3400 Miles From LA: 1972 Mercedes-Benz 220D W114
The classic car market is currently booming across the USA, blame the rise of the car investor (checking accounts don’t pay squat and stocks are a roller coaster…so why not invest in cars?), lazy people, or greedy people or the Venn diagram of those three groups…anyway, Canada isn’t seeing the same level of insanity (for whatever reason) and Alaska is basically the 11th Canadian province. Now is a fantastic time to buy a car in Alaska and drive it home to the overvalued urban US mainland market where hipsters will pay you top dollar for anything except hygiene supplies. Find this 1972 Mercedes-Benz 220D W114 offered for $6,900 near Anchorage, AK via craigslist. Tip from Zach.
This W115 generation executive class Benz was penned by Paul Bracq and is covered in a sweet shade of blue/green/teal that you just don’t seen on automobiles anymore. This 220D is going to be murderously slow with the 2.2 liter OM615 non-turbo diesel, but fuel economy should be good and it should be able to maintain a 70mph cruise…probably….
According to google maps, it is only 3400 miles from Anchorage to Los Angeles, which sounds like a long haul, but it’ll only take 60 hours of driving — or roughly two weeks of the average LA commuter’s daily grind.
See another classic that requires crossing a few international borders and 100 gallons of fuel? tips@dailyturismo.com
Hey, it may be slow, but that'll give you plenty of time to depress the clutch and move the shifter…
I believe there's a ferry service running from Alaska to Bellingham Washington, that would help quite a bit.
The AMHS will get you there… for about $1000 and a couple days of your time.
Nicer than I suspected on first glance, though i still wonder if there's something heavy in the trunk? Seems like a jewel in the rough, literally!
The trunk might have a castaway in it…. a deckhand that got kicked off one of the Deadliest Catch boats? Tryin to make it back home to Sausalito…Jimmy Hoffa style
SAuddenly I have the urge to cruise Alaskan craigslists for a fly-an-drive adventure candidate!
All the vintage AMC 4wd hardware you can stomach.
There is still that great 122S coupe listed – price dropped to $8500…