The seller of this 1968 Mercedes-Benz 220D claims it has under 12,000 original miles. It is equipped with the desirable manual transmission along with the long-lived diesel powerplant. In what has become a tried and true selling tactic, the seller has not removed any of the barn dust from the car, which apparently hasn’t been used to any significant degree since 1997. You’ll find the Mercedes here on eBay with bidding just over $1,400 and the reserve unmet.
The Mercedes is a U.S.-spec model, with the ugly sealed beam headlights a dead giveaway. However, that’s easily rectified with a set of H4 units from Europe. All four hubcaps remain affixed and the glass – presumably, an original windshield – all looks up to spec. The car presents as being quite straight up and down the sides, and I’m torn on whether the seller should get any credit for keeping the dust on it. If it’s a preserved, low-mileage specimen, then it should be hosed off to reveal that gleaming white paint – right?
The seller has performed some due diligence with regards to the engine, noting it displays proper oil pressure and gets up to temperature with no signs of overheating. It drives and stops as it should, and it seems like the long-time family owners fully intended to keep the Mercedes in the family: after the car’s first owner passed, it went to her son. He then passed away and it was left to his wife, which is where the seller entered the picture. Given the car did not see any sort of regular use after 1997, it’s all the more impressive it starts and runs without issue.
The Pennsylvania antique plates perhaps suggest an enthusiast connection; the trunk looks quite clean with an original spare still in place. I’ll bet the factory tool kit is still squirreled away somewhere, too. With no signs of rust and most equipment working – right down the original Blaupunkt stereo – it’s safe to say this 220D was loved throughout its life, and it will hopefully find its way into enthusiast ownership going forward.
I like what I see. I wouldn’t turn a 220 down although they’re no powerhouse when it comes to performance. Get four people in one and you need a couple to push you to get going. Very reliable car. I don’t care much for the pneumatic governor though. Drive down the road in a crosswind and every vehicle that passes you on the upwind side makes you accelerate and suddenly decelerate; a semi will really give you a wild ride. Of course if the diaphram ruptures then you get a runaway that could be disasterous.
I dated a girl whose father had one of these albeit a little newer. One Friday evening he ran out of diesel fuel on the freeway about five miles from home. He caught a ride home with an acquaintance and then started pissing and moaning about the MB dealer being closed on the weekend, and how he wouldn’t be able to get anyone to work on it, leaving him on foot. I told him to hop in the truck with me, and I’d get it running.
He was aghast that a hayseed mechanic from a farm would have the audacity to even suggest he knew something about a highly sophisticated piece of automotive technology. But I wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I’ve got a hundred gallons of diesel fuel in the slip tank in the bed of my truck and I’ll get you going.” I didn’t tell him that it was dyed fuel for off-road use only but I doubted if the highway patrol was about to check him out on a weekend. He was very hard to convince but it also helped when his wife and daughter took my side. We drove out to the car; I pumped about five gallons of fuel into it, then opened the hood and bled the system. I told him to try it, which he did. The engine caught, rather roughly. He promptly shut it down. I told him to try it again; it would settle right down. He ought to hear an ancient D-7 if he wanted to hear precombustion chambers knock. He tried it again, and it settled right down. To this day, he is still convinced that I got it going through blind $h!t house luck and not good old American ingenuity…
You hayseed mechanics! Always butting in…. Sadly and seriously the gentleman should have shown more gratitude and shouldn’t have questioned your ability. I hope that he hasn’t destroyed your belief that helping people is a good thing. I hope that his daughter expressed proper gratitude! 😋
So I would take pics of the car as found but then definitely gave the old girl some of her dignity back but giving her a wash if not a decent detailing and then have taken “after” pictures. Hasn’t she been humiliated enough??
Engine and bay looks pretty cruddy for 12k…
Soooo did you marry her, the daughter ?
No, she really wasn’t my type. It turned out that we only had one thing in common and that would’ve gotten very hard to deal with. It turned out that we both liked girls. I sure wouldn’t have turned her younger sister down though…
Classic comeback geomechs. You win today’s phrase that pays. Well done.
“I refuse to wash it”
But I dont refuse to put new diesel fuel in it
Say what?
If it was a gasoline 4 with a 5 speed and a sunroof I’d be all in! :)
Lots of these around where I lived when I was a teen
I don´t believe this car is original as described. First of all, the car has a 4-speed manual floor shift as shown on the datacard. Hard to believe the mileage of 11,872 mi, since the car has a 5-digit odometer. Someone mounted non-original bumper guards on the front and rear bumper. 2 keys are reproduced, which doesn´t speak for originality either. The car needs a complete overhaul and I assume it has rust in the common areas. 1000 bucks would be a high but fair price.
Just reverse shop vac motor and you can “make” a barn find…lol
Looks like a great deal but wear a mask when cleaning the interior!
fer petes sake wash it- bet it would look like new if the guy spent an hour on it…Geez
Cheers
GPC
Too bad its not the column shift manual for max hairshirtness…..
Already over $4,000 and reserve not met. I like these, have owned several, but not sure I would pay the current price without seeing proof of mileage and the car cleaned up.
More likely 412,000 miles, than 12,000 miles, so the low mileage claim is a red flag. Non original equipment is another red flag. And where are the receipts? Dust left on the outside is red flag number 3: lots of paint defects can be hidden under dirt. Better to buy a daily driver that is maintained, then a car that has been parked for twenty years and needs all the rubber and belts and hoses replaced (been there, done that). And being an east coast car, we are talking rust, which isn’t mentioned by the seller (always buy car from a dry climate: learned this the hard way with an east coast Supra that had hidden rust).
I had one…sold it for $500 and was glad it was gone.
I don’t buy the low mileage claim either – unless truly backed up. Still original tires? Belts? Etc? Even if truly low miles, all the neglected storage could be worse than driving it!
I had one, sold it at over 325,000 miles and had I been dishonest, I could have represented it as a low miles car as it had survived so well – very little wear on the MB Tex upholstery, carpets etc.
Looks lile a 240 I bought when they were being planted in backyards in Westchester and Putnam NY. I would tow them into my basement garage, drop the pan, check the bearings, take the head off (always full of carbon by being driven slow) get it done with new guides, seats and bearings and then drive it and sell it. Good hobby, remember my 5 year old daught being agood tool passer.
I had a 1973 220D with the stick. I was surprised at the quality of the car even after 25 years.
I also liked the ease with which I could get tailgaters to back off by just pushing down the accelerator pedal.
There is no picture of the dash, which is odd. Does this car have the pull out starter?
The bumper guards are a genuine MB dealer-installed accessory; they were called “Guardmeister”;and yes, it has a pull starter.Too bad there’s no interior photos(too much mildew maybe)…
I never had a diesel, but I did have my “Black Beauty”, an 87 420 sel..Great car & made for crusin the highway. although, all the double systems & electrical relays & ceramic fuses made dealing with shorts a real challenge..