1977 Mercedes-Benz SLC - 450 SLC

Unusual colour combination

Extensively documented history

W the first family of owners until 2010

Original 41,000 miles

In 1971, Mercedes-Benz presented its new SL. It not only replaced the eight-year-old Pagoda, but was also intended to fill the void left by the last of the great convertibles and coupés. Just a few months after the SL came the SLC. Stretched by a few centimetres, it at least created the illusion of four proper seats.

Visually, the pair brought the era of vertical headlamps to an end. They now sat horizontally on either side of the star in the grille, setting a pattern that generations of Mercedes would follow. Up to the windscreen, SL and SLC were identical. From there, the SLC continued with a low roofline, a steeply angled, double-curved rear window and, finally, a long tail. The chrome louvres on the C-pillars proved rather more controversial. These distinctive panels allowed the rear windows to disappear completely by discreetly dividing the glass into two sections. As for equipment and extras, buyers could indulge themselves to their heart’s content – for as long as their wallets allowed.

Under the bonnet, European cars initially received the familiar 3.5-litre V8, while overseas customers got an extra litre. The larger engine soon became available at home as well, but the oil crisis called for something rather more modest, answered by the twin-cam 280. No sooner had the crisis passed than engine capacities began growing again. A 5.0-litre all-aluminium V8 arrived in 1978, and in 1980 the 350 gave way to the 380.

While its open sibling went on to become one of Mercedes-Benz’s longest-running model series, the SLC was replaced in 1981 by the coupé version of the new S-Class. By then, almost 63,000 had been built. It had been Mercedes-Benz’s first Gran Turismo – and, for many years, its last.

This 450 SLC was delivered through »Jim Winter Buick« in September 1977 to Paul O’Malley of Fort Wayne, Indiana. For his SLC, he chose a colour as unusual as it was rare: »Colorado Beige« (470), paired with a »Tobacco« leather interior (203). O’Malley did not hold back when it came to the options list. Along with the obligatory individual front seats (401) came an electric sunroof (410), cruise control (440), central locking (467), a right-hand exterior mirror (502), a Becker Mexico Full Stereo Cassette radio (518), paint preservation (524), an automatic antenna (531), a folding front armrest (570), Behr air conditioning together with electric windows (580), tinted heat-insulating glass (592), aluminium wheels with radial tyres (640) and a heavy-duty battery (673).

From 1984, the SLC was registered to Marcella O’Malley, following her first to California, then Michigan and finally Florida. The registration documents from all those years have survived with the car, tracing its journey across America on paper. In 2013, with barely 41,000 miles on the odometer, the 450 SLC crossed the Atlantic and came to Austria. And those few miles show: beneath its rare Colorado Beige paint, this Mercedes has preserved much of the presence with which it left Indiana decades ago. Only the mechanicals have grown a little sleepy after years of standing still. A careful recommissioning should be all it takes to wake them – and put this remarkably preserved SLC properly back on the road.