Mercedes-Benz SL500

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

“Forget Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche. The most desirable car you can buy is the new Mercedes SL500.

Wherever you happen to be, no other car impresses most of the people most of the time. It's the one car the world over that says you've arrived before you even start your journey. So what’s it like to drive? Fantastic, obviously. A five-litre V8; 306bhp; 339lb/ft of torque; a silky but overrideable 5-speed automatic transmission. And probably more technology than a Space Shuttle.”

Introduced in 2002, the R230 version of the SL500 certainly impressed the road testers on the Honest John website. The best-looking SL since the legendary Gullwing of the 1950s, it could sprint to 60mph in just 6 seconds and on to a (limited) top speed of 155mph.

The power-operated aluminium folding roof was particularly admired and would disappear into the top of the boot at the press of a button in just 16 seconds, yet still leave enough room underneath for 206 litres of luggage space. Great to look at, even better to drive and costing over £70,000 new, it is a sure-fire classic of the future.

Dating from 2004, this silver SL500 has covered some 76,000 miles from new with five services to date. It has all the luxuries you would expect from this class of car including a full black leather interior with heated seats.

Said to be “in very good order throughout with no known faults”, it also has good tyres all round and is said to drive beautifully and to average 25mpg overall. Supplied with 10 months’ MOT, it is ready to enjoy right away and looks like a huge amount of car at the guide price suggested.

Don’t take our word for it: as Quentin Willson wrote of the R230 in the Mirror recently: “The fact that this is a car you could own for free makes it even more exciting. Buy it at the current insane book value and then next year you should be able to sell it easily for what you paid – as the market wakes up to the absurdity of how cheap these SLs have become.”

Please note the private plate shown is not included and will be replaced by an age-related number prior to the sale.