Shown here rolling out of the barn it’s been kept in for most of the last 40 years, this 1968 Mercedes 200D was once a very loved car. Originally purchased by a decorated USAF Colonel as a reward to himself after returning from the Vietnam war, the car has only been driven 54,000 miles. The colonel has a very interesting history, I’ll leave it to you to google if you are intrigued. The car is located in Xenia, Ohio and is being sold here on eBay to provide funds for the Colonel’s care. The buy-it-now price is $2,500 but offers are being taken below that figure. Said to have no rust apart from the rear bumper and a perfect interior, the engine being out of the car for a rebuild has me wondering about that legendary Mercedes diesel reliability. That being said, it seems like a good platform for a classic tourer. Would it make more sense to rebuild the engine that’s there or find a replacement, perhaps a later one with a little more oomph?
Very, very slow, but oh so regal.
Some interesting comparisons can be made between this model and the A-10. Certainly they are both slow and built tough.
Makes no sense to rebuild that old diesel – awful engine, slow, slow to start, in this case put a gasoline MBZ in there and you’ll have a really cool car – they ride better than a Rolls-Royce, handle better than a BMW 2002 and have much more class than a Toyota – I speak from first hand experience.
Thank you Colonel for your service, and best regards from all of us I’m sure.
The ask on this car is certainly reasonable, and nobody could argue with that. I would like to see more pictures, especially of that perfect interior, the engine, the engine bay, etc. As we know, the brakes and suspension and electrics etc. of these cars are expensive to re-hab.
And yes the diesel is loud and slow, so an engine swap would be a good idea. But you will love rowing through that 4-on-the-tree and steering that big steering wheel. Great car.
With respect, I disagree about the engine swap and parts cost. Unless you plan to make it a real sleeper with an SBC or (gasp!) an M100, the original corn popper isn’t all that much slower than a 220 gas, the cost of normal wear components is reasonable and there is a vast subset of enthusiasts and vendors who will supply needed stuff. I suspect there was an incident (e.g. fueled with gas, out of oil, overheated) which caused the engine removal. It won’t be cheap to rebuild (is anything today?) but a good used unit is out there somewhere and a rebuild, if carefully done, would stand you for 250k miles at least. Armadillos marvel at the lasting qualities of MBTex interiors, and these have been used as taxis everywhere in the world, for good reason. It even has AC which probably only needs a charge.