One of the greatest cars ever made, and certainly one of the easiest classics to restore is the 6 cylinder, Mercedes 230-280SL Roadster series. Mass produced as a follow up to the 190SL, today these cars are considered undervalued and superb cars to own and drive. Produced on an assembly line, the car had more of a hand built quality. Chrome on brass trim, 24lbs of undercoating, wood/leather interior appointments, aluminum doors-bonnet-trunk, painted hubcaps showing the Mercedes star, a neatly fitted hideaway Happich soft-top, detachable hard-top, fully independent suspension and reliable Bosch fuel injection, made this a truly remarkable automobile. This 1965 230 Super Light was restored in 1998. Originally it was worth $6,500 new (at a time when you could buy a slightly used 300SL for $1,000 less!) This car was found in St. Catherines, Ontario. It had been stored in a barn for almost nine years and was in poor condition. The rear sills had rusted out, the vinyl interior was shot, suspension, radiator and exhaust-shot, only one front brake worked, 5 paint jobs had to be removed, the chrome was pitted, the soft top eaten by mice - well, you get the idea. Luckily, the engine and the fuel injection was in reasonable condition. I searched for parts suppliers and came up with several reliable ones. Most offered OEM parts with few pieces needing remanufacturing. They made approximately 25,000 230's. As there are still many on the road, there are several parts suppliers competing for this market. The restoration took about 6 months. First the sills and metal up to the engine compartment was replaced ($1,850). Compression was good, so we went about cleaning the injectors, installing new hoses, rebuilding the alternator, replacing the radiator with one that was 130% improved, replaced gaskets, tie rods and shocks. The break cylinder was pitted causing fade under quick consecutive use. This wasn't too serious so we moved on. There was a brass pre-heating device on the intake manifold aft of the air filter that was disabled. Since the car would not be driven in the winter, this too was ignored. The fact that the windshield reservoir holds about 4 cups of fluid and the heater fan has miniscule power suggests that only winter driving in Florida is appropriate. The mechanic found a 304 stainless steel exhaust system through Time Valve Inc. in the southern US. It has a nice throaty sound and we don't have to worry about moisture remaining in the pipes during winter storage. This cost about $850 up to the headers. After a few more probs with the fuel pump and a leaking rear differential, it was time to move on to the coach work and interior. The tab for all mechanicals was about $8,000 in parts and labour. I new right from the start that red was not my color, and as it turns out, not this cars original color either! When the first five coats of paint were removed (including lime green), we found white to go with the original tan vinyl interior. I chose a Mercedes dark green from 1966 to replace it. I also selected an Mercedes-original interior color, parchment, and upgraded the worn vinyl with new Hirsch leather hides. With the car in stripped condition, the bumpers headed for the plating shop. I think these guys must all meet for coffee, because their prices were all identically high! $800 for the front bumper and a few knickknacks. A rush job is 2 months, so I gave them 3 months while the interior leather and bodywork progressed. There wasn't an OEM carpet color that worked with the new color scheme to my satisfaction, so I used the old set as a template and cut a new one out of tan sisal nylon loop carpet. So far this has had mixed results as it doesn't wear as well as the wool. The leather fared better, after trying various under padding. It is a big job fitting the door skins and dash pieces. All were originally done by hand, each numbered for convenience. We used the original skins again as templates. As an added touch, I even replaced the fabric circled horn rim on the oversized ivory steering wheel. The wood trim on the dash and the box between the seats took many months to refurbish. Probably because I had very little experience working with veneer. Contacting a rare wood supplier in Toronto, I purchased several sheets of Mahogany. After stripping off the old veneer, I discovered the challenge of gluing uneven rounded surfaces without splintering the wood. A full set of mini-clamps proved invaluable. With the seats, rubber seals, carpet, leather and wood trim installed, the final task was installing the new Happich soft top. I learned that if you err from the instructions, certain doom will be levied upon you. Several tries were necessary before committing myself to the contact cement. As you can see, the $23,000 spent on the renovation was worth it. And on a warm summer's day, top-down motoring in the SL is an indescribable convergence of automotive history, sex appeal and sporty driving pleasure all rolled into one.