Is there a better color for a Mercedes diesel wagon than orange? No, no there isn’t. But, there’s probably not a better color for any vehicle. This one was painted orange by a previous owner to use as a pizza delivery vehicle. I kid you not. This 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Wagon is posted here on craigslist in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and the seller is asking $3,700. Here is the original listing.
Jeff Lavery is as knowledgeable about basically everything as anyone you’ll find on the globe, but he’s also the German car guru here at Barn Finds. There are other folks here who know a ton about German vehicles, but Jeff is truly a guru. We’ve seen two 1985 Mercedes-Benz W123-chassis 300 TDs here on Barn Finds, and both were written up by Jeff, which isn’t surprising. It’s shallow of me to focus on the color so much, especially since it isn’t even a factory color.
You can see that the paint has seen better days. I’d absolutely, without hesitation, repaint this car in this exact shade of orange, and it really needs it. We got the W123 Mercedes line here in North America beginning with the 1977 model year, and until early 1986. If this has been a Minnesota vehicle for any number of years or decades, I’d want to see the underside. The seller says it does have some rust, “mostly from sitting, not salt,” but most of the undercoating is still in good shape.
With 175,000 miles, this example is barely broken in, and the Palamino MB-Tex interior looks like it has 1,750 miles, not 175,000 miles. The seats appear perfect, both front and rear, and the rear cargo area also looks great. I’m assuming that the rear headrests aren’t included, but we don’t know for sure. There has been a ton of work done on this car. The seller “went through some of the pneumatic system when I got the car- have not had issues with leaks since. I did glow plugs and injector hoses a few years ago. battery and tires a few years ago. Front and rear brakes a few years ago. Fuel filters every year. I had a mechanic install ball joints, control arms, struts, shocks in the front end a few years back.”
You can see the paint condition again here, and sadly, there is no engine photo in the listing. It should have a Mercedes-Benz 3.0-liter SOHC inline-five turbodiesel, with 123 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a four-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels, the seller believes “the ‘B2’ piston in the transmission could use a seal. This causes the car to slip out of first if you accelerate quickly. Once you are in 2nd gear is shift just fine all the way up through the gears without any slippage.” Given any mechanical and paint issues, how much is this orange 300TD worth?
Ok……. I’ll start……..
Orange you glad you wrote this Mercedes up Scotty???? 🤣 🤣 🤣 ……
Ok….. I’ll let myself out now…..
But seriously…. At first I thought it would be neat to see this done up in orange. But I am wondering what color this was when it was new? That blue ( on that link you posted, thank you) was very, very popular in the 70’s. And I like it. I want to second what you said about Jeff. He has excellent write ups, has a lot of knowledge and I enjoy his write ups too. ( truth be told I thought he’d write this wagon up 😆) But you did it justice Scotty, thank you.
i have always liked them i have never owned one not having a garage to do anything with it I’m not sure what i would use it for now. this one the price isn’t stupid high like others we have seen on here.
Like it a lot with this color – once had one gold colored which I do not like so much.
Always good to find another fan of orange vehicles. I once owned two at the same time. If this is reliable I think it’d be the ideal all around car.
At the end of days when the world is cold and dark after some fool lets loose the nukes, Keith Richards will still be happily driving one of these with a ciggy hanging from his lips, being followed by a million cockroaches.
With his dad Willie Nelson in the passenger seat.
WoW, 3K$? AND all that wrk?
Here, a ‘must have’ for yrs (the OM614 WITH turbo) in the wagon, too, the made for usa market 300TDi, (auto, only available tranny here) a real find, as viewed from my house…
Just bought a daily wagon, these were all priced sooo hi, went for same yr ford fox bodied. “Aint dat da way?” Soon as U get one, wha U really want comes along? Localy they were prepin these ‘million mi motors’ for veg oil…
Dr Diesel (Jerm man inventor of diesel) used soy oil~
Runs on cooking oil, yes, I had one too but not the wagon. 84 300 SD, good cars.
Actually, orange WAS a factory color for the W123, but maybe not for 1985, and I’ve never seen it on a wagon, only sedans. And yep, orange looks great on almost anything.
I thought that I had seen orange on a W123, eurovin, but I didn’t see it in the color chips/charts that I found online for the 1985s. Thanks for the info. I agree about the color, it makes this car several more times more desirable for me, and I’d like it even if it were primer gray! This one is only about 35-40 minutes from me, I really should sneak down to see it.
I had one. It was in an awful color but same condition. It ran great at 160K but had 1000 of mechanical work done including servicing. It was an awful yellow color and my spouse at the time said get rid of it. I had it painted cream color and all was good. I drove it another 100K and sold it for what I paid for it. Great car.