Most likely the last 231, (and folding hardtop), that MB will ever produce, (for sale to the public), will be assembled sometime during 2020, and it will no doubt bring a very steep premium price well beyond the MSRP.

Wondering just how much of a premium it could bring, and if it's value will actually increase over time due to the virtue of being the very last of it's kind..

Any 'speculative' thoughts?

I have no doubt that some rich fool will be willing to pay a hefty premium for the very last 231!..

 

I doubt it will demand a large premium. Most collectors don't see the R231 as a special vehicle or future classic, unfortunately.

 

The Collectors sure seem to love the original SL's, both the 300SL GullWing and the 300SL Convertible!

 

Saw where the last of the C7 Corvettes to be produced brought $2.7 M at Barrett Jackson NE. Dealers are now sitting on almost a 100 day supply of the C7, and there are some deals for those who have a bent toward that car. I am slated to go to the Corvette factory in Bowling Green in three weeks to see the production line with the new mid-engine C8; should be interesting. If I am allowed to do photos I will post some.

 

I am more curious as to how many of the new model SL’s sell in the U.S. with the 4 seat configuration and a soft top. So glad I bought my ‘17 when I did because from my standpoint it will be my last. I personally think MB is committing SL suicide with what they hint at with the new design. To each his own.....

 

The original SL's are very unlike the current SL's. They had an iconic design, tons of new advances in technology, and they were the fastest cars of their time!

The current SL doesn't really hold a candle to them, unfortunately.

 

Don’t confuse contemporary SL’s with modern day Mustangs & Corvettes. Many folks collect Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaros, etc., because the cars remind them of their youth. They have a racing heritage and there are many rare & interesting variations. Modern day SL’s are luxury cruisers, aimed at an older buyer looking for comfort, luxury and the cachet of a convertible sporting the 3-Pointed Star. Virtually NOBODY collects modern day SL’s. Virtually NOBODY will pay a premium for the last R231 produced. The racing heritage that SL’s had was over and done with in the 1960’s. The last R231 will have no more value than the next to last one. Of course, this is all my opinion. It is also my opinion that those who pay huge auction prices for the “first” or the “last” of any modern day car are just throwing their money away. ANYTHING that was produced to BE a collectible, isn’t. Anything that comes with a “Certificate of Authenticity,” isn’t much of an authentic anything, let alone a good investment. Hey, but that’s just me.

 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA!

To the Streamliner....

I don't think we can draw a hard conclusion like that at this particular moment in time, because Collectible 'history' is just that 'history'. We should never forget that history is 'subject to change' and we are now in a period of very rapid change!

What Car Collectors have traditionally seen as highly 'Collectible' verses Non-Collectible Automobiles may change quite a bit in the future as we get deeper into the 'Electric Car Era', with Electric Cars becoming the norm. Collectible demand may shift more toward 'Best of Breed' examples' from the era of gasoline-powered cars, rather than continuing the worship of lower tech 'American Muscle Cars' that remain popular now mainly because they represent 'the heyday of Baby Boomer youth'.

Furthermore, it is unlikely that we will see as many CONVERTIBLES in our Electric Car future, much less convertibles featuring a 'folding hardtop' like the 231. The latter type of 'drop-top' will probably disappear entirely!

We must all realize the pace of change in the Automotive Industry is now such that what hasn't been seen as a 'Collectible' up to now, could easily become 'collectible' in the not-so-distant future....a future where 'rather boring', and perhaps self-driving electric-powered vehicles rule the landscape. Hopefully, there will STILL be 'sporty people' who will frequently enjoy 'taking the wheel themselves' to experience something 'more exhilarating' verses always having to rely on the latest 'robotic electric vehicle' to get around town.

This is not to suggest that anyone would consider the 231 a 'Future Collectible' right now, but I do think the 'last 231 ever-produced' will 'at some point' be very highly-valued as a 'Unique Roadster Collectible' by the Car Collectors! I'm certainly not a young man anymore, but I do expect to live long enough to see it happen!...

 

Well, OK, I’ll buy that: Nobody knows what the future holds. However, that was not how I read your initial question/speculation about the value or potential selling price of the last manufactured R231.

The sale price—most likely at auction, benefitting a charitable cause—for the “last” model of a particular model Mustang, Corvette, etc., will almost always be in the millions of dollars, due to the collectibility of those cars in general and the tremendous competition amongst wealthy collectors of those marques. However, put the last R231 in the same type of charitable auction and I truly doubt that the results would be anything close in the way of percentage over MSRP, as there are few, if any, collectors of modern day SL’s. If the car brought double the MSRP, that would surprise me and I feel it would be only because some well heeled bidder felt he or she could come out ahead after taking the charitable donation tax deduction, while obtaining a new toy for their significant other.

Anyway, I do not believe that anyone will care or pay any attention to the last R231. I think it will be shipped to a dealer and sold like any other car. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows? We can all speculate.

 

Thought the current SL is a wonderful niche car for some of us it is not considered anything special by the general public. Were not the recent sales figures for 2018 less than 1500 units sold in the whole U.S.? I don’t believe the last one off the line would auction for any more than one produced the day before. I will keep my 2017 until they quit making spare parts and store it next to my Yugo!
PS- My current interests run with EV’s and once they get the range over 500 miles (Currently 325 miles) and the fast charging stations deal with Shell Oil and Walmart is signed, the interest in these vehicles will trend up. I have a deposit placed on a Taycan right now, they will premier in September at the German Auto Show, and have already contacted a local company to install a solar array on my car barn.

 

The friend that drove me to pick up my SL (in his G-Wagen) was telling me a story about a guy that had purchased something like 10 or 20 Buick Grand Nationals back in the 80s, and he had stored them all these years and was selling them now for astronomical prices. Now, maybe it's because that particular car was of zero interest to me I found myself thinking of all the other things this guy could have saved all this time, or otherwise done with the money. I mean, my mind goes to stock index funds or real estate, but maybe that's my 20/20 hindsight....

My dad collected clown paintings, of all things. He and my mom had had no interest in art until one year I bought my mother a beautiful Art Deco lithograph of an elegant woman with a greyhound on a leash (they were in the greyhound racing industry then). It was as if it had never occurred to my fathers that walls could display something other than paint (or maybe he was being competitive with me after seeing her delight with my gift); he started buying Red Skelton and Emmett Kelly Jr. "paintings" in quantities that trancended collecting: three and four at a time. Like wallpaper he surrounded himself with images of the same clowns in different situations, a birthday cake here, a kitten there, bowling, playing tennis, you name it. After my mother died and he moved into a smaller place, it really was like wallpaper, frames almost touching each other. I lost track of how many dozens of times he said "do you know what these are worth??", which I always answered with "they're worth whatever someone will pay for them" and, just as I always suspected, nobody was willing to pay as much as he did. These were "limited" (I love quotation marks as much as parentheses) editions of 250, 500, maybe 1000, prints with "hand-touched" accents (blobs, really) of oil paint, and most important, the signature of Red Skelton or Emmett Kelly Jr. and the certificate of authenticity. When my father died I kept some of his knives and pots and pans, but most of his belongings were given away or trashed. But not those damn clown paintings! I took them home and put them in my garage and I set up online stores on Etsy and Bonanza, selling them for $199-$249 (he paid anywhere from $375-$900). I've sold several, but many are still available, should you have a affinity for clowns....

 

The real problem, if someone were to buy one or more R231’s, brand new—and then properly store them (drain all fluids, put them on blocks, etc.) for a decade or two, is that there is a distinct possibility that they may not run after years sitting idle. The vast array of electronics in these cars may not age well and may deteriorate. Such a turn of events could be horribly expensive—if not damn near impossible—to remedy. I would also worry about hydraulic lines for the retractable top, etc. One might consider that twenty years from now, there is also the possibility that internal combustion engine powered vehicles may be quite restrained from operating in the environment.

I truly feel that this utter madness that is going on in the “collector car” world is doomed to crash. It is being driven by a generation of Baby Boomers with pensions and retirement plans that allow them to finally get the car they lusted after in their youth. Just watch the auctions on TV and notice the sea of silver haired and bald domes in the crowd. As these folks get older, I believe the prices of so many of these old cars will start to tumble. It has already started with the more common variations of early Thunderbirds and Corvettes. Know why? In addition to the “hair” factor, most of these guys cannot FIT behind the wheel of 2-seat T-Birds and earlier Vettes!

 

This! The only entity that the last R231 will be worth anything extra to will be Mercedes. They'd be stupid not to keep it for their museum collection...just from a heritage viewpoint. Even if the last R231 is an SL63 with every conceivable option, it'll still be just another SL.

I did nearly this exact thing. I bought the last 1996 C4 Corvette Grand Sport coupe sold in the U.S. I found it languishing on a Chevy dealer's lot in Orlando more than a year after it was made because nobody wanted it. I got a hell of a deal on it then, and now, 23 years later and with only 6400 miles on it, it's still worth about what I paid for it. And mind you, it's one of only two models of C4 that will ever be worth anything. So no, as a collector car, the last R231 is better off remaining with Mercedes. JMO...