The Regular Car Guy Got His Hands on a 1978 Mercedes Benz 300CD

By Tony Markovich - March 17, 2016

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A CD? Who uses CDs anymore? Nobody’s used those since Mercedes were actually Mercedes, feel me? *Crickets* Okay, sorry, don’t leave, only one cup of coffee has been had. Let’s talk about the 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300CD. In this case, CD is referring to “Coupe Diesel.”

As referenced, Mr. Regular starts the hilarious and informative video below by saying, “This is when a Mercedes was a Mercedes.” It was an era of high quality for the Germans, while American cars were tanking miserably. They were a status symbol even more than they are today, because, well, crappy cars today have gotten a lot less crappy.

Unfortunately, this model is not the desirable turbodiesel model, nor is it the wagon. So it’s just kind of a regular old Mercedes-Benz with an inline-5 that drinks diesel instead of normal petrol. Back in the day, however, it was no Casual Calvin. In 1978, it sold for $25,000, which by today’s rates is about $90,000. But the owner got this guy for $500! Talk about a steal. It was slow as hell with less than 100 horsepower, but it was comfortable. It had air conditioning. It had climate control, even.

Like Sir Regular says later in the video, this was a car for people who had enough money not to be in a hurry. See why below.