Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 3.5

• Originally owned by entertainer Danny La Rue

• Beautiful Mercedes Silver with Black Leather

• Owned by noted Mercedes specialist John Haynes for almost 20 years

• Equipped with its original Becker Europa Radio Desirable

• Always fastidiously maintained

• The highest trim level for the W109 S-Class with Air Suspension

• The finest example on the market

 The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has stood as the most famous and well-respected Executive Saloon that Europe and arguably the world has ever produced. For the original W108/109 Series, 300SEL marked the pinnacle of the range. The 300 was the highest trim level that stood above the 280, benefitting from advanced air suspension as opposed to the more pedestrian springs found on the 280. The L in SEL of course stood for LWB and it was the 300SEL that would form the basis for the world’s first “Super Saloon,” the legendary 300SEL 6.3 which itself helped spawn AMG and the illustrious history that followed. 

This stunning Mercedes Silver 300SEL with Black Leather interior was very near the top of the tree in 1971 being powered by the excellent Mercedes 3.5 Litre V8 and represented an astonishingly expensive car when new with the price being similar to that of a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. This was no ordinary car and a very rare sight on English roads in period, it took serious success to be able to afford one as was evidenced by this car’s original owner, “Entertainer of the Decade,” Danny La Rue. A serial car buyer, La Rue had a particular affinity for two brands, Rolls-Royce and Mercedes having also owned a Pagoda and a low-grille 280SE Coupe. As detailed in a newspaper article on file in which La Rue was reunited with his SEL over 20 years after he first bought it, the car certainly had star studded beginnings: “This car has taken me back and forth to places like the London Palladium and Buckingham Palace. There have been all sorts of interesting people in it, including Liberace, Judy Garland and dear old Betty Grable. It’s a real treat to see it again.” 

La Rue wasn’t to be the only notable owner as years later, it would find itself in the ownership of one of the UK’s leading Mercedes-Benz specialists, John Haynes. He owned the car for almost 20 years and during his ownership, the car was always fastidiously maintained. The car has a beautifully comprehensive history file that has decades worth of invoices and expenditure, as well as the aforementioned articles about Danny La Rue’s ownership and a letter by John Haynes, written to a subsequent owner in which he highly complimented the car, described the work he had done, ultimately stating that the car embodied “how a very good 300SEL 3.5 should perform and present.” 

These 300SEL 3.5s are truly phenomenal cars, amongst the best cars produced of their time and naturally remain a coveted model. Beyond their combination of great looks, excellent practicality and reliability, they are also very are, especially in the UK and in RHD. Currently, we do not know of another RHD 300SEL 3.5 for sale in the UK and you would be very hard pressed to find a better example with better history anywhere. Truly “Das Beste oder nichts.”

Now available for viewing at the DD Classics Dealership in London, please call 0208 878 33 55 to book an appointment.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the above information but errors may occur. Please check with a salesperson.