Rich Owner Abandoned This 81-Mile 1996 SL500 After Losing Her Keys

One of the lowest mileage R129’s in existence hits the auction block this week.

byKyle Cheromcha|
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Losing your car keys is a major inconvenience. It always happens when you're running late and the kids are screaming and you literally just put them down on the table two seconds ago, I swear. But what can you do? Scrounge around until they turn up, and if they're really good and lost, bite the bullet and pay the dealer or an auto locksmith for a new set. 

But if you're filthy rich, your options are vast—including just saying, "Screw it," and abandoning your 1996 Mercedes-Benz SL500 with just 81 miles on the odometer, a car that's finally going up for sale on Wednesday after sitting in a London garage for the last twenty years.

Unlike those two dusty Buick Grand Nationals we highlighted last week, this roadster appears to have aged quite well, having spent the last two decades under the care of the woman's butler. According to the listing, someone bought the red SL500 for the old dame as a birthday gift in 1996, but Chris Routledge of the auction house handling the sale told Car Throttle she only drove it for around 80 miles before disaster struck and she lost the keys. Apparently not totally taken with her gift, she decided to move on with life and left the car stored in her garage in Knightsbridge. 

Well, it is easier than re-gifting.

Coys of Kensington

Obviously, any car that sits for twenty years is going to need a lot of consumables replaced, and those Mercedes parts definitely don't come cheap. There's no pictures of the engine bay, but the listing notes a "light re-commission" has been undertaken, and cosmetically it's basically perfect. And with the bidding projected to reach $56,000-$68,000, it should be. It's gained a couple miles since being sprung from the garage, so hopefully that means everything is in working order. And Routledge told Car Throttle that yes, it does come with a new set of keys.

The auction takes place this Wednesday as part of Coys's annual Spring Classics event and takes place at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. This Mercedes may be unique in its crazy-low mileage, but there's lots of other cool stuff going up for sale—you can easily kill an hour going through these listings. 

Coys of Kensington
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