Brown.....✅
Diesel......✅
Manual....✅
Rustbucket..........?
So I was doing that thing you do where you spend your free time scrolling through facebook marketplace and craigslist shopping for cars that you don’t really need because you already have six when you come across a certain listing that matches what you’ve had in the back of your mind for several years and just for kicks you message the seller and take if for a test drive.
You know... that thing.
I’ve owned several Mercedes over the years including but not limited to a w115 240D, a w126 300DS, a w123 300TD, and a w108 280 SE 4.5. But... i’ve never owned a w123 coupe with a manual transmission. I knew this was a pretty rare car and at the asking price of $1,500 I had to take a look.
I was pleasantly surprised to find this car had recently received a donor motor from a 300TD with only 240k miles. Just broken in. This also adds a turbocharger bringing the paltry stock 83 horsepower up to a whopping 125, which isn’t too shabby when matched with the 181 lb/ft of torques.
As you can see the body has some serious rust but the underside was solid and the floorboards, trunk and rockers where hole free. The seller even had the original stock wheel, so despite the other myriad of gremlins (very long list if your interested) I managed to twist his arm and drove this baby home for $1,200. Fortunately the sale included the original rims and not long after I managed to offload the (ugly?) aftermarket rims and tires for $300.
I’m happy to report that I’m quite excited to have another project I can drive... My wife? Not so much.