Words: Elliott Hughes | Photography: Amy Shore Photography
Classic Mercedes-Benz specialists, SL Shop has acquired one of the largest collections of original parts ever discovered. The collection was unearthed in late 2019 and contains thousands of components for the W113 (Pagoda) and R107 generations of Mercedes SL.
The parts haul was sourced from Holland and resulted from a chance enquiry that was submitted on the company’s online submission form. The Dutch seller turned out to be a gentleman from Pagoda Mass, a company which had a close relationship with Stuttgart and various awards from Mercedes-Benz. After ceasing trading, it wanted to sell the huge catalogue of parts as one lot, after laboriously trying to ascertain the individual value of components.
After some initial skepticism the team at SL Shop quickly realised the opportunity on offer; the inventory of an entire parts business built over 35 years. When SL Shop saw the photos that revealed the treasure trove of classic parts, primarily made up of Pagoda components, their excitement grew exponentially. SL Shop’s parts expert, Paul Houghton, said:
“We realised early on that this was a very special, and large collection of difficult to find parts, that aren’t usually found in any condition, or would normally result in a lengthy wait while originals are sourced and refurbished.”
The various, previously impossible to find array of clips, fixings, trim and body panels in almost every original colour were all present; as well as a brand-new engine, gearbox parts, wiring looms, instruments and boxed Pagoda bonnets, to name a few.
Pagoda Mass’ aim was to stockpile ‘one car worth of everything’. SL Shop revealed this aim had easily been surpassed and the haul was closer to “dozens of cars worth of product”.
The scale of the find was so prolific that it required three 40ft articulated lorries to transport the haul back to SL Shop’s Stratford-Upon-Avon headquarters. Since arriving in the UK in early 2020, SL Shop’s part’s specialists have conscientiously catalogued each part, housing it on purpose-built shelving.
SL Shop’s managing director, Sam Bailey, says:
“The importance of this find cannot be understated, and we are very proud to be the company to bring these rare parts to market… This project has been a long time in the making, we were lucky to have the parts arrive at our HQ prior to the first lockdown in 2020. This is a great result for The SL Shop and for the Pagoda community alike.”
All of the parts found are now available at SL Shop’s online store.
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