There are certain vehicles that seemingly never go out of stock. The C3/C4 Chevrolet Corvette, the Mazda Miata, and the C107 Mercedes-Benz are cars that rarely prompt an urgent need to buy. Now, of course, if you find the right combination of quality and price, there are certainly cars worth jumping on. The W108/W109 Mercedes-Benz models are similar in that there’s still good stock of running cars, so you want to look for the ideal combination of low cost and high quality, like this 1972 280SE listed here on eBay with no reserve.

When these mid-sized sedans were introduced, they represented a dramatic departure from the previous era. Like the downsizing happening at Cadillac, Mercedes also dropped the distinctive tail fins of the previous years’ models. The 280SE shown here was available with a 4.5L V8 but this one, like so many others, came with the standard issue 2.8L inline-six paired with a four-speed automatic transmission. This era of Mercedes’ bread-and-butter sedan also pre-dated the shift to larger U.S.-style safety bumpers and the “ribbed” taillight lenses, so it’s equipped with pretty chrome bumpers and smooth lenses.

The color is excellent as well, with moss green over tan leather. Similar to the W123 lineup, the cabins of these cars featured extremely durable materials. As an unrestored example that ended up at a facility that sources a lot of its vehicles from private donations, it says a lot that this Mercedes hasn’t exactly been loved in recent years but still looks this good. With crank windows and few other electronic features or functions, there’s not a lot to mess with or otherwise repair in terms of power features.The wood trim on the dash typically does perish over time, so I’d plan to replace that eventually.

While the 4.5L V8 cars carry a premium – and for good reason, those engines are powerful and pull down triple-digit speeds with ease – the six-cylinder models still offered excellent highway manners and could happily motor along for hours at a time. I believe these stately sedans made around 160 horsepower, and the seller’s video shows this car accelerating nicely. The seller discloses that is has rust issues in the rear door jamb on the drivers’s side, and at least one spot in the floors. While a bit of a project, it looks like a worthy candidate for reviving over the course of a few summer weekends.