When I first spied the listing for this 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230 I thought, “That’s interesting, the car has been photographed inside the lobby of an office building”. Well, upon further review that’s not the case, it’s on the outside of a building, likely under a portico. It makes for an attention-getting visual statement in all of its scratch-and-dent originality. Located in Santa Monica, California this Mercedes 110 is located here on craigslist and can be yours for $7,100.

The Mercedes 230 designation has been worn by a host of different MB variations but in this case, it’s the W110 that shoulders that well-known model number with over 600K copies produced between ’61 and ’68. Our subject car is the common and typically found four-door sedan, also known as a “Fintail” due to its diminutive rear fins.

The seller suggests, “Body has some dents and the paint is flat. Could be polished up…” Yeah, it’s a bit rough but far from terrible. There is obvious peeling paint along with some surface rust but the body shows itself to be sound. The chrome plating still has some depth and the iconic and prominent grille doesn’t look like it has been kissed. The seller adds, “All the glass has been professionally sanded, and machine polished and has no scratches or cracks. It all looks crystal clear” – I haven’t run into that before! There are no images of the underside included in the listing but the seller mentions, “entire rear subframe was removed, painted…” and the one image of the trunk floor reveals a solid piece. Oh, and no, I don’t know why there is a “Ford” script badge affixed to the grille.

A 118HP, 2.3 liter, in-line, six-cylinder powerplant is holding court in the engine room. It has had an extensive amount of maintenance and repair bestowed upon it – check the listing for specifics. The seller claims, “I drove this Fintail just under 1000 miles in the same day from Oregon to SoCal to attend the LA Cars and Coffee. The car drove well in the extreme heat and the temp gauge didn’t miss a beat, even over the grapevine“. The seller adds that this car’s automatic transmission was a rarely selected option as most 230s relied on a four-speed manual gearbox. The mileage listing is 54K miles but there is no claim of authenticity to that recording.

The interior is in surprisingly fine, original shape. Stated, “Dash has a crack and the speaker cover comes with the car, recently found an original working radio ( $600) that is installed but needs a center-dash speaker, restored gauges, fuel gauge works, oil temp gauge works, speedometer works with the fun thermometer-style center indicator, oil pressure gauge works, and gear selector gauge works“. The tough leatherette seating upholstery looks like new as do the door panels and floor mats. It’s a very Germanic environment – functional and all business. We’re also told that the original and untouched headliner is still defying gravity – good to know.

The seller believes that this 230s worn appearance is a positive selling feature and adds, “It has a special appeal that evades the shiny, heavily scrutinized world of restored Mercedes“.  That may be the case as this Mercedes is certainly presentable-looking as is and, maybe best of all, its aesthetics are not something that you need to worry about – take it anywhere, right?