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Trying to identify a Mercedes Benz 1980's convertible car
IT'S A LONG LONG POST Hello everyone. Before posting my question, I would like to make three things clear: 1) This is not a completely exclusive text, posted for the first time. Don't worry, here on the forum this is the first time it has been posted, but it has already been posted on another internet forum, suitable for discussing old cars, and it is also, next to here, being posted on another forum about the brand. But 5% of it is new, as I bring information from the last person who helped me on the old car forum. 2) I did a search in the group before posting, to see if the car I need more information about is old enough for the forum and I didn't find any obstacles. I hope I'm not wrong. 3) I need to be honest: I'm a Brazilian who, besides being a complete layman when it comes to automotive matters (my only post on the forum to date was about a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz), doesn't understand much English, let alone its technical terms. Therefore, whenever you can be descriptive instead of using a technical term, do so (or use the technical term and describe the location of what you mean, as I will do in the post, please). This will help me a lot and will prevent me from running into automatic translations that can lead me to make silly misunderstandings. That said, let's get to the point: I don't know how familiar the name Xuxa is to you. She's had a show in the US and Spain, but she's an extremely strong figure in the pop cultore of whole Latin America for over 30 years. And I'm looking for information about what model this Mercedes Benz convertible of hers would be, given to her as a gift in 1987 by the record company Som Livre, as a gift for the sale of her first two albums by the record company, the first, from 1986 with 2.6 million copies sold only at its release and the second, from 1987, sold 3,5 million copies (She would surpass her own record in the future). As a layman, I had to start somewhere and, just visually, I noticed some things that this car has and that other very similar convertibles, also from Mercedes and from the same period had or did not have ( I upload two images, of the front of the car and another in black and white. After, I upload these comparative images. Xuxa's car is always the one at the top of the images, regardless of which of the cars I made the red markings on):Picture A - On the front of the car, BELOW the bumper, Xuxa's car has only one pair of fog lights, with a white "background". Several convertibles that I saw on the internet show another pair in addition to these, located near the side ends and with an orange background, as indicated in the image.
Picture B - On the side of Xuxa's car there are no fog lights at all side turn signals (a light that indicates when the car will turn left or right). This information, in the end, may have been useless because as far as I know it only serves to confirm that it is not a 1989 version, which is the one that apparently had this part), but anyway, I'm writing just for the record.
Picture C - In Xuxa's car, there is a rear outline on the trunk (I think the correct term for this part is "spoiler"), which stands out because it is colored in black. Few convertibles of the brand/era had this black outline on this part. From what I researched, it is a part/accessory that is truly "native" to a certain version, and is not an item that changes the character or "transforms a car into another similar one", but I could be wrong.Before posting it here, I also posted it in a group of brazillian Mercedes Benz lovers, the question and the screenshots you can see after the comparative images, but I was more confused than well informed: one guy mentioned that "they could be headlights/taillights manufactured by Cibié, which were in fashion at the time" without referring to what he was talking about, whether it was about what I mentioned being absent or contained in the car. He also didn't give me any more information. He also said that this model had two types of frontal bumpers, the American one that was longer and larger and the European one that was smoother, following the lines of the car, without also giving a clue as to which of the two Xuxa's model would have. Another person, in light of this, indicated that it would be the standard, European version, the most common of the two to be seen in Brazil, thus pointing out that it was a probable "450SL", also indicating that this version has a "normal lens headlight and thin bumper. The US version has a headlight with two well-defined circles and a bulging bumper". At this point, my head was already exploding. Another person said that they could be mistaken, but that they were under the impression that the black rear bumper was exclusive to the 500SL. Another, who said it was a 107 (from what I researched, it's just an alternative name for what we call SL), said, to my surprise, that it was a model produced in 1979 at the latest, so either a 280sl, 350sl or 450sl, pointing out this:
The steering wheel: the one in Xuxa's car would only be used from 1971 to 1972 or from 1972 to 1979. He said they are different steering wheels, but visually very similar, but he couldn't identify them in the photos
The ventilation system controls that you can see a little in one of the photos, he said were used until the end of the 70s, early 80s. After that, it's the same as the one used in the 126 (what does that mean, God??????)
"the same goes for the dark finish on the bottom of the doors, it's typical of pre-1986 models. I don't know the exact year it changed. But for sure, in 86 and later, they are different from what you see in the photos."
He indicated that Xuxa's car has what we call "Mexerica Wheels" here in Brazil. I couldn't find the correct term for this wheel in English, after all, "mexerica" is one of the names for a type of orange (fruit), so if you can, please research the part. He said that these wheels were used until 1985 or 1986, after which the hatch brands came.
He also mentioned that the trunk lid was just a common accessory to put on older models at that time and not something native to this version. I respect the fact that I know less than others, very very very less, but I think these informations a little bit strange, honestly. Apparently, Xuxa wasn't a car collector back then. She drove this car and used it normally. Even if it were a Mercedes, a convertible, bought at the store or even ordered, it seems absurd to me the idea of giving the most important person to the record company in commercial terms a car that was not from that year or from the previous year. Am I wrong? Even more so, according to this last guy, giving a car in 1987 that, in the best of these last hypotheses, would be from 1979. He concluded by saying: "putting all these details together, plus the side finishes, we can conclude that it is a car from 1971 to 1981, but the steering wheel limits it to being a model up to 1979. Could the steering wheel have been changed? Yes. But it is highly unlikely, the normal thing would be to change it for one from a newer model or something sporty like a Nardi. The rear wing was a common accessory at the time." Who helped the most was a guy who pointed out that it was a 1987 500SL (how he got the year right, I don't know). He said that the wheels, bumpers and headlights of the 500SL are different from the 560SL and pointed out what someone else had already said, just writing it differently, confirming that the 560 was produced for the American market and that it came with "two separate headlights". Xuxa's only has one, indicating that it is a 500SL. Finally, the last help I got so far was from a guy saying that it was definitely a non-American model, and he identified this by the model's characteristic front (I still haven't been able to obtain images that make me see this difference). ) and that it would be a model until 1983, as in 1984 the design of the wheels underwent changes. I haven't seen this change yet either (I'm afraid of searching for images on the internet and finding customized models that don't reflect the original patterns, regardless of the year). And with that in mind, that question came back to me again: "Would the record company present its biggest record seller with a convertible that wasn't the one from the year or the previous year?" Anyway, that's it. Does anyone have any more information, whether it be to bring up a new possibility, refute or confirm one already brought up here? The only thing I ask is that in addition to being as precise as possible in the identification (year and model), you share with me the reasons that lead you to conclude what you have come to think, so that I can learn a little more too. I apologize for the length of the text, I didn't want to miss anything. Thank you!!!
The first vídeo, see from 00:00 to 02:25
The second video, see from 00 to 02:30
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