In an age where classics are rebuilt, reimagined or reborn, it is rare to find one that has simply been waiting. Yet in the heart of Staffordshire, that is exactly what has been discovered, a 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SL so immaculately preserved that it feels as if the factory doors in Stuttgart only just closed behind it.
For forty-two years, the car remained sealed away from time and weather, untouched by salt, sunlight or human whim. Its first and only owner, a meticulous watchmaker named Mr Hough, purchased the 500SL in Blue Green Metallic on 30 November 1982. He spent £24,400 on it, the equivalent of around £87,000 today, and then did something extraordinary. Instead of driving it, he brought it home on a trailer, stored it in a heated, dehumidified garage, and set about preserving it like a rare instrument.
It was an act of obsession and artistry in equal measure. The same steady hands that once worked with gears and escapements created a hallmarked sterling silver Mercedes-Benz badge, now displayed with the car. Each year, he checked on the vehicle, maintaining its condition, ensuring the oils didn’t harden, the rubber didn’t crack, and the paint never dulled. He didn’t see it as an object to use, but as a mechanical timepiece in its own right, one that measured decades, not seconds.
When the car recently surfaced through SLSHOP, a renowned Mercedes-Benz specialist in Warwickshire, it was as though a time capsule had been opened. The right-hand drive 500SL shows only 42 miles, all likely accumulated during delivery and inspection. The Waxoyl still clings to the underside. The leather seats are uncreased, the factory stickers remain in place, and not a trace of corrosion can be found. Even the original sales documents and incomplete registration forms have survived untouched, along with the optional extras, air conditioning, heated seats, ABS, and metallic paint, totalling £2,331 at the time.
Sam Bailey, founder and managing director of SLSHOP, recalls the first time he learned of the car. “It was about fifteen years ago at the NEC Classic Car Show,” he says. “Mr Hough approached me and said that one day he wanted us to become its custodian. He was waiting for the right moment, and I think he always knew that this car deserved to be kept exactly as it was built.”
Now that moment has arrived. The 500SL will not be sold, nor restored. Instead, SLSHOP is creating a dedicated climate-controlled space for it, ensuring that it remains as untouched as when it left the factory. It will also make a short public appearance at Mercedes-Benz World, allowing enthusiasts a rare opportunity to see what a new R107 looked and felt like in its prime.
For those who know their history, the 500SL represented a turning point in Mercedes-Benz engineering. Introduced in 1980, its 5.0-litre V8 produced around 240 brake horsepower and could reach 60 mph in under eight seconds, figures that put it squarely among the sports cars of its day. Yet the 500SL was never about outright speed. It was about refinement, precision, and endurance, qualities that echo the discipline of its first owner.
There is something poetic in that parallel. A watchmaker and a carmaker, both devoted to accuracy and beauty, separated by discipline but united by the same pursuit: perfection over time. Mr Hough’s garage became the quiet stage for this unlikely collaboration, where metal and machinery waited patiently while the world outside moved on.
Today, the 500SL is more than a machine. It is a mirror held up to a different era, one where ownership meant stewardship, and care was measured not in miles, but in attention. In a world that celebrates restoration and modification, this untouched example reminds us that preservation can be its own form of art.
And as it takes its place at SLSHOP’s Warwickshire headquarters, this remarkable car stands as both relic and reminder, that sometimes, the greatest journeys are the ones we choose not to take.
