Mercedes Pagoda and BMW 333i fetch more than R3m each
Several cars sold for over R1m apiece on Creative Rides March Marques auction in Joburg
31 March 2025 - 15:02
byStuart Johnston
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The Mercedes 280SL Pagoda was sold for R3.4m.
Picture: SUPPLIED
A Pagoda-topped 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL shaded a BMW fun-fest at last Thursday’s Creative Rides’ March Marques auction in Bryanston, held at the classic car specialists’ Bryanston showroom in Main Road.
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 SA car was built in Rosslyn 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 number 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 home-grown BMW 333i fetched R3m.
Picture: SUPPLIED
The 325iS is a much more common survivor on the classic car circuits in 2025, with 508 having been built. It is believed that 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, and this is the case 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 SA. 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, and this was no doubt due to the fact that an all-but-identical example was the feature car in the original Hangover movie (the one which was seen to have its roof shredded by a tiger ostensibly belonging to boxing legend Mike Tyson).
The yellow BMW 3.0 CSL went to a buyer for R2.1m.
Picture: SUPPLIED
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 SA in the early 2000s.
A 1957 180D Ponton bakkie, built only for SA, 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
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INVESTING IN CARS
Mercedes Pagoda and BMW 333i fetch more than R3m each
Several cars sold for over R1m apiece on Creative Rides March Marques auction in Joburg
A Pagoda-topped 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL shaded a BMW fun-fest at last Thursday’s Creative Rides’ March Marques auction in Bryanston, held at the classic car specialists’ Bryanston showroom in Main Road.
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 SA car was built in Rosslyn 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 number 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 that 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, and this is the case 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 SA. 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, and this was no doubt due to the fact that an all-but-identical example was the feature car in the original Hangover movie (the one which was 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 SA in the early 2000s.
A 1957 180D Ponton bakkie, built only for SA, 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
1956 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.
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