2000 SL600 "Black Beauty"

A little about this entry...
I found her in September of 2010 in Alabama she was left outside under a tree for a few years and was in poor cosmetic condition but was in perfect mechanical condition with under 36,000 miles. My son and I flew to Alabama and drove her home in a thunder storm. The next day my friend and I removed the hard top and discovered that the black soft top was spotted white from all the birds that roosted in the tree she sat under and the back window was all bumbled up. The previous owner was a pipe smoker and drove while smoking his pipe leaving burn holes in the carpet and on the switches on the console. Luckily there were no burns in the black Napa leather seat. The leather dash was dry and curling up from sitting in the sun for all those years. The paint had not seen any wax or polish in years with numerous dings and scratches. Under the hood the foam hood pad had disintegrated and was lying all over the engine that was also covered in about ¼ inch of Red Alabama Clay dust. What did I just buy came to my mind. But I had my first classic Mercedes roadster and I knew I could make her shine again! After spending the fall and winter of 2010 and spring of 2011 replacing the soft top, new tires, new carpeting, detailing the interior and exterior the list goes on she tuned into the “Black Beauty” I knew she could be.