example is one of those rare classics that you could hop into and drive to the heel of Italy with no fear of getting stranded on the way. In total around 25,800 examples were made before production came to an end in 1963, the vast majority in left-hand drive.

First registered in August 1956, this original right-hand drive car has clearly been restored at some point and is in reasonable condition throughout. We have briefly driven it around the Brightwells yard and it seems to be all in good working order. According to the V5C it has had just four keepers in all, the third of whom owned it from 1990 until 2007. The last MOT expired in April 2008 and the car was showing 10,570 miles on the clock when this was issued with no advisory notices required in April 2007.

This car is being sold here on behalf of a legal firm as part of some debt recovery proceedings. At the time of cataloguing we had not been able to examine much of the paperwork relating to this vehicle and prospective purchasers are invited to do so before they make their bids.