A listing popped up in my neck of the woods for a stash of W123-chassis Mercedes-Benz cars that have clearly been sitting for some time. At the same time, a friend managed to get down to the property, and it turns out there are quite a few other makes and models taking residence on a cluttered parcel near Newport, Rhode Island. Find the full listing here on Facebook Marketplace with the option to buy one or buy them all.
That’s a lot of lichens! It’s always a bit surprising to see collections like these right under your nose; there’s part of me that wonders why I’ve never seen or heard of these cars languishing in plain sight. A buddy of mine who visited the property noted there’s a few 1980s-1990s Saabs up for grabs along with a first generation Toyota MR2. Supposedly, there’s also a collection of British car parts indoors, along with a Pontiac Fiero GT in better condition than this W123.
This light blue two-door model appears to be one of the more complete examples up for grabs and it doesn’t look terribly rusty (at least in these pictures.) The rockers are likely gone (it looks like the bottom of the rear quarters behind the back wheels is pretty much extinct) but the doors, fenders, trunk, and hood all look savable. The listing offers no details on whether these are gasoline or diesel models, but either way, the stoutness of the drivetrains will likely make the mechanical portion of the restoration the easier part of the process.
The pale blue exterior pairs nicely with the deep navy MBTex inside. When you see cars like these sitting outside in the elements, you can also feel the moisture seeping in through the door seals; however, at least from this vantage point, it doesn’t appear to be completely soaked inside. The carpets may reveal ugliness we can’t see from this side of the monitor, but at least there’s not mold blossoming everywhere. If you can get in touch with the seller in time, I believe the actual sale portion of this estate cleanout is happening this weekend.
I can smell the mold from here. These cars don’t really seem to garner much attention (especially in this condition) in my experience. Very expensive to repair rust correctly on these. Any time I’ve had them in the yard, they sit, unloved and then end up in the crusher. Seems a shame, but not many being fixed up anymore.
Takes a special lad for these. Obviously the previous owner didn’t get to them and ran out of time. Happens to many. Hopefully someone will step in without the intent of only crushing. Amazing cars when on the road.
Save the Bundt wheels. The grills are always good for man cave garage wall hangings.
“There’s no car that’s more expensive than a cheap old Mercedes.”
or, put another way: The most expensive car in the world? A free car.
You’ve likely never owned a cheap old Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow sedan, especially one with RHD in the USA. I operated a vintage R-R shop and people used to bring me in Shadow sedans and when they found out how much it cost to repair, they would often tell me to keep it instead of paying my repair bill. As I could fix them on my own time for far less, I would fix ’em and stick ’em out in front of the shop for sale.
To far away for me to make any money on them but they have a local scrap value of about $250-$300 bucks part of me wants to take the diesel engine and drop it in a older Ford Ranger or Chevy S10 4×4 just to see how that engine and transmission torque would handle some rock climbing
It would handle it like a bear. I have that setup in a cj7
Couldn’t you make one good one from parts of the others? Just sayin’…
The only way to do this in my experience is to buy it (them) as cheaply as possible and send the cars to Mercedes Benz Classics in Irvine Ca.
They will deliver you the same car as new. It will also be a big number to
do, and it’s a one time expense. I have done so and believe me they are
simply the best at this sort of thing. And you get a new car. You will enjoy it forever. Buy an Owner’s Manual if the car is not so equipped and follow up on the service intervals. Enjoy!
What company in Irvine?
i have bought several and every one that sits needs fuke pumps and thats just the start u can have a grand in one in a week and still might not run and resale is nothing i have a 380 sel comv ht i cant get 2000 for best offer i had was for the hard top 400
The blue coupe even has heated seats!