Even a full 35 years after production stopped of the venerable W123 series, it’s still a pretty common occurrence to spot one of the sedans (denoted as the “W”123) in the junkyard. With a little under two and half million sedans built, that’s almost self-explanatory. Much less common is the hardtop coupe variant (C123). With less than 100,000 built and thus the rarest of the three main bodystyles and most of them living very pampered lives they just don’t get beat down as much. Comparatively, the S123 wagons were twice as plentiful. In other words, for every coupe there were two wagons and 24 sedans built. In any case, time stands still for no one and no car and eventually the sixth or perhaps seventh owner beckons and, well, the clock starts ticking sooner or later.
Of course these weren’t just cars to be seen out and about in, they could do work such as towing as well. While on a shorter wheelbase than the sedans and wagons, there isn’t anything less stout about them. The tinworm has started to nibble at this one in a few areas, and what looks like Anthracite Grey paintwork has also started to fade and perhaps shed the clearcoat here and there. And over there too I suppose. Never mind all that, we all have a few skin blemishes.
As a 1984 model, this is one of the later examples, as the coupes were only built through the 1985 season. Of course we got the double round headlights with the clear surrounds over here and larger bumpers, the front one of which this one has thoughtfully shed for us already, the one we saw in the rear is large enough already for both ends. The chrome fender overriders are an added on frippery, they did not come that way from the factory.
And of course the “Bundt” alloy wheels were ubiquitous across the range by the 1980’s. Someone helped themselves to the star that should be flying proudly atop that huge chrome grille that foreshadows today’s heavy duty pickup trucks. Hey, that’s what pickups need! Hood ornaments on top of the grille, perhaps in the shape of a cherry the size of a bowling ball! (Round for safety of course.)
Starting in 1982, the only way to get a Coupe (or any W123 for that matter) over here was to opt for the Turbo Diesel inline-5. With 123hp@4,350rpm and 184lb-ft of torque at 2,400rpm it got the job done in what would nowadays seem a very unhurried way, sort of the way your teenager takes out the trash after you’ve asked him three or four times and now you aren’t really asking anymore, i.e. it finally gets done, but yeah.
Of course the early 1980’s weren’t really a performance wonderfest anywhere, so a lot of the above is hindsight speaking. At the time I’m sure it was just fine although I was under the mistaken impression that the diesels started in second gear like the gassers did, it turns out the diesels started in first. In the end, the run from 0-60mph was dispatched in somewhere between 12 and 13 or seconds depending on the source, model year, and specific model, I don’t (yet) have a source for this specific year and variant.
Here’s that bad boy in all its 3-liter, inline-5 glory, there’s a turbo in there somewhere. It looks like it may have wet the bed recently, that Behr radiator with the plastic top doesn’t look like it’s the original one and the upper hose seems new as well. The coolant tank looks maybe 37 days old instead of 37 years as well. Someone spent a little Geld on this one very recently. I forgot to check the air filter but I can almost guarantee it’s new as well, in junkyard cars around here it often seems to be the first thing that anyone addresses when there is an issue with anything, no matter how much coolant may be pouring out of the radiator with the hole in it.
The roofline is a little more rakish than the sedan, and the rear side window is obviously abbreviated. This size class of Mercedes has always been the subtly elegant representative of the lineup, especially in two-door form. Lower both of those windows and there’s no pillar to get in the way of the breeze. That breeze feels just as good in Aspen as in Tyrol as in Japan when you’re livin’ the life in a Benz!
Enough room for multiple golf bags or luggage for that week’s vacation at Lake Como for those driving one of these on the Continent. Or, in this case, a set of later alloys from that S-class a row or two over being saved for someone’s next visit here, I think. Along with a small stash of someone’s VW Passat parts. Anyway, quite large, even if there’s a bit of a liftover. Back in the 1970’s when this was developed people weren’t such pansies and could lift stuff. Nowadays we hire someone else to do that for us.
Alright, I’ve been avoiding the elephant in the room for long enough, it’s time to address what I think may be an attempt at rust repair on the driver’s door. It looks like galvanized sheetmetal but with an underlayer of some sort of flexible but waterproof material, a good idea here on the Front Range. The 1/4″ head sheetmetal screws should have been all stainless like the lower ones, as you can see the uppers are rusting already, bummer. And the craftsman here may have missed a small spot at the lower rear edge. That’s what they make duct tape for though, to take care of the little holes, perhaps he was getting to that when the radiator went.
But nobody will worry about little bagatelles such as that once they ensconce themselves inside the Kabine. There’s genuine veneer all over the place (okay, on the dash), the almost-indestructible MB-Tex is holding up as well as can be expected after this many years in the Colorado sun (leather was available but I’m almost certain this is the Tex), there’s a steering wheel the size of one from a bus, which Mercedes will happily sell you as well every other place but here, however the wheel looks quite safe if you happen to smash your chest into it.
There are two “cupholders” on the open glovebox lid, and check out the little button that releases the seat to fold forward. Just push that and then pull the seatback forward. So much fancier than a lever that invariably breaks off eventually. And compare the armrest (actually a doorpull) on the driver’s side to the passenger one in the prior picture, they’re different because as the driver you will be too focused on driving with both hands on the wheel to have your left hand holding or resting on the door…I believe that’s why older German cars had the window switches in the center console, so that someone else can control that stuff for the others while the driver…drives. A novel concept.
Everything is a little worn in (patina), and some of the zebrano wood has left the party, however the center console is the definition of simple, with a huge thumbwheel on the left to spin to the desired temperature and then buttons to select what HVAC function you’d like to see happen. The requisite Becker stereo headunit is below that. A bank of buttons up top and then a few air vents of the round and easily directionable variety.
By the way, in older M-B’s, if you ordered another option that needed another button you got a different piece of trim to accommodate it. And if you ordered less options, you get a piece of trim to accommodate that as well, there were no blanks, just many, many versions of trim to fit the different number of buttons.
Even from this vantage point we can already see that there is no “Dashboard of Sadness” on display in the instrument cluster, that looks full featured as one would expect from a premium vehicle such as this. Let’s get closer to see the magic number,
Gott im Himmel! 392,509 miles! And look at that leading 3, that sumbitch is already getting ready to turn again to the 4, with full confidence in its ability to go all the way, keep going, and get back to where it’s started. The 1980’s were really peak Mercedes years for instrument clarity and legibility, these are great. The needles on the oil pressure and temp gauges actually swing around when driving to display information rather than being tethered in place so as to not worry the uneducated rube that’s driving the car.
There’s even a tach, something virtually unheard of over here back then when there was an automatic transmission in place in a luxury car. That almost $35,000 (base) price tag ($90,000 today) seems pretty good now that you think about the miles this one traveled, eh? And that’s assuming that VDO odometer actually works.
The seat condition makes a little more sense when you think of the mileage. Perhaps there was a passenger for many of those as well…Here’s that seat release button again and you can see the dial to set the recline angle of the seat as well near the bottom for infinite adjustability. All day comfortable as well, these seats are.
The back seat isn’t exactly swimming in legroom even for someone with my, everybody now!….yes, 32″ inseam. There is a power window switch though so that’s something to take the edge off. And a fold-down armrest.
It’s a Christmas Baby, built in December 1983 right at home in Stuttgart according to the A towards the middle of the VIN. No stickers for Mercedes, you get a real plate.
This angle was the first glance I had of this car and it struck me as having a very cocky expression with absolutely nothing to be concerned about. This car has the swagger to think it’s going to have someone find and turn the key and then it’ll motor on out of here under its own power, leaving all the other suckers behind. But you know what? It could be right.
I love these. In my last year of law school I started wondering what “life on the outside” would be like. One early vision was with one of these. I loved the conservative 2 door hardtop body. Hmmm, I thought, I could spec one with a gas six, a stick shift and crank windows for that Germanic no-nonsense experience. Then I got a brochure at an auto show and saw that a diesel automatic would be the only choice. Well, yes it would be expensive, but I would take care of it and drive it forever. Then I actually saw the price of one. Gott im Himmel! No wonder M-B was using alphanumerics that reminded me of Certificates of Deposit and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It eventually turned out that “life on the outside” would not involve one of these cars in any way.
That body repair – oh my. Somewhere there is a white-coated M-B technician reading this who just went into cardiac arrest. Can you imagine the size of that rust hole before he started?
What’s perplexing me is that there’s no serious rust on this car anywhere else. Which makes me wonder if it really was a rust hole or a sharp impact. Such a giant hole in the middle of the door is a bit odd; usually it’s in a low place where salty water accumulates or such. I have never seen a car with a giant rust hole in the center part of a door.
I would have expected Jim to remove that sheet metal so as to confirm what’s behind it, like a good house inspector, but no… 🙂
If this was a Eugene car we could have seen the exact nature of the issue from the inside. 🙂
They rust, these really rust badly, but true often invisible behind the A pillar and inside the rear wheel arches. But this one seems to have been fallen out of love and then – perhaps- an expensive repair for the engine and adios.
More or less the same for that black B5 Passat behind it, these were IMO the very best VW ever made!
Jaguar used to glue a piece of felt to the inside of outer door panels, in the middle of the panel. It caused rust holes in the centers of the door panels. Not a thing MB would do.
This car really makes me wonder just who had owned it previously.
Was it a one-owner car, where the owner bought it during his peak earning years, and then as he got older became increasingly eccentric, decided to keep his Mercedes running forever? And the owner just happened to expire before the car?
Or was it passed down to the children or grandchildren of the original owner, who either by choice or necessity likewise used it as daily transportation until recently?
Or did it get sold in the usual way, and with each successive owner, the Mercedes descended just a bit farther into beaterdom?
We’ll never know of course, but it’s fun to speculate. This car was obviously maintained with the thought of keeping it running, but at the same time it was heavily used, and that door repair that looks like something one would see on a farm truck certainly tells us something, but I’m just not sure what.
And just a random point: those big knobs/dials to recline the seat were the best seat reclining technology ever invented.
“…the best seat reclining technology ever invented – attached to some of the worst seats ever poured.”!
The prior, gasoline version of the USA C123 was the 280CE. I owned one (a ’79) for seven years. Jim, I’m sure you know that the choice of diesel or gasoline did not make much difference in acceleration – but there was no hurry, the speed limit even on interstates was 55.
Mine was quite reliable; I did have to replace the alternator. Bought a set of Michelins about four years in and that was it. The 280CE was replaced with a Lincoln LSC. Wow! A V-8. Fun.
the T123 wagons
They are called S 123, never T 123.
Oops, right you are, critical typo corrected!
The trip odometer appears to be zeroed out. Those odometers were known for failing if you zeroed the trip odo while the car was rolling, stopping both odos. So it is possible the car has more than 390k.
W123’s were plentiful here and now almost all are gone. I noticed this particularly over the last couple of years. A combination of real expensive diesel fuel and just plain wearing out, not rust, make them no longer economical to drive anymore. Competent mechanics that knew old German cars may have retired as well.
The special thing is that the coupe with the 300 turbodiesel, which was also installed in the sedan and station wagon, was never available in Europe or Germany. The contemporary S-Class was also equipped with this diesel engine but was only available outside of Europe. This was then changed for the E Class from 1985 and the associated coupes. In Europe, Mercedes had lost too many customers, mainly to BMW, Audi and Citroën. With the CX, Citroën the fastest diesel motor car of the time. I can still remember a report on Geiger Motors. These imported and still import many new US cars, especially the pickups but also eg. Mustangs and the US Vans among others. which were not officially sold in Europe at the time. Geiger Motors imported used coupes and especially S-classes with diesel engines. But Mercedes refused to provide guarantees and claimed that the models were not suitable for European approval. If I remember correctly they got a European approval via Italy …
Still one of my first loves. Just a great car all around, though I may be biased….
“Geiger Motors imported used coupes and especially S-classes with diesel engines. But Mercedes refused to provide guarantees”
Exactly what happened to Americans who did not want diesels but preferred imported German market gasoline cars at the same time. I wanted a 380SEC but MBNA’s price was too far for me. The 500SEC was cheaper as a gray market car. But American Mercedes dealers would neither acknowledge nor support it. That, for me, led to a Lincoln LSC. MBNA gloatingly price gouged during this period. I came back eventually but they lost me for two decades.
I seem to remember that the Ferris wheels Mercedes insisted on fitting as the steerer for many years were made so circumfrous not just because it made them good to bump into if crash came to push but also helped alertness by spreading the driver’s arms out and assisting easy breathing on long journeys. (By which logic, the go-cart wheel facing modern Peugeot drivers should presumably be causing them all to be keeling over with congested lungs and oxygen deficiency before a long drive is completed, but I digress).
As for this old shcnitzelwagen, it isn’t dead. It’s resting, pining for the ‘bahns, and if it weren’t hoiked up and nailed on it’s current perch, it would still be slowly choking left-laners the land over. it’s just shagged-out after a long journey for now.
I can’t help but love the days of Benz simply making cars THEY felt were right, and pricing them in the clouds not out of greed but necessary return on hard-spent investment. And a sneaking admiration too that this resulted in cars that, by some measures, had serious flaws: concrete seating, abysmal road noise and bump-thump, heaviness, slack-arsed acceleration and weirdly tardy gearchanges, not to mention high fuel consumption and somewhat vague-ish steering. Sure, vast numbers were bought by snobs because of the badge and price (and I DO like the thought of them marinating in discomfort and slothful speeds but entirely unable to admit it externally), but that’s not why the engineer’s company made them that way.
But are they great cars, as actual cars, as opposed to admirable creations? I’m never sure of that. Those flaws are pretty serious, and wouldn’t be tolerated on anything not badged as this was. Perhaps in proof they were indeed flaws, over time, these Mercedes eccentricities all melted away. But then, so did a bunch of the quality too.
I’ll state for clarity that I do love these models for the reasons given, but putting aside the flaws, it’s arguable that they’re a bit (whisper it), well, dull. The coupe here is the high point, but let’s face it, it’s not going in the Louvre one day, is it? (Perhaps the loo, on a poster, more like). It’s handsome enough, the wagon perhaps moreso, but it’s not an oil paintng, or at least, not one by a master. A competent apprentice, maybe.
Despite my ramble, it’s a bit hard to argue with a complete machine only recently dead with 400K on it, even if it took a patient and slightly deaf owner with a strong back to get that far. As for rust, our intrepid Correspondent Of The Rubbish Piles has done an artful job of avoiding the sills in photographs, so the terminality of such is unknowable, but I do wonder why it is that the W123 coupes seem to be far more prone to serious iron oover-sufficiency and self-eating than the others (same, oddly, as SL/SLC Mercs): were they made on a different line or something?
From mid 1981 on wards the W123’s all started off in first gear .
The four cylinder sedans were sold in 1982, I’m driving one right now, 240D base model with 39X,XXX miles on it and runs well, NO SMOKE .
The turbo charged 5 cylinder diesels were not slow unless improperly maintained .
I have a ’84 coupe and am often asked how I manage to drive it so fast ~ apart from Bilstein HD shocks and me adjusting the turbo’s boost two pounds it’s bone stock and has no difficulty keeping ahead of any modern car .
This poor old thing still has a lot of coupe specific parts and hopefully was discovered by the local M-B enthusiasts before it was crushed .
-Nate
Interesting. I did not know the gassers started in second…
It depends on the year model…..
-Nate
All the W123 gassers did, and all the W124 gassers did, at least until 1993 or so. And the corresponding W126s too.
What year and model are you suggesting didn’t start in second?
Not ‘suggesting’ ~ Mercedes made a running change mid year 1981 .
Probably only the Diesels, they certainly needed it .
-Nate
STILL HAVE MINE. BOUGHT IN 1996.HAVE PUT ABOUT 40K MILES ON IT. LOVED CRUSING 90MPH ON LESS THAN CROWDED FREEWAY. COULD CRUISE THAT WAY ALDAY. FELT LIKE ONE WAS FLYING IN AN AIRPLANE. SMOOTH AS SILK.
Thanx William ;
That’s certainly how I felt most of the time I was driving mine .
I upgraded the suspension a bit and tweaked the turbo a little bit, that car went like a scalded cat .
I put well over 200,000 miles on it in less than 10 years .
-Nate
WILL POST PICS OF 1984 MB 300 CDT ASAP. THANKS.