Junkyard Find: 1974 Mercedes-Benz 280C

by Murilee Martin

October 11th, 2013 12:41 PM

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Since I’ve been haunting self-serve wrecking yards since the early 1980s, I’ve seen some patterns in the average age of various junkyard inhabitants. Detroit cars show up in large numbers after about 10-13 years on the road. Toyotas and Hondas need about 20 years. Off-brand Japanese stuff (e.g., Mitsubishis, Daihatsus, Suzukis) appear in under a decade. 1980s Hyundais started showing up in these yards when they were under five years of age, which is a terribleness record. Mercedes-Benz cars, however… well, the stuff they built in the early-to-middle 1970s is just now appearing in large numbers at U-Wrench-It.

The W114/W115 series ran from 1968 through 1976, and they tended to last for-freaking-ever. Only now am I seeing them in junkyards in anything approaching large numbers; we’ve seen this ’73 220 sedan and this ’73 280C coupe so far in this series.

This one is a rust-free California car, but pretty well used up and not worth restoring. Still, a shame to see it leaving the road.

I though about grabbing this Becker Europa cassette deck and selling it on eBay, but it looked a bit too rough.

At least a few of this car’s parts will live on in other W114s.

#1970s #1974 #California #DownOnTheJunkyard #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #Malaise #MalaiseEra #Mercedes-Benz #Mercedes-BenzW114 #W114

Murilee Martin

Writer d'Elegance Brougham Landau.

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4 of 45 comments

Ex-x-fire on Oct 11, 2013

That intake looks like a quadrajet would bolt right on. Didn't they have fuel injection by then?

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- Dr. Kenneth Noisewater on Oct 11, 2013
  
  Aren't those designated by having the letter E(inspritzung), like the 280SE?
  
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- Glwillia on Oct 12, 2013
  
  Yup, Mercedes had been using fuel injection since 1954, with the 300SL. I've never owned a W114/115, but I think they are direct swaps.
  
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Lovestick-tr on Dec 22, 2013

hi i have some car like this but i need some parts how i can find it thank you 1 - w114, 280c AC CONDENSER with triangular bracket without fan , center a.c swtich 2- 280c driver side ( without miror ) and passenger side CORNER WINDOW GLASS 3- us front and rear bumpers 4- front speker cover 5- windows regulator with motors,windows installation wire cable, front switch panel with switch, rear windows swtich and front and rear side doors panel thank you :) 6, and some small dashbaord parts i added pictures 7- complete middle center board 8- under the dashboard cover left and right side thank you

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Recent Comments

Arthur Dailey Due to the ease of parts and the comparative lack of complexity, this might be an excellent 'project' to provide a student/young adult with a vehicle that stands out in the parking lot. Rather than adding 'go fast' options put in basic and robust mechanical components and it might be a decent 'runner'?
Theflyersfan Building on Art and MaintenanceCosts - Looking at the three Nissan dealers in my area:Jeff Wyler (one of the 800 pound gorillas of car dealer families in this part of the Midwest - all over Cincinnati, Columbus and Louisville):2024 Z NISMO: $84,075 ($15,000 "upfits")2024 Z Performance: $52,562 ($1,800 discount)2024 Z Sport: $44,095 (in transit, no discount or "upfit" listed)Coyle: No Zs availableCollins:2024 Z Performance: $65,720 ("upfit" isn't listed, but it's looking to be around $10K-$13K)Three dealers, three on the lot, one in transit, and the good one has a laughable adjustment. There is no way a Z, even a NISMO, is worth $84,000 before taxes and fees. I guess if you're in the Kentuckiana area, and have a need for a Z, get the Performance model and the small discount. But this is just one metro area of close to a million people with three dealers with little inventory with Zs getting marked up. And I'm sure everyone reading this can check their hometown Nissan dealers and see the same thing.
Analoggrotto One parked beside me early this year
Arthur Dailey In the interior of the blue vehicle what is that under the instrument panel? And why does the steering wheel rim not match the colour of the rest of the interior? Is that a locking ashtray or the glove box in the centre of the dash/instrument panel? And where are the 'vents' for airflow/AC? Are they still located in the footwells? I deeply appreciate the exterior styling of these vehicles, but the interiors are still almost at a pre-war level.
MaintenanceCosts You could spend all your money restoring this and it still wouldn't be a proper six-four. Pass.