Transporter Neu: 1980 Mercedes-Benz 207D
When someone tells you they’ve got a cream colored diesel powered Mercedes-Benz from the 1980s, you instantly think of the W123 or W126 sedans — but there is another way to roll coal in your vintage Benz…a way that is far more vantastic. Find this 1980 Mercedes-Benz 207D here on eBay
bidding for $4,049 reserve-not-met with 3 days to go, located in Bedford Hills, NY.
This 207D van was known internally at Mercedes as the T1 or TN, which stood for Transporter 1 or Transporter Neu and sometimes called the Bremer Transporter. As the Sprinter’s predecessor, it is a bit larger than Volkswagen’s Type 2 (Transporter, Samba, Microbus, etc) and similarly sized to Ford’s Transit and VW’s LT van. Today on the used market it seems like something you could drive to work occasionally, park on the street when needed, and use as a weekend camper/toy hauler.
Few cars are as slow as a VW Transporter, but the 2.4 liter OM616 inline-4 diesel under the center console puts out a meager 65 horsepower, and will give a vintage VW a good race. The benefit is that the 207D should return decent fuel economy as long as you avoid any significant head winds.
See a better hauler for a diesel lover? tips@dailyturismo.com
motorcycle mover
Nice van, especially rare to get one with a manual tranni. Too bad they are so rare in NA? probably not easy to get service & parts or insurance. it may not be economical in the long run. I would want to tow a trailer with it, not a good idea on freeway in the mountains.
I'm sure these are common as dirt in Germany so if you happen to work for an international airline and can bring home parts in your luggage you're in great shape.
This would be eminently useful to have around, but my Suburban costs more to run and can't carry as much bulk but it can tow more and I can find parts at the Pick-n-pull.
I had a 711D which is the bigger brother to this van, same body style. Just a interesting note that the numbers denote the size of the van, mine was 7 for 7 ton and 11 for 110 hp in the slightly bigger diesel engine. Mine could cruise at 60 mph but just barely, so I would think a 2 ton with a 70 hp engine and the aerodynamics of a brick wall would be struggling hard.
That said, I loved the van. Built like a tank, very roomy and almost indestructible. Mine was kitted with a 110v inverter, heavy duty shelving and mechanics tool chest and was an awesome rolling shop.
Parts were generally quite available through the closest MB dealer, but that was 300 miles away. The only salvation being that they did NOT charge extra for shipping them from Germany to the dealer, just the list price. But the three week delay to get parts and the 300 mile drive was a bit annoying.
Eventually the smell of diesel filling the air (and I mean filling) made my wife's disdain for the beast a bit too much to make keeping it worthwhile and I sold it for a couple grand more than a I paid for it, after doing a lot of clean up work to make it much more attractive.
One other surprising thing was that these vans can turn on a dime. Mine was shorter wheelbase but could easily do a u turn in a regular residential street. Gotta love that German engineering.