Wet Cardboard: 1980 Mercedes-Benz 240D W123
I’m very familiar with this next car…well not exactly this car, but the W123 240D/300D chassis in general. I’ve owned and driven quite a few of these old oil burners and I can say with some degree of certainty that they are not reliable like a 2005 Honda that’ll just chug down the miles, but they are rugged like a tank. There will always be something wrong with the car (probably related to the vacuum system that controls the door locks and other ancillary features, like shutting down the engine when you key off) but it won’t stop you from reaching your destination. I once had a 300D that experienced what can only be described as total electrical failure – no lights, no horn, no gauges, but the engine kept running and the wheel steered the car, so I drove home before it got too dark. Anyway, enough reminiscing, on to the subject car — what is that color? Wet cardboard? Duchess Kate’s hair? Any thoughts Kaibeezy? Find this 1980 Mercedes-Benz 240D diesel offered for $2950 in Sacramento, CA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
From the seller:
1980 Mercedes benz 240d
fuel: diesel
odometer: 132000
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
Classic Mercedes BenzOriginal 240d with original CA plates.
Non turbo.
Been on non op with DMV. See attached picture.
Starts right up! Drives pretty well.
Body in really good shape. No rust or dents.
Been sitting a while so the fuel filter gets dirty. Tank should be cleaned out. Leaky
Tires are old.
Interior in great shape. Sunroof works. As does the heater
A nice polish will clean the paint up.
These are getting harder to find and pretty expensive to buy.
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This sure looks beat up for only 137000 miles.
It certainly has the California central valley shriveled plastic on the upper door frame but what the hell is up with the driver’s seat back? Also, it looks like it spent a few years under a pile of wet leaves from the telltale rust at the back of the hood. The mismatched paint on the doors, you suppose it was a taxi? A million more miles would be about right for the way it looks.
With that automatic transmission, the 0 – 60 time would be somewhere between “eventually” and “conditions permitting”
I loved my 240d manual but this looks a little less lovable.
The color looks like Oaked Kombucha. Or maybe MBTexed on the outside. Or like those people in Florida/Southern Cal/Hawaii/wherever the snowbirds go that have that leathered skin that makes you cringe inside for a variety of reasons. Did you know that the crazies that think they are allergic to electricity love these? I loved my 85. Not for it’s lack of electricity. Black with the tan MBTex, and the shriveled door jamb thingies, even in New England. The cruise control was soooo smooth the time it worked for 12 minutes on I-95.
That seatback makes me think of something out of Alien is crawling around inside.