After a few days dealing with a few advertising jobs and some artistic activities. I breathe and stop. This week a neighbor who has a classic car restoration workshop has finished a Pagoda 280 SL after 1 year.
Without a doubt a very nice car and I had the opportunity to see it when I was just starting the project. The car arrived in very poor condition, the body was very rusty due to poor care for years, except for the interior part that received a restoration treatment but most of its parts including radio, air conditioning, speedometer, rev counter among others that They were in perfect condition.
This car is a convertible but I was only able to see it with its hardtop. Since removing the roof means an entire operation and puts the work just done at risk. This version is 4-speed and maintains many of the functions that were developed at that time such as a semi-tilt axle rear suspension, disc brakes on all 4 wheels, and that was quite advanced for a time when most cars had disc brakes. drum.
Here in Venezuela it is not very common to see this type of vehicles, especially because there is not really a culture of maintenance, much less restoration. Even so, in the area where I live there are at least 3 places where they restore classic cars. And yes, despite the fact that Venezuela is a country with high inflation, this sector remains and I sense that in the coming years it will open up more opportunities for this sector to grow.
Among the details that most fascinated me about this classic are its chrome accessories, in addition to the wooden details and the good adaptation of the upholstery. In order to restore this classic it was necessary to bring parts from the United States and Germany, especially to assemble the engine and the parts that were lost in a transfer to a previous workshop where the restoration failed.
The advantage I have is that my neighbor will continue to grow and I will be able to bring more cars to show in future posts. I made a video for Instagram on request to show the best of this beautiful pagoda that, at 55 years old, looks like it just left the Mercedes Benz assembly factory.
