My fifth-grade teacher always drove a Mercedes-Benz, which was an oddity in my rust-belt corner of the country not only because of its economic implications but also because of its birthplace. Here in Michigan, especially back in the 1980s, most people drove GMs, although a few iconoclasts such as my father were Ford men. Therefore, I always ogled the 240D (later a 260E that I got to take a ride in…my mom was also a teacher at the school, and I was a bit of a teacher’s pet in those days) in the parking lot and thought of it as something exotic. To the rest of the world, it was a well-built taxicab, but to me, it was a handsome example of German engineering. Because of my childhood memories, I always feel a pang of envy when I behold a 240D, such as this “barn find survivor” being offered on eBay in Clermont, Florida.
With 79,000 miles on the odometer, the 146-cubic-inch diesel four should continue to run reliably until the dawn of the 22nd century, so if you play your cards right, this could be the last car you’ll ever buy (not that that’s any fun). Certainly, everyone has heard the comments about the Diesel Benz’s glacial acceleration, and indeed there is some foundation in reality: With 67 horsepower pushing 3120 pounds through an automatic transmission, a zero-to-sixty time in the low-to-mid 20-second range is your accelerative reality. Top speed is just over 85 miles per hour, but at least you’ll be sipping gas (ahem, diesel) once up to speed; fuel mileage is rated in the mid-20s. As you might expect from a car with so few miles, the seller brags that the car runs and shifts beautifully, with no smoke or oil leaks.
But what’s the big hurry when you’re behind the wheel of a Mercedes? My opinion is no better than anyone else’s, but nobody combined left-brained practicality with a unique aesthetic sensibility better than the German automakers back in the ’70s and early ’80s. Interiors are not flashy, but take a look at that dashboard, that steering wheel, and tell me that it’s not an attractive place to spend a few hundred thousand miles. The seats look flat and inflexible, but the Mercedes-Benz fabrics were designed to chuckle in the face of poor treatment, and indeed this car has endured the last 44 years with aplomb; the seller says that the interior is in “excellent condition.” The only issue mentioned is an inaccurate gas gauge with a needle [that] floats.
It’s also a nearly rust-free example, with no rust on the undercarriage or in the trunk.
The only issue I can see, and one that the seller downplays a bit, is that some paint touch-ups have been done that don’t do justice to the overall quality of the car. The seller has this to say about them: “The body is straight and solid and original, The paint for its age it’s an excellent condition, Although you will see some minor touchup paint on the driver door and the rear door and some on the hood, You could barely notice, but it’s there.”
Those spots are certainly noticeable in the pictures, but white paint is perhaps best at hiding flaws in paintwork and bodywork. If you can live with those, this might be an excellent buy, a car that you could literally drive for hundreds of thousands of miles. The high bid so far is a reasonable $3,550 with about four days left on the auction, not bad for a car that was something else to an elementary-school boy back when it was new.
Leave a nice cloud of diesel smoke 💨 for the snobby neighbors 😒 as you crawl 🐌 by in this clean old MB.
That was funny Stan. I needed a good chuckle . I had a chance to drive one like this back in the early 90s . It had a good amount of miles on it at the time but you wouldnt know it by how well it held up, especially the interior. I remember needing ample room before pulling out in front of traffic. I can definitely confirm what Aaron said, it was indeed slow.but what a solid car to drive though. And once you get up to speed you don’t need a lot of horsepower to keep moving. At least on level ground. I enjoyed your write up Aaron. Thank you
You’re welcome!
You’re welcome!
I’d be leaving thumbs ups for you guys but its not working. Lol.
I work at a car dealer in the early 80s and was able to sample damn near every vehicle you could imagine on the market at the time as they filtered through the used car section. In that Malaise era I was always impressed with every Mercedes that moved through the lot. The feel and quality particularly of the interior was very impressionable at the time. None of them seem to have any particularly breathtaking power but only a handful of other vehicles at the time had much of any either. I wish this vehicle were close enough to go check it out, I would be genuinely interested to see if that 62 hp would be just fine with me at this time of life. True to your comment, I think I could be perfectly happy with this is my very last daily driver for the rest of my life…….
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Stan’s covering the thumbs up for everyone today lol.
0-60 in 3 to 5 business days, but what an experience getting there. Contrary to popular belief, Daimler-Benz did employ cost accountants in those days but their job was to figure out what it would cost to build what the engineers came up with and set the price from that, without thought of hitting a price point let alone “lost profits”. That all changed in the early 90s when Lexus entered the market and Cadillac’s 4th gen Seville put people on notice that they wouldn’t be stuck in their Lost Decade of stagnant styling forever.
Low miles because it’s no fun to drive! Check your zero to 60 time with a calender , refilling causes your hands to smell all day and on and on and on . . .
I own an 83 240. Keeping the suspension in good nick with good shocks allows for higher corner speeds so you can maintain some momentum and the slow acceleration is mitigated somewhat.
Ah, yes. My former father in law had one, a 4 speed manual. That poor thing couldn’t beat a turtle in a race, but it was a comfortable, smooth riding car. For what it’s worth, it did NOT emit gobs of black smoke. Ever. He towed it behind his Blue Bird Wanderloge (which emitted lots of noxious smoke) over many many miles. I’d actually like to have one.
I worked for the MB dealer (Scholfield Bros) in Wichita from 72-82 and the MB sales manager said the best way to drive a 240D was to floor it until you got to the speed you wanted. His demo route was over a couple of dips that he would hit at a fairly high speed to mitigate the bump and would impress the customers with how smooth it rode.
Great car!! My only MB was an 84 240D gray market car with a 4 speed. It was fun to shift and go through the gears! My top speed was only 83 and that was pegged to the floor! I wouldn’t want one with an automatic! These cars will go forever, reliably with maintenance….It was one of MB’s great achievements
had a 78 240D. Put about a half a million miles on it. I would still have it if I had changed the oil filter every oil change.
I love the spacious boxy styling of the Mercedes Benz vehicles from that era. I believe that was the W123 models with different engines and number of doors. My mom had the taxi cab beige 1981 300D with the larger displacement 3.0 diesel but it was still slow as a constipated snail crawling uphill. My dad traded in his Cadillac for a 1985 Mercedes 300D which by 1985 had a turbocharger so the now regular snail moved like going downhill at a faster pace. Good handling and sturdiness. The cars did last both parents the rest of their lives.
If you’re tired of buying cars buy this and make it your last car purchase.
SOLD for $4,400.
Last month, I was at my brother in law’s house when one of these, same color, drove through his neighborhood. That’s a rare sight, so I mentioned it to him. He said that a young guy down the street owns it and has been working on it over the past several month.
That was refreshing to know that a car like this would still have some appeal to the generation who is known to not give a crap about older cars, especially something like this.