1988 Mercedes-Benz Sec 420

I've owned my SEC 420 for eight years. Slowly and with great cost have been restoring it. Recently after a £10,000 engine overhaul it was found that the engine was in fact a 560 and had been replaced a few years before I bought it. If you don't understand engines this means it has a 5.6 litre V8 engine producing a very smooth and fast ride. The design of its pillar less widows mean that for filming it makes a great car to view the driver and passengers and also for filming inside the car when its important to see the outside location. Its a great car for showing off the front passenger for a wedding or dropping off at an event. With the windows right down it has the effect of being a little like convertible. Here are a few word I found on line about the sec 560 models SEC effectively standing for 'Sonderklass Einspritzmotor Coupe'. The two-door SEC was distinguished by its pillarless side-on profile and the gentle rake of its rear screen, but it also got a wider radiator grille and different headlights to make its specialness obvious in the rear-view mirror of anyone it was bearing down on at speed. Exclusivity was further guaranteed by pricing that was well above the SL, and indeed many true exotics: in 1987 the 500 SEC cost £42,420 - £1200 more than a Ferrari Mondial Qv. For context of where it sat in the market, that was also £16,000 more than Jaguar asked for a Jaguar XJ-S HE. As the biggest, baddest Merc of its era, the 560 SEC quickly developed a following among those who were basically looking for a ground-based private jet. Famous owners in the UK included Nigel Mansell, who bought a magnificent metallic bronze example in 1987. Nige chose left-hand drive, presumably to make it easier to commute to European Grands Prix, and after a day battling the turbocharged Williams-Honda around a track it must have seemed like an oasis of calm. The exact same SEC 560 was later owned by art critic Brian Sewell, and has subsequently ended up in Merc's UK heritage fleet. Having driven it twice I can confirm it feels pretty much exactly as you'd expect it to - rapid, effortless and impressively hushed at speed, but with more appetite for straights than corners.