Colonel Mustard: 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300SD W116
The Mercedes-Benz W116 S-Class continued the tradition of flagship luxury where the W108 left off in 1972. Styling was by Friedrich Geiger and it was the first production turbodiesel sedan to be released into the wild by Mercedes-Benz…or anybody else for that matter. Today’s example needs a little TLC, but has plenty of miles under her belt and plenty to go. Find this 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300SD W116 offered for $1200 in Bothell, WA.
It has generally been my observation that you don’t get much car for $1200 nowadays…but this hunk of Teutonic steel is the exception that proves the rule. This wasn’t the first diesel engine in a Mercedes-Benz, in fact they have been using them in their passenger cars since 1949, but it was the first time they put one in a high end luxury sedan and slapped a turbo on for good measure.
Somewhere under that taxi cab yellow hood is an OM617 inline-5 cylinder diesel that was rated at 121 horsepower and 170 ft-lbs of torque. Interestingly enough, the oil burner was only available in US and Canada, while the rest of the world only got inline-6 and V8 gas power.
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Are all these pictures of the same car? The third picture has different wheels and looks like it's sitting down on its suspension.
1) I always wondered why people who are trying to sell a vehicle show pictures of the vehicle with tools laying around in front of it. As if to say "I tried to fix it but gave up, here you buy it…."
2) Something something LS1 swap…..
Love the license plate
Dear DT Head Honcho Dudes,
My latest suggestion is to have a week where cars are featured that are the least money per pound. At 5000 lbs, and $1200, this car is a bargain. Might be tough to beat unless someone finds a 74 Buick "Duece and a Quarter" out in the pasture. It has to be a car though. Trucks are ringers.
There is no way that Harbor Freight jack is lifting any portion of that car off the ground.
To Paul Wells' point, once one starts to notice the amazingly plentiful amount of cars that are stopped in time, on jacks, tires still propped against the garage door and a half eaten subway foot long sitting on the air cleaner. Rodents don't like veggie subs when so many wires are around to eat I guess.