Vintage Cars: Mercedes 450 sl or 380 sl?, mercedes 450, mercedes 560

Question
I am looking for the best intro to classic car choice given the information from Road and Track covering the years 1972-1989. It ranks the Mercedes 560 sl first then 72-73 and last 79-1980 450 sl.Everything that I've read says to steer clear of 1981-1983.Can you suggest a fairly good track record Merc for me. I'm leaning 1979...
Thanks

Answer
I am not really an expert on these cars, but from what I have heard from a friend who does collect MBs (and owns a beautiful '79 450 SL), the 450s are the cars to go for. The parts are still relatively available from dealers, and they are not nearly as rare as the 560s so the cost of the parts will not be as high.

Sorry I can't be of more assistance.

Regards,

Dick.