CE750

This is still my favorite MB..


If I lived in Saddle River (my sister actually does!), I would be seriously tempted to go over and offer him $10K..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1985-...QQcmdZViewItem

DslBnz

Ah, nostalgia. I used to have an '85 300D. Mine was anthracite/palomino MB Tex. Just turned 190K, and the condition was close to that particular nautical blue example. Quite flawless.

I remember the high stalling torque converter that slipped so much at lower velocities, the engine speed never dropped below or rose above 3K climbing an incline from a stop and through gears with a gentle right foot.

However, I also remember these cars were very nose heavy, and it didn't corner all too particularly well.

I got about 26 mpg on my short jaunts from my home to school. I upgraded to a 300SD later on.

The anthracite '85 300D was my birthday present for making it to 17 without causing too much strife. I miss that car. I miss the 617, especially.

CE750

I had a good friend in the early 80's who's father had a brand new 240D.. he'd take us to Chuckie Cheese in it... which for me the ride in the Benz was more of a treat than the Pizza or games.. My parents were committed to American trash at the time (a 1981 Ford LTD wagon).. which was, even to a 11 year old, obviously a piece of crap! Built of the cheapest possible plastics, and fake woods.. the door slam sound on the LTD had several parts to it, a beginning, middle, and end.. all too about 1.5 to 2 seconds to play out..

I then contrasted this to the venerable 240D, which was at that time about a year old... and I'd sit in the rear seat, closing the door to a terrific sound of a "THUD" and not a single rattle or after noise.. It was like closing a bank vault.

Then there was that nice smell of the older MB's.. not found in my CDI, that I missed..

Ah.. I need to get me one of these cars to satisfy my cravings!

Nevada Jack

Hey Sam...I had a 1980 240D and drove it over 4 years. Solid as a rock and loved it...what a great commuter it was. Also had a 1985 300TD Wagon...Burgundy with camel interior. Kept that about 6 years also and traded it with 125,000 miles at Schumacher for a used 1990 TE in 1992 or so. I was a diesel nut and would love to see them put one in the new S.

CE750

That was pretty much 95% of the MB market back in the late 70's early, 80's... I think with the exception of the 450SEL, the new S's sold in the 80's were mostly 300SD's.. with the occasional 380 or 500SE /SEL..

MB was head and shoulders above em all back then!

Collin380

CE750,

I will sell you mines for less and it looks better IMO.

prometheus

I like the 300, but personally those rims gotta go!

CE750

I beg your pardon? What rims? Those are the stock rims for that car.

CE750

Price & Pictures please!

Chi500

I have a 1983 380SEL and I like that smell too. But someone once referred to it as, "the old man smell."

prometheus

I was referring to the 83. Sorry for the confusion.

egxpimp

haha i call it the german smell...my ex hated the smell and tried to put an air fresher in my car and threw that **** away hahaha... btw the SD are nice cars an get great gas mileage

CE750

no prob..

Chi / egutie.... glad to know I wasn't the only one imagine it. Oddly, I occasionally get a whiff of it from the A/C vents when the A/C is off..

Collin380

CE750,

Pictures are on my signature line and make me a reasonable offer with or without the wheels and radio/tv system. The car has 168K original miles with dealer records. It will be in the shop this weekend to have the top end rebuilt. Has new injectors, glow plugs, brakes, etc. Everything is in working order.

Regards,

Alex

CE750

Looks nice Collin, but it's not the same condition as that ebay car... I'm looking for lower miles and less wear and tear.. But it's a clean car for 165K..

vraa

One day I'll learn about the obsession of older cars.

CE750

Its like this Ricky.. when I was a kid, that WAS the MB of choice on the roads.. and that was the MB that I first said "I want to have one like that" about... If you see from my first post, the various aspects of the car, even the aroma bring back memories..

The other think is, and I don't care what others will say... they just don't make them like they used to..

back in 1983, Toyota had NOTHING that even compared to that car in terms of quality and workmanship, fit and finish, etc... today, people like you are confident in their Toyota's superiority in those areas.. which tells volumes of the improvements at Toyota, and the decline at MB!

vraa

In 1983...
Sometimes I think I take my young age for granted

CE750

That picture is 1/2 the story.. the MB's doors slammed like a bank vault with a thud like nothing else in the auto world.. the Toyota was one degree better than the GM or Ford product of that time... or crap!

vraa

No Toyota door slams like a vault anymore, and I'm not sure if I can say the same about half the Mercedes'. The only car I've actually driven that felt like a vault recently is my X5. The LS430 and S500 both have those pneumatic door closers and the SL has a window rather than frame at the door.

CE750

the back door on the W211 E, and frankly the back door on the Acura RL sound nice, but you're right.. that W123 was one of a kind..

IllCDI

Whenever I drive my w123, I get a special feeling that I have never had in any other car. When the doors close, it sounds like a piece of fine machinery. I find it astounding that Mercedes was that technologically advanced at the time. They had fiber optic lighting for the top buttons, and over engineered every aspect of that car. The suspension is beefy, the transmission is bomb proof, the throttle linkage is made out of hefty brass. The Iron head would be hard pressed to warp, even when severely overheated. There are no O2 or MAF sensors to go bad, and everything is purely mechanical. Everything was engineered to work under severe conditions. The only achilles heel of these cars is the vacuum system, which can easily be diagnosed with a simple vacuum cleaner.

CE750, if you get a w123 I predict you will be driving it more often than your CDI, the car is highly addictive.

CE750

This is one of my dilimas.. I know this, and can't justify the $62K I've sunk into the CDI and then park it!

CHB

I agree with everything, except for that last part. I do enjoy driving my w123, but the seats have little to no support what so ever compared to any other modern cars The seats just ruin the whole experience for me, take a turn slightly too quick, and you slide everywhere! Otherwise, as a weekend car, it is awesome

jimbo1mcm

You can't explain to a non-car person, the attachment to an automobile. I had given my original 83 240d to my son for 5 years and it had gotten really beaten up on the way to the airport each day in NYC traffic. When I had the chance to get it back, I took it and my thought was the following:" This car has been so good to me, it deserves life!". I then put a new MB engine in it, had new fenders, rocker panels, quarter panels and floor pans put it. I also had interior work done, capped off with a new Midnight Blue paint job, with clear coat. I still greatly enjoy getting into it, hearing that reliable 4 cylinder get going, and shifting that smooth 4 speed stick.