I'm not sure if it is a 1980 or 1981 model.

Approx 1700 1980, and 2000 1981 (the 380SLC was only built for 2 years), cars were built worldwide (although they were not sold in Australia), so this is pretty rare.

The total production of Mercedes SL (convertible) and SLC (hardtop) cars was around 225,800 over the models production run between 1974 and 1989. The SLCs amounted to around 64,200 out of that total. The 380SLC is the third rarest SLC variant with around 3700 made, behind the 450SLC 5.0 with around 2700 made, and the 500SLC with around 1300 made.

This looks to be all original car with a rusty body in need of some tlc, and sound but worn mechanicals, so it will make a great useable project.

6th September 2008
THE FUN BEGINS!!

Half the fun of owning a classic car is finding out all about it, so here's what I've found out about this car in the first few months of ownership;

1. It is pretty much all factory standard and checking the VIN code reveals that the engine, interior, paint and options are all correct. The wheels are off a later model but I prefer these 15 inch wheels over the 14 inch that were standard so I'll be keeping it as is.

2. It has PLENTY of rust, (see the pictures below) but on the bright side it is not full of filler so I won't have too much trouble fixing it. It will need to be stripped back to a bare shell though, and I'll be spending a lot of time making up repair sections to suit. There is rust in all the usual places and a really annoying spot in an otherwise rust free boot (trunk for Americans). The floors are mostly ok except for the accelerator pedal mount which has been welded.
 

3. The rear window lamination has started to cloud, an expensive problem as it will probably mean I'll have to replace the whole window. At the moment though it is not a huge problem as it is not restricting my vision in any way, so does not affect the roadworthiness of the vehicle.

4. After driving it twice it refused to start. The culprit is the fuel pump relay which I have temporarily bypassed with a switch while I wait for a new one to come in. Not a huge problem but very annoying and typical of old electrics.

More to come.