Mercedes Pagoda, BMW 333i each sell for more than R3m at Joburg auction

A Pagoda-topped 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL shaded a BMW fun-fest at last Thursday’s Creative Rides’ March Marques auction, held at the classic car specialists’ showroom on Main Road, Bryanston.

The pristine, elegant Mercedes convertible, nicknamed “the Pagoda” because of its unusually-shaped roof (when it is occasionally erected) achieved the top price of R3.4m at the 33-car auction.

A high performance BMW 333i captured the second highest auction price at R3m. The home-grown car was built in Rosslyn near Pretoria as a so-called homologation special built for racing purposes and the brainchild of BMW SA’s innovative racing division in 1985. Just more than 200 were built and the car that fetched R3m in Bryanston was No 159 off the production line.

“There is no doubt that the rarity factor of the 333i saw it earn such a high value, some 40 years after it was built,” said a Creative Rides spokesperson.

There were five other BMWs on auction, ranging in sale prices between R1.36m and R2.2m.

One of these was a 1991 BMW 325iS, another so-called homologation special. Like the 333i it was based on a modest 3-Series sedan. This 34-year-old performance model fetched R1.36m from a Durban buyer.

The 325iS is a much more common survivor on the classic car circuits in 2025, with 508 having been built. It is believed the big disparity between the number of surviving examples of these only slightly different 3-Series-based models is that many examples of the 333i were crashed, as it was a difficult car to drive and extremely fast for its time. The 325iS, by contrast, had exceptional road holding — even by today’s standards.

In terms of beauty, the winning BMW at the auction was the 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL, which was never officially imported to South Africa. Certain variants of this car were known as the “Batmobile” because they sprouted giant wings to create aerodynamic downforce, but the yellow example that sold for R2.1m was wingless — and all the more elegant for this.

There were no less than 11 Mercedes-Benz models that came under the hammer and the most elegant of them was a 1963 220 SE cabriolet finished in pale blue.

It sold for an impressive R2.15m, no doubt due to that an all-but-identical example was the feature car in the original Hangover movie (the one seen to have its roof shredded by a tiger ostensibly belonging to boxing legend Mike Tyson).

Another excellent BMW price achieved was the R1.7m gavelled by auctioneer Joff van Reenen for a E28 Series M5 sedan, an excellent price for a car almost forgotten by enthusiasts today.

A more modern 2005 BMW M3 CSL (an E46 series car) sold for R2.2m and was the 38th car in a batch of just 65 of these lightweight models that sold in South Africa in the early 2000s.

A 1957 180D Ponton bakkie, built only for South Africa, sold for R710,000, the high price reflecting its rarity value, as apparently only 500 were built.

The following is a list of all 33 cars and the prices they achieved*, in the order in which they came under the auctioneer’s hammer:

• 1985 BMW M635CSi E24 — R550,000
• 1965 Pontiac Catalina V8 — R575,000
• 2015 Maserati Quattroporte — R400,000
• 2003 Mercedes-Benz CL500 V8 — R175,000
• 1948 Cadillac Fleetwood V8 — R465,000
• 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider 2000 — R280,000
• 1972 Mercedes-Benz 350SL — R500,000
• 1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa — R850,000
• 1970 Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Tribute — R575,000
• 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible V8 — R550,000
• 1958 Mercedes-Benz 220SE Ponton Coupe — R1,450,000
• 1969 Mercedes-Benz 250 CEO W111 series — R340,000
• 1965 Ford Mustang resto-mod — R625,000
• 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 supercharged — R2,100,000
• 1970 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV — R375,000
• 2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello V12 — R1,775,000
• 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda — R1,720,000
• 1958 MGA Twin Cam — R525,000
• 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS V8 — R1,400,000
• 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE W111 — R750,000
• 1991 BMW 325iS Evo 2 — R1,360,000
• 2005 Porsche 996 Turbo S — R1,250,000
• 2007 Maserati Gransport — R300,000
• 1949 Jaguar Mk V — R500,000
• 1985 BMW 333i — R3,000,000
• 1856 Mercedes-Benz 190SL — R1,800,000
• 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL — R2,100,000
• 1963 Mercedes-Benz 220SE cabriolet — R2,150,000
• 1988 BMW M5 E28 series — R1,700,000
• 1957 Mercedes-Benz 180d Ponton bakkie — R710,000
• 2005 BMW M3 CSL — R2,200,000
• 1952 Mercedes-Benz 220 W187 series — R475,000
• 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda — R3,400,000                                      

* All prices subject to official confirmation.