You will feel the entire spirit of the times – that emotive and pivotal year of 1967 – when you check out the ’67 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL we presently have for sale at Beverly Hills Car Club; it is a car that comes with 2 tops featured in its factory color Light Blue (334), complemented by its chrome trim and dark blue interior: it has a removable Pagoda hardtop and a convertible soft top.

Buyer / Seller Questions? 310-975-0272

This California car is equipped with an automatic transmission, inline-six engine, fuel injection, twin exhaust finishers, four-wheel disc brakes, chrome bumpers, VDO instrumentation, dark blue removable Pagoda hardtop, convertible soft top, fender-mounted antenna, side moldings, 2-spoke steering wheel with horn, 14-inch color-match steel wheels with Mercedes-Benz branded hub caps, jack, and a full-size spare tire in the trunk. Convenience features include an analog clock, a Kenwood radio, manual-crank windows, forward-folding bucket seats, driver-side rearview mirrors, door pockets, glove compartment, and sun visors.


This particular 230 SL comes with a unique history, having been in the possession of the same owner since 1999 in California.

In building terms a Pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to many parts of Asia, frequently with a religious function, often Buddhist – its design was developed in ancient India.

And is that perhaps the psychological back-story of the Pagoda car? The Mercedes-Benz 230 SL was developed under the auspices of Mercedes-Benz Technical Director Fritz Nallinger, Chief Engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut and Head of Styling Friedrich Geiger, who had previously designed the iconic 500K/540K and 300 SL. The lead designers were Paul Bracq and Bela Barenyi, who created the 230 SL’s patented, slightly concave hardtop – and hence the ‘Pagoda’ nickname.

A Mercedes advertisement that featured Barényi’s image declared: ‘No one in the world has given more thought to car safety than this man.’

During Barényi’s job interview Dr Wilhelm Haspel, a member of the Daimler-Benz board of management, was won over by his conviction. Barényi explained in detail how conventional steering systems, steering columns and wheels, suspension and car body designs should, in his opinion, all be changed in order to enhance safety for the car’s occupants. Haspel hired Barényi, justifying his decision by saying, ‘A company like Daimler-Benz can’t afford to live hand to mouth.’

Barényi developed the concept of the crumple zone that he first came up with in 1937, the non-deformable passenger cell, collapsible steering column, safer detachable hardtops, and other Mercedes-Benz innovations, many features which were subsequently broadly adopted in automobiles.

The 230 SL made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1963, where Nallinger introduced it as follows: ‘It was our aim to create a very safe and fast sports car with high performance, which despite its sports characteristics, provides a very high degree of traveling comfort.’

The interior was ’rounded,’ with all hard corners and edges removed, just like in the W 111 sedan. The steering gear was pulled back from the crash sensitive front of the engine compartment towards the fire wall, and the steering column was angled with universal joints to protect the driver from impalement in a frontal impact. The mid-life model refresh in fall 1967 brought another safety innovation from Barényi: a collapsable telescopic safety steering column with a padded steering wheel hub to better absorb kinetik energy during a crash. The W 113 was also the first Mercedes-Benz with radial tires.

So there is so much more to the Pagoda than its exotic look.

And perhaps there is indeed something Buddhist about its safety-first attributes.

-Alex Manos, Owner