Is there a car you fancy that is quite different from the typical cars you are into?

If so what is it?

For me that car is the old 70’s & 80’s turbo diesel Mercedes sedans.

From the time I was 12 years old and just beginning to admire cars the classic good looks and strange sound of their clunking diesel caught my attention.

I would gravitate towards V8 Mustang along with the Triumph Spitfire and Toyota Supra sport roo. I was even fortunate enough to end up owning at least one of the previously mentioned vehicles over the years but even after all these years the diesel Mercedes sedans from that vintage still catches my fancy.

One of my best friends recently bought an old station wagon diesel Merc (his is the same color as the one pictured below). It has a backward facing third row seat and is just cool as hell. I can’t believe he sold his 1999 M3. But the Merc did seem like an interesting replacement for a guy with a lot of kids and two other large daily drivers capable of also hauling the kids.


I saw this a few days ago in Winston Salem. The roof rack caught my eye. When we caught a light together I noticed the HUGE smoke stack protruding out of THE HOOD. I had to roll my window down and tell the driver enthusiastically that I LOVE her car! She made a huge smile and thanked me.

What a cool car!

My wife would KILL me if I brought a big stinky diesel home. She HATES Mercedes Benz (which annoys me) but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to looking at them occasionally on Facebook market and Craigslist. It seems like the manual versions are the most difficult to find but THAT would be a neat car to have and one I would keep forever.



Look at that exhaust!

My first car was a 1982 Mercedes 240D [non-turbo]
Off-white with blue leather. Slowest car I've ever driven, but might be the one I miss the most out of my fleet

Got rear ended by a F150 & totaled about 9 months after getting it.

2nd car was a 1982 Mercedes 300SD. S-class turbo diesel. Silver on blue leather. It was a nice car & much peppier than the 64hp [new] 240D. Sold it when I moved off for college, as it wasn't up for the highway driving. We found out from the guy that bought it that the wastegate was stuck open & it never made boost. Probably would've kept it had I known that.

What I really want is a 300TD wagon. Gas or diesel.
The W123 is one of my favorite 'regular' Mercedes models & they're tanks. When I totaled mine, it was at a speed differential of about 40mph, with the extra inertia of the trailer he was towing. You could still open close the back doors without antly interference.

A 300T with a W202 C36 AMG drivetrain swap would be awesome. Since we never got an AMG wagon in the US until the E class in the late 2000s.

From September 2009 until August 11, 2023, I owned this wonderful 2006 Honda S2000. We bought it with 6,000 miles on it and sold it with 49,000 miles on it. We decided to sell the 'S' as both my wife and I have back problems that made falling in and out of the car a challenge.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:

diesel Mercedes sedans from that vintage still catches my fancy <snip> the manual versions are the most difficult to find

I had a normally aspirated (non-turbo) 1978 240D with manual transmission that I picked up new at the factory delivery center in Sindelfingen. Absolutely reliable for seventeen years and several hundred thousand miles.

Manual transmission was quite common in the normally aspirated models, but I never saw a turbo diesel with manual, only ever saw them with automatic.

I always like the 6 series BMW’s. Specifically the coupes from 30 or so years ago.

Early 1970's Volvo 1800ES hatchback.
I always just liked the way they looked.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:

diesel Mercedes sedans from that vintage still catches my fancy <snip> the manual versions are the most difficult to find

I had a normally aspirated (non-turbo) 1978 240D with manual transmission that I picked up new at the factory delivery center in Sindelfingen. Absolutely reliable for seventeen years and several hundred thousand miles.

Manual transmission was quite common in the normally aspirated models, but I never saw a turbo diesel with manual, only ever saw them with automatic.

I nearly got a manual 240D, but it needed the AC repaired
Mine ended up needing a heater core, transmission & broke an upper control arm. The manual may have been cheaper in the long run.
I've never seen a 300D with a manual.

An older 80s era manual Saab 900. They could run forever.

https://www.ebay.com/motors/bl...ten-enthusiasts-car/

I’m a Mustang and Corvette guy. But I could make room in the barn for a WRX or mid to late 60’s Coupe Deville convertible. Also like the early 60’s T-birds.

International Harvester Scout 1972. A great farm vehicle, around town and even cross-country trips to the Rockies. Very reliable and during deep winter the heater was outstanding.

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Early 1970's Volvo 1800ES hatchback.
I always just liked the way they looked.

Interesting story (at least to me!), the first 1800ES was a custom car that did the show circuit in the very early 1970's. Painted some sort of pearl color IIRC, it was on a turnstyle at the Chicago Auto Show in about 1972, when I was financing my last year of college selling Volvos and repped at the Show.

A few days after the show ended, I was back at my dealership and a customer who had seen the car at the show asked what would be done with it. I called New Jersey (Volvo's US HQ at the time) and they told me to sell it. My customer wanted it, so I sold it to him. Delivered it through our dealership a couple weeks later.

At the Chicago Auto Show, a display light was set too close to the right-rear quarter panel and scorched the paint. Volvo didn't want to be bothered with a repair, so the buyer took it with the damaged paint.

The car went into production in 1973, I think, and was well-received.

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
I’m a Mustang and Corvette guy. But I could make room in the barn for a WRX or mid to late 60’s Coupe Deville convertible. Also like the early 60’s T-birds.

My neighbor has an 02-ish WRX that just sits there. Tempted to see what she'd want for it.
It's black, which sucks [IMO], and I think needs AC work. But otherwise looks quite clean.

quote:

diesel Mercedes sedans from that vintage still catches my fancy

You don't want to be behind a MB 240D at a traffic light, not if you are in a hurry anyway!

Although I’m a Ferrari fan, I always thought that the gull-winged Merc 300SL was a cool looking car.

My favorite road car was a 1949 Sedan 62 Cadillac. I bought from original owner in 1982 with around 75000 miles on it for around $1500. Impeccable road manners at 22mpg/75mph.

My other favorite rather quirky all around was a 1976 Saab 96. Way more reliable than another favorite, 1964 Citroen ID19. Great town errand rig was a 1964 Studebaker Lark. Sorry to see all of these simply fade away. Each had important differences worth the effort of keeping them running.

Then the 79 Mercedes 300 SEL turbo diesel, of grand engineering, one of the few rigs I've had that actually blew a timing chain despite regular shop care.

I have always wanted the 1993 - 1995 Mazda RX7 with the Wankel Rotary engine, however do not trust it as it seems very delicate with the apex seals blowing out easily. God Bless

EV’s ala Tesla, Porsche Taycan, Audi ETron etc.

I am a car guy and part of that is the “symphony” all kinds of engines make. Flat 6’s, Turbo 4’s, the glorious V8 etc. I am at heart a “petrol head”.

All that said the car and tech geek in me is drawn to EV’s purely as a car and tech geek. I don’t think they make practical sense, we don’t have any kind of infrastructure for them, they can be dangerous etc. etc. the LAST thing I want is this tech foisted upon folks. That said the instant torque, the tunability, the sci fi like aspect of charging and moving with little noise all scratch a certain itch for me so to speak.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Although I’m a Ferrari fan, I always thought that the gull-winged Merc 300SL was a cool looking car.

My #1 grail car, hands down.
I got lucky & got a ride in one years ago. Was scared to breathe on it [est $2M value, at the time, around 2007].

We had a Mercedes D220 when I was 19 I drove the heck out of that car it got 36mpg and we had farm diesel at 30 cents a gallon. It was great on the road . , I now have VWs I bought a Jetta TDI sportwagon this summer it's also my road trip car consistently getting 42 mpg and fun to drive.

I've mainly been an SUV guy for quite a while. But, cars I might have if I had the money and garage space for them would be a Plymouth Prowler, a Honda S2000 (I can actually fit into one of those--at least with the top down), and a Dodge Challenger SRT.