Page 89 - Wayne Carini's Guide to Affordable Classics

TOP: Though a strong and robust design, the W113’s structure is nonetheless very susceptible to rust. A comprehensive restoration starts with a complete teardown.
ABOVE: Front and rear fenders were butt-welded to other panels, providing a beautiful appearance, but a complex restoration.
The Pagoda is one of the few cars of this era that looks good with either of its tops – or no top at all. Top down, it has a very tailored appearance due to the fact that cloth top sits under a rigid tonneau. Given the high windshield, there’s a minimum of buffeting in the cockpit. Erecting the top is a little more complex than other contemporary convertibles (open tonneau, raise roof, close tonneau, snap rear bow down, close handles on the windshield header), but, if adjusted properly, offers a tight seal with the windows. The hefty hardtop, easy to install (with a friend to help) and quickly anchored by handles front and rear, provides an even more isolated environment.
The downside to this wonderful Teutonic substance was its weight – around 3,000 pounds. Starting with the 230 SL, performance is just adequate. With max torque at 4,500 rpm, it’s important to keep the revs up in a manual transmission car. The relatively narrow gear spacing also means that the engine is turning around 4,000 rpm at 70 mph. It’s not surprising that the very rare five- speed models are so sought after!
Though displacements steadily increased during the Pagoda’s lifecycle, all should start up at very nearly the first turn of the key and need very little warm up time. Among fans, there are very much two schools of thought when it comes to transmissions:
Mercedes-Benz 230/250/280 SL
some like the automatic’s very crisp shifts, while other prefer the notchy manual with its delicate gear lever (automatic share of sales increased later in the car’s lifecycle, driven by American tastes). The manual has a short, precise throw with a fairly light clutch, but it definitely doesn’t like to be hurried, even when warm. The four-speed automatic normally starts in “2,” but can be tricked into starting in “1,” though that’s accompanied by a somewhat jarring full-throttle start.
Manual steering is pretty heavy at parking speeds, though stable at speed. The standard thin-rimmed wheel was sometimes replaced with a fine-looking Nardi or similar wood-rimmed alternative. Power steering was universally praised on the W113 and retrofit kits are available, though, like almost everything else on the W113, they aren’t cheap.
Once on the road, Pagodas are sporty cars, rather than all-out sports cars. Mercedes of this era all utilized recirculating ball steering boxes, which made for relatively slow responsiveness. The swing axle allows the throttle to be used as an added steering input. By contrast, the long suspension travel provides excellent comfort without being sloppy, making these cars excellent long-distance drivers (as long as you don’t mind the elevated engine speeds).
The seating position is upright, though the seat has enough adjustment range (including an adjustable backrest) that even tall drivers can find a good fit. Seats are either indestructible MB-Tex or leather.
With its refined 2.8-liter engine, the 280 SL is regarded as the top of the W113 range. The interior was largely unchanged from previous models; this European version has rigid seat storage pockets, which were replaced with soft versions for US models.
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