Klarius exhaust sourced by ECP helps 1978 Mercedes 350SL convertible onto road

A downpipe-back Klarius exhaust system sourced through Euro Car Parts’ online number plate look-up system has allowed father and son team John and David Baxter to get their 1978 Mercedes 350SL convertible on the road, having impulse-bought the car on eBay. Martin Gray, CEO of Euro Car Parts, commented: “I love it when things like this happen; we advertise Euro Car Parts as able to supply ‘any part for any car’ when someone challenges us by looking up a really obscure part on our website and we can supply it, it just proves we can walk-the-walk…

“We have experienced specialist buying teams and some great suppliers who go to great lengths to help us back-up our slogan. Klarius is one of those suppliers and it’s doubly rewarding to be able to supply a UK produced, quality part that we know is going to satisfy the customer. We only stock quality parts, but we also have to be cost competitive, so we look to our suppliers to help us drive down cost while maintaining product quality.

“Our Klarius stock listings are linked electronically to the stock available at Klarius’ HQ in the Midlands. We don’t stock a rare, slow moving part like that on the shelf in branches but due to Klarius having stock available, it meant Dave could pick it up in-store the following day – just the kind of service we are here to provide.”

Dave Baxter added: “We have – shall we say, a number of ‘future classics’ on the family fleet, not high-value cars but ones we are interested in and we wanted to preserve. It’s also more affordable than trying to restore classic exotica. The Merc was one of our higher value purchases so we wanted to do it justice, as you can imagine, buying a car of that vintage in ‘original’ condition meant we were in for a bit of work, but the build quality of those 70’s Mercs was good and it’s part of the fun of restoration to take something looking a bit sorry and return it to close to its former glory.

“This is never going to be a ‘concours car’. We wanted to use it, and we have to work to a budget whilst still making sure the parts we are using are of a suitably high standard to preserve both the look and the integrity of the vehicle. We have bought some shockingly bad aftermarket exhausts in the past and I must admit we turned to the owners’ forums to check for feedback on Klarius products before we committed to buy the system – the comments we got back were from both amateurs and people connected to the trade and they were universally positive, so we decide to go with it.

“When we actually arrived to collect the exhaust we were blown away by the weight and the solidity of the items – it was very obvious that corners had not been cut when this was produced. We also learnt a bit about type approval from Trevor the branch manager; he was able to explain how Klarius type-approves its exhaust CAT and DPF products and some others don’t bother as it’s not legally required for exhausts in the UK. The system was still massively cheaper than we were quoted for an OE supplied system and I honestly couldn’t see where the OE would be better. The mounting kit has all the bolts hangers, gaskets and flanges we’ll need to fit it too, which is hugely helpful.

John Baxter added: “We saved over £450 on what is a really good quality exhaust, which shows that premium quality can come with a standard price, when you buy the right brand. The existing system was really noisy due to perforations in the silencer boxes and the connecting pipes and we had to change it out before we go for the upcoming MOT. I’m really pleased we could get this part so easily and at the right price; next is the interior!”