Stylish, fast 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC

Maybe it is because Lewis Hamilton just won another F1 world championship for them, or maybe it is because the quality of their cars is so exceptional, but I seem to have Mercedes-Benz on my mind right now.

That’s my excuse for having two of the beautiful coupes as Pick of the Day two days in a row, although the cars are more than a decade-and-a-half apart.

My favorite cars from Mercedes are not the SL roadsters but the coupes, which offer GT luxury in one of the best packages available anywhere.

Mercedes coupes got better and better over the years, moving from personal luxury cars to high-performance grand touring cars with the emphasis on grand. The finest hour for these extraordinary cars was the 560SEC, which is why this 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC is today’s Pick.

According to the seller, a dealer in Woodland Hills, California, advertising the car on ClassicCars.com, this one-owner 560SEC was sold new at W.I. Simonson Mercedes-Benz in Los Angeles and always serviced there. The car has a complete service history, the seller says, plus all books, keys and tools with which it was delivered.

The car is also all-original, has never had any paint work, has cold A/C and is absolutely immaculate, the seller says. The car has covered 84,000 miles since new, which is rare for these cars as owners tend to drive the wheels off them.

The 560SEC was a serious performer in the era, capable of 0-60 times of 7 seconds flat and an amazing top speed for the era of 155 mph. In its last year of production, the 560 SEC also cost more than $70,000, a staggeringly high price in 1989.

Unlike the 560SL roadsters, which have recently been climbing in value, the 560 SEC has been a bit fat. Interest in these cars is on the climb, though, and this example with an asking price of only $17,900 represents a solid value. You would be hard-pressed to get more car for less money.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day