Car that gets you to the church in style

The glitz and glamour of a St Tropez wedding is not something you stumble across every day of the week and the icing on the cake for me was the inclusion of one of my favourite sportscars as the showpiece.
The trouble with being a classic car specialist is that the eye wanders off and spots the less than fabulous features, like the off-colour wing here, the non-matching tyres there, the small crease in the door and chips in the paint.
But matter, it did not. The bride was resplendent in her ‘almost’ dress and the dashing groom was as attentive and ‘on trend’ as you can be in the French Riviera.
Looking for all the world like film stars, this was pure class. The guests absolutely loved it.
The happy couple departed in the Mercedes Benz 560SL with style and panache to suit the occasion. You do not get married on the cheap in one of Europe’s finest locations.
These top of the range SL’s were mostly aimed at the American and European market with the big impact resistant bumpers and a whopping 5.6 litre V8.
Only found in left hand drive format and actually the least valuable of the genre today.
The smaller 6 cylinder versions do the job just as well with much greater simplicity and mpg.
This SL series had a long run of some 19 years and is an excellent choice of classic car due to superb build quality, excellent road manners and great style with modest but rising values.
The later facelift cars from 1986 onwards have galvanised bodies and are the ones to go for. My ideal would be the 300SL in red or light blue but make sure it has the factory detachable hardtop for winter use.
Values are being pulled upwards by the relentless climb of the 280SL ‘Pagoda’ from the 1960’s, which can be over £100,000.
This particular wedding car is probably in the region of £12,000 and knowing how expensive the South of France can be, might just possibly be the least expensive item on the day!