Should we get a Mercedes 450 SLC or do we go for a 500 SLC?

What are the odds? Not one but two factory Mercedes SLCs come up for sale at the Paris auctions next week. RM Sotheby’s has a 1979 Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0 on offer, whereas Artcurial sells a 1980 Mercedes 500 SLC. Basically, they are the same thing.

These are rare. Just seven factory cars came as Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0, which became the Mercedes SLC 500 in 1981. Of course, precise production numbers are hard to come by, especially when it concerns rally cars. Many of the factory cars were crushed after their career. So, rest assured, the chances of seeing a replica SLC far outnumber your chances of spotting the real deal.

Waxenberger

And the real deal is exactly what is coming to the Paris auctions. These SLCs – R107 should you speak Mercedes – were the sole motorsport representatives for the Mercedes factory throughout the seventies and the early eighties. Under Erich Waxenberger – our columnist Christian Geistdörfer can tell you some tales about him – Mercedes was fully focused on rallies, the tougher the better. Just like Toyota in those days, Mercedes had a taste for the African continent. The SLCs shone on the East African Safari rally, and on the Bandama rally in the Ivory Coast.

Waldegard

The one RM Sotheby’s has for sale, is the 1979 Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0, chassis number ‘836’. It came with the new 5-litre V8, with an auto box, a very rare thing for rally cars. This car debuted in the 1979 Bandama rally in the hands of rally-ace Björn Waldegard, co-driven by Hans Thorszelius. Waldegard drove start number 4 to second place in the Ivory Coast rally, thus forming a part of an incredible Mercedes 1-2-3-4.

In 1980, Vic Preston drove this car in the Safari Rally, finishing third. In 1982, a Belgian enthusiast bought it, only to sell it in 1984 to doctor Peter Lorenz in Koblenz, Germany. He held on to the car for a number of years and had it restored. More owners came and went, but all made sure they kept the car pristine. Given its rarity, an estimate of 800,000 to 1.1 million euros might not be so odd.

Homologation model

It will not come as a surprise that the other car, with Artcurial, is priced almost exactly the same. Well, Artcurial has hopes this can climb to 1.2 million euros, and there is a reason for that. This car is chassis 628 and started life as a factory Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0 as well. Vic Preston used this chassis as his recce car for the Bandama rally in 1979 and the Safari as well. But then, as many of the 450s went into the crusher, 628 was saved and served as homologation basis for the new Mercedes 500 SLC. After that, Mercedes used it as a reserve car for rallies in 1980, for both Waldegard and Preston notably.

Fully original

Mercedes kept this car for a long time but decided to sell it in 2005 to Claude Ruiz Picasso. In 2019, it moved to a Belgian collection. It is still fully original to this day, according to Artcurial’s description.

The RM Sotheby’s auction in Paris takes place on February 1^st. Artcurial’s Rétromobile auction runs on two days – February 3 – 4 – with this car coming up on the block on day two.