‘Brand New’ 1996 Mercedes SL 500 heading for Coys Spring Classics

Coys Spring Classics auction this month features a 1996 Mercedes SL 500 which was parked up in London when its keys were lost and has done just 80 miles.

Classic car auctions often throw up interesting stories when the background of cars on offer are revealed, and this 1996 Mercedes SL 500 (R129) – not a car that has yet really become collectible – is just such a story.

Bought as a gift from Normand of Mayfair, the lucky lady recipient managed to lose her keys when  the car had done just 80 miles.

Unlike any normal, sane person – who would send a minion to the dealers to get new keys (or even do it themselves) – this lady simply left the car parked. For twenty years.

Coys are now offering this ‘preserved in aspic’ SL 500 at their Spring Classics auction this week – complete with a letter from the lady’s butler confirming the story – and are expecting it to get £45-50,000.

That’s ten times what it would probably be worth with the usual 100k plus miles on the clock, and if you want to sit on it for a generation or two – and not drive it – it might well be a good investment. But it’s definitely not a buy to drive.

Coys’ Chris Routledge said:

Had she not lost the keys and used it regularly, we estimate it would now be worth between £5,000 and £7,000, but the fact that it has kept such a low mileage and has not been driven in more than twenty years makes it worth between £45,000 and £55,000.

Other interesting stuff at the same auction includes a 1967 Aston Martin DB6, a 1972 Aston Martin DBS, a 1973 Aston Martin V8, a 1961 3.8 Flat Floor E-Type, a 1973 V12 E-Type Roadster (with just 2,500 miles) and a 1954 Jaguar XK120 DHC.

The 2017 Coys Spring Classic Auction is on Wednesday (12 April) at the RHS’s Lindley Hall in Victoria.