I believe you might have missed one car. Many do.
Misunderstood, destroyed by US laws and the oil crisis, under-valued and -priced. Ignore the US-models (parkbench bumpers, low compression smog engines, soft suspension and buck eyed sealed beam front lights) and try an early 4-speed manual, high compression, no smog equipment, no AC, as they were originally designed, 1971 Mercedes Benz 350 SL. The 3.5 litre, 200 DIN hp SOHC V8, fuel injected engine paired with a manual gearbox makes this a totally different experience than the later ones. Modern suspension, ventilated disc brakes, etc. Rims are made by Fuchs (yes - same as Porsche) and are forged - weighing in at only 8 kg a piece at 6,5x14.
A 50 year old car that you can use for real. On the autobahn (200+ km/h), in the Alps, etc. You grand tour in 140 all day without problems. Rear boot with ample luggage space for two.
The version for Sweden (this one) has seatbelts, head rests, two side mirrors and a stiffer suspension. 0-100 km/h in 8 seconds (better that what MB told at the time) might not be lightning quick but in 1971 it was splendid.
The problem is... finding an early manual in nice condition. And un-tampered with. 99% or so were sold with an automatic. I was very lucky to find such a car (94 000 km, original and manual).
Hardtop and cabriolet makes this a true "convertible".
