Used Car of the Day: 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300
This Merc is a project car -- the seller is clear about that. But for $4,000, you can have yourself a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300. Oh, and you need to put a transmission in it.
The car was a barn find -- it sat for 15 years. The seller has a transmission and torque converter ready to be put in, they're part of the deal. He or she claims the car is cosmetically in pretty good shape, though there is some of the wear one would expect from a car that's sat in Texas heat for all these years, and a small bit of rust that's chalked up to a leaky gasket.
If you're looking for a project car and four grand doesn't seem too steep, give this one a look.
[Image: Seller]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Manual swap? A number of these Benz’s both US and gray market came to the states with the “dogleg” stick. The W123 Benz are very solid and the CD or CE coupe is one of their nicer designs, almost a Pagoda top.
I like old Mercs, BMW and Peugeots. (saw a nice 505 on The Shield last night ). However, the cost and difficulty in the rebuild is prohibitive for me. I d just buy one finished. ( cheaper)
I'm sure one of those obnoxious LS fan bois will turn it into a YouTube boast. 😒
My W123 (300D) was an '84 with more doors (purchased in 2001). 1984 was near the end of the W123 run, when Mercedes-Benz had the body assembly figured out -- I kid.
Saw one just like it a couple years ago and felt a brief twinge of nostalgia. (Oh sorry, no one cares)