Bentley and Rolls-Royce have certainly built some beautiful automobiles. But there is no other cabriolet that combines timeless elegance with a powerful 8-cylinder engine and the highest level of craftsmanship just like the Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5. As one of the last handcrafted Mercedes convertibles, it represents the luxury and automotive excellence of the late 1960s to this day. Only 1,232 units were built, and this one must rank among the most desirable examples on the market. Delivered new to its first owner in the West German capital of Bonn in February 1970, the car elegantly wears its Moosgrünmetallic paint over Tabakbraun leather and Wurzelholz trim. We like to imagine one rather lucky owner with horn-rimmed glasses, starched white shirts and cigar in hand, effortlessly steering his land yacht on secret Wirtschaftswunder missions between the Kanzlerbungalow, the Auswärtiges Amt and the headquarters of the Deutsche Bank.

With over 200,000 kilometres on the clock, the car that is now offered for sale with HK-Engineering has been used well and regularly. Luckily, it retains its unrestored interior; the supple hides showing exactly the right kind of patina, the Wurzelholz trim glowing softly beneath the renewed paint. It's a car that doesn’t shout for attention — it simply invites you closer, until you can almost smell the leather and time itself in its cabin.