The Sketch Factor: 1976 Mercedes-Benz 300D
I’ve bought some rough cars over the years — many of them that needed help getting home, but I’ve always been keen on getting a good title and a set of matching keys. This next car comes with neither of those things…or if it does have keys, you need a new ignition switch. It is not likely that this car is stolen, but I don’t believe that “out of the DMV system” is really a thing in California (although it might be a thing in the wild state of Nevada)…but the sketchiness factor to asking price is…ummm…not bad. Just watch your back when heading to a remote desert meet-up spot with $1400 in cash. Find this 1976 Mercedes-Benz 300D offered for $1400 in Pahrump, NV via craigslist.
From the seller:
1976 Mercedes 300
fuel: diesel
odometer: 136000
odometer rolled over
title status: missing
transmission: automatic
Nice shape 1976 Mercedes 300 turbo diesel. Automatic transmission. Needs ignition switch. Also drivers door panel is not great other than that pretty nice little car. Currently not running because of ignition sold with bill of sale only out of d m v system. Located in Pahrump Nevada near Las Vegas
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“Drivers door panel not great.” Seller is a master at understatement.
45 years and you might not look so great either!
/getting old is sucking
And for that matter… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbqLWDl-1i8
Little known fact, that’s green MB-Tex
Pretty sure the driver’s door panel has seen the inside of the Ark of the Covenant.
I don’t see a screwdriver sticking out of the ignition cylinder, and I didn’t see any bullet holes either. Seller probably found this out in the desert somewhere, alongside two skeletons and an unfired mac-10. Look for false panels before taking this in for repairs. I’m sure it will be fine.
If this were within 100 miles of me I would probably go take a look at it.
I think on a warm day it’s pretty easy to get the engine running on one of these if it’s in good shape. It’s 109 here today, should be even warmer in Pahrump.
Or do an engine swap.
The door panel is probably just a matter of making a new piece of fiberboard to glue the MB Tex to.
What the idiot that ripped it off the door did to the locking system is another matter.
I’ve always thought that these would benefit from an LSx or something swap. Great looking tanks but can’t get out of their own way in my limited experience.
The Chevy oil sump and Benz crossmember claiming the same space as their rightful home is a problem, but rumor has it that a nova oil pan and some welding skills can overcome the territorial dispute.
If the seller included the VIN in the ad it would take the sketchy factor down by an order of magnitude.
I had a Lotus 7 I kept in California and around 2000 moved it to Oregon. The chassis had a BMC engine number, the title used the engine number from a Ford 115 engine and as it then had a crossflow 116 series I couldn’t get it titled there. No prob as I only used it on the coastal roads in the county and the cops all knew and loved the car but when I left the US I gave it to my sister. Even though she had my Cali pink slip from the 1980s they said it was out of the system, incorrect numbers etc. It took a year and a lawyer to straighten it out.