In an attempt to reduce our living costs (and the burden of juggling three cars between one parking spot) I recently convinced my better half that we should get rid of all the cars in our possession and replace it with one. The "one" would have all the virtues of a great commute car, be just as reliable as the virtually new loaner X-Terra , just as cool as the Impreza WRX, practical like the VW Westfalia and comfortable like a car we don't own yet. Being on a money saving kick, I wanted to spend less than about $5000.
I scoured the classifieds from Vancouver to LA with more intensity and gusto than ever before and went on vision quests that took me as far away as classic Beemers and Audi wagons to older Tacoma pickups and Jeep Wranglers to really old Jag XJ's (with Chevy 350 conversions), with a brief and disturbing side quest for a monster lifted Land cruiser and gas guzzling Range Rovers.
And then it came to me. I was probably lying on the cold concrete floor by this time, in the fetal position and sucking my thumb when I saw the light. I reached for it, and as it turned out, there were two lights: one white and the other a beautiful bright yellow.
And there it was. A perfect 1983 Mercedes 300D turbo diesel.
It was in astonishingly mint shape, the kind of completeness and good order one often dreams about when looking for twentysomething year old cars. It was under four grand and it was recently gone through by a very competent bloke who owned a Mercedes specialist shop in San Francisco. I found it on a two-day business trip completely by accident and bought it on the spot. It was one of those rare retro car moments indeed.
It was acquired in our usual Autopia fashion, cheap and under the cover of darkness. The flight was booked, money was exchanged in unmarked bills, the paperwork was non-existent (later forcing me to use the finely honed skill of looking dumb with mouth agape at the Canadian border crossing official until he let us import it with only a hastily handwritten note that needed explanation of every sentence. Luckily it had the all important "Bill of Sale" scribbled at the top). We crossed the border on fresh diesel and not a minute shy of twenty to midnight on New Year's Eve, pressing hard to make it home to celebrate the victory of the drive and welcome 2007...albeit I wished it was 1983 again.
You see, deep down inside I've always wanted the old Merc. When I was a young lad growing up behind the iron curtain, once in a blue moon an old W123 Merc would roll through our town and against the backdrop of ordinary Fiat's and Skodas it looked like something out of this world. Later as I travelled throughout the world and watched movies I saw the same cars. Even as time passed they stayed the same, like they just would not die.
Cabs and cop cars in Germany, old beat up Mercs rolling through the dusty streets of Karachi, carrying suspicious looking fellows in headscarves in Afghanistan, selling trinkets out of trunks in Turkey, carrying the equivalent load of another Merc on the roof in Africa. I suspect that if you looked at one of those “world in pictures” books, you would be hard pressed NOT to find an old Merc fairly completing that perfect National Geographic photo in the background. I dare say the old Merc is somewhat of an automotive icon, like a Moleskine notebook or a Nikon camera or a Burberry trench coat. It is not posh and glossy like the Mercedes name is today; it is the dusty, hardworking, silent and most dependable piece of machinery of the last 25 years.
We flew out from our home in Vancouver over 1000 miles away to beautiful San Francisco to pick up the car. I have purchased classics in the Bay Area before, (mostly due to the temperate climate and no intense sun like the desert or even LA). This is the birthplace of Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) a virtual goldmine of anything and everything, which is how I got this car. Thanks to Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist I've gotten nowhere in my career but I sure have had some great cars, parts, chairs, lamps...you get the picture. The car was the fifth in a series of Mercs I test-drove with a friend (Meech is a fellow Merc expert and it was only because of his enthusiasm that I was able to pull this off) and as always it really pays off to have a few examples to compare it to. This not only helps to identify what condition cars in your price range are going for but also gives you a great sense of what they are supposed to drive and feel like.
So what are they like?
The cars are made as solid as their reputation. It’s amazing to think that they are all over 20 years old mostly due to the entire car still holding up extremely well. The doors are heavy and shut with that coveted, nearly trademarked German “thunk”, the interiors are unbelievably hard wearing with the Mercedes M-Tex vinyl (it looks like leather, but it’s actually vinyl) looking like the car is a year old. The seats almost all sag and feel a bit soft, as they are constructed from a spring loaded sandwich with horsehair padding, all which gets a bit old in 20 odd years but albeit are more comfortable to sit in than a modern seat. The body metal is thick, the suspension is made to last a million miles - the ball joints and all suspension points are fist sized – think ¾ ton truck, not passenger car. The turning radius is in golf cart category, simply amazing.
The performance is hardly brisk from stop (it gets much better with a warm engine as it’s a diesel) with the old turbo diesel lumbering along. However the most surprising to me was the massive amount of torque these cars develop once rolling on the highway. They are like a freight train; it just keeps pulling and pulling.
The most memorable part of the drive back to Vancouver was late at night heading into Mt. Shasta. I’ve driven the road many times and certainly in many different cars. I’ve been through it in a Volvo 850T5, a Subaru WRX, a Saab Viggen, a Miata and a 25ft motor home. I can honestly say I have never had more fun and been more impressed than that drive in the Merc. When you drive a Viggen or a WRX you absolutely expect the car to be amazing and often you pick it apart wishing it was better at handling this or that or that the turbo lag is just a bit too long or the torque curve being a bit off. So it came to me as a total surprise when the Merc got into the hills and blew the doors off anything on the road.
It’s a heavy car, and as such has this amazing momentum, which takes a bit to get used to but when you realize that all you have to do is keep your foot in it and plan a couple of curves ahead it really comes out very very graceful. The torque of the 5 cylinder turbo diesel is flat. Which means whether you are going up or down a hill, it just keeps pulling. Overall fantastic. As the night settled, and the left lane was unobstructed, we reached speeds over 100 mph! With the big Merc singing a nice low hum with that 3 ft single overhead camshaft. The noise is the same, by the way, whether you go 70 or 100 mph.
Even my better half is coming around, I think she likes all the attention we get and cleaned up, it's undoubedly cooler downtown. Who knew that "bleak yellow" could be so attractive in a sea of new Bimmer silver.
Now all I have to do is figure out a way to park four cars instead of three in that one parking spot.
Now all I have to do is figure out a way to park four cars instead of three in that one parking spot.
Saving money has never been harder.
KK
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