Barn find W111 250SE Coupé. Left-hand drive, German market in its original colours of white with navy blue leather. Starts, runs, drives and stops.

How many more W111 Coupé barn finds can there be out there still? No many, we would wager.

This Coupé was sold new in Germany, finished in Papyrus White with Navy leather, automatic transmission and a sunroof. It was imported into the UK in 1988 and locked away around 2009.

There was evidently quite a bit of work done prior to the car being parked up, including new rear springs, new brake parts, new front tyres, some welding etc. Plus it has a new complete genuine MB exhaust system, which must have set the owner back quite a bit, and remains in excellent condition.

We have left the car cosmetically just the way we found it, covered in dust. Thankfully it was a dry garage, and the body is remarkably solid. It has had some welding in the past, but we couldn’t find any holes underneath.

The interior, unfortunately, is in poor condition. The leather has disintegrated. It would need a seat retrim and a new carpet set at the very least.

Amazingly, despite its years off the road, this 250SE starts, runs, drives and stops. We have fitted a new battery, new water pump, thermostat and housing. The engine starts easily, runs with good oil pressure and the gearbox changes nicely up and down the gears. The brakes stop the car and are not holding on.

Obviously, the car needs going through, but mechanically it doesn’t appear to be far off being able to drive down the road.

Comes with UK V5 registration document, copy of the original Data Card and a ‘birth certificate’ from Mercedes.

The 250SE Coupé would be a very rewarding restoration project – you could either completely restore it, or you could just do the essentials and retrim the interior. Either way, it must be the cheapest running/driving W111 Coupé there is!