No Reserve Driver: 1984 Mercedes-Benz 300D
If you appreciate or are in the market for a classic Benz, you’ll want to see this! It’s an ’84 300D that was brought to America from Germany, and it’s for sale right now here on eBay out of Independence, Oregon. Let’s look closer, shall we?
The W123 was the successor to the fabled W114 chassis, and was in development for more than just a few years prior to its launch in either late 1975, or early 1976 (exact dates vary between information sources) They were an instant hit, and from then until January 1986, Mercedes sold approximately 2.7 million units. In all, there were 5 different body configurations and 11 different engines available during that 10-year period, and it was Mercedes’ best-selling model. All of them were “over-engineered” and extremely reliable in comparison to most other automobiles at the time.
Now, we turn our attention to the unit at hand. This maroon saloon with light-colored interior presents rather well, both inside and out, and from the pictures, we’re not able to see much that would be considered a deal-breaker. The seller doesn’t go into much detail, but we are told that it was a European-market car, it starts, runs, and drives fine, and there’s no rust. We can see a few interior concerns, like the dashboard wood trim and dirty carpets, but with only 137,000 miles, the normally-aspirated 5-cylinder 3-liter diesel is “barely broken in” as some aficionados would say.
I have stated before that W123 are some of my personal-favorite vintage automobiles. My late Grandmother had a 240D and, while as slow as molasses in January, I absolutely loved driving it when I had the chance. I would buy a turbocharged one in a heartbeat, if I could afford to pay the going rate for a nice example.
That’s what I think, what do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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Comments
It is, a fabulous engine. I had one in a wagon, would cruise all day at near the max, an ran on most vaguely combustable liquids you cared to pour in the tank without complaint.
Russell, IMO you would be far better served buying this or a similar one, then adding modern turbo charging to it. Turbo technology has improved by orders of magnitude since the 80’s and with a modern turbo, you could really get one of these to become quite lively and enjoyable.
Great engine and excellent car. I owned an 84 300D turbo diesel. I could nearly drive from Chicago to New York on a tank of fuel, keeping in mind that back then the national speed limit was 55 most people did not drive much over 65. That said, these cars are leisurely accelerators, at least until the turbo kicked in on mine. This one doesn’t have that feature. That said, if you do a lot of hwy driving this is an excellent choice as it is very comfortable, rides nicely, handles well and will get excellent fuel mileage.
Imported from Germany, but with a speedo in MPH? Hmmmmm…..
If you ordered a car for European delivery you could specify that you required a US Spec (or aspects of same, such as an MPH speedo). So there is nothing unusual in this.
But this appears to be a grey market car (see bumpers) so unless you know the mileage of the replaced Euro KM speedometer, the true mileage will never be known.
There’s a well known flipper in Independence that specializes in import cars. I would recommend a competent inspection before sending money.
In the late 1980s, a friend’s older brother inherited one of these non-turbo diesel 4-speed stick-shift with like 300,000 miles, and we turned it into a punk rock mobile and went to concerts at Cameo Theater in Miami Beach and drink underage at a great bar called Chruchill’s Hideaway. The car was two-tone with a sunroof and iron cross from the skating brand Independent stenciled driver’s door. It was a traveling disco. It was fantastic!