As previously mentioned in my monthly round-ups of Tokyo CCs (e.g. this one), there are a fair few W123s about in Japan – pretty much like anywhere on the planet, it seems. It was getting to the point that I was ready to give up taking photos, but then this one showed up more of less on my doorstep. How could one resist the appeal of the first Benz-branded production wagon?
The W123 saloon was launched in September 1976 and was followed by the coupé, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1977. The Frankfurt IAA show in the autumn was to be the debut of the wagon, though deliveries only really took place from spring 1978. The wagon was therefore a bit late to the party, but it also had the honour of leaving the scene last: the saloon, LWB limo and coupé were produced until December 1985, whereas the last couple dozen wagon rolled off their assembly line in January 1986. This one seems like a JDM model all right, with those extra back-up lights.
This is a 280 TE – the top of the wagon range, with the fuel-injected 2.8 litre straight-6. Being a JDM car, it has the European-style body but the US-spec engine, which in this case means 140hp (DIN), about 40hp less than the Euro-spec cars.
The first-ever Benz wagon came in a variety of flavours besides the 280 TE. There were two Diesel wagons (240 TD and 300 TD) and two 4-cyl. gasoline models (200 T and 230 T/TE), as well as the rare 6-cyl. 250 T, only offered in Europe until 1982. the T allegedly stands for “Transport” or “Touring,” though I’m not sure Mercedes themselves ever called it anything but the T-Modell. Confusingly, the T-modell’s alphanumeric production code starts with the letter “S,” so this is the S123. All of the 200,000 or so S123s made came out of the Bremen (ex-Borgward and ex-Hanomag-Henschel) factory.
The colours of Mercedes-Benzes in those days were really something else. This one, I believe, is what they called “China blue,” available on the W123 range from 1979 to 1982. Some cars nowadays have colours a bit like this, but they’re all in the kei car / Fiat 500 size. Forty years ago, big car buyers were a lot more adventurous than today.
It was drizzling quite a bit when I photographed this car, so the interior shot was even worse than my usual pitiful attempts. No amount of Photoshop trickery (not that I claim to know how to really use it) could salvage this shot, but I’m including it just the same. The last W123 I had the pleasure of riding in was an Indonesian market 280 saloon in RHD and it was nowhere near as luxurious as this wagon. This one even has power windows and what looks like a blue leather interior. Maybe it even has A/C, it’s hard to tell.
I’m wondering if this isn’t the ultimate W123. The colour’s not my absolute all-time favourite, but it’s not a deal-breaker. I hadn’t seen the wagon variant in a while and I really like it. It suits the classic Mercedes shape so well – why they took so long to do these in-house will always be a mystery. And the car looks so clean, it might as well have been built last year. That Tokyo time-warp effect again.
I’m positively smitten. Pity about the US-spec engine, but you can’t have everything.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1978 Mercedes-Benz 280 (W123) – Born To Greatness, by T87
Curbside Classic: 1985 Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel – More Than A Fashion Statement, by Perry Shoar
Mercedes Purgatory: Where W123s Awaited Their Bio-Diesel Reincarnation, by PN
CC Capsule: 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300D – The Ultimate Professor’s Car, by Jim Grey
CC Outtake: A Mercedes-Benz W123 Taxi in 2016, by Robert Kim
Vintage Review: 1977 Mercedes-Benz 280E – Teutonic Triumph, by GN
COAL: 1980 Mercedes Benz 300D – Slow and Steady Wins the Race, by Importamation
COAL: 1984 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel – One More Time, With Feeling, by Importamation
In-Motion Classic: Mercedes-Benz W123 in Heavy Traffic, by Yohai71
This Hanomag-Henschel – there was a Henschel, really so? – is painted in a hue that really looks the biz when shined to the usual Tokyo spec. (Which this isn’t, possibly to avoid awkward questions about the first part of the Blue name of it in Japan, but don’t mention the war, and anyway, now I’m digressing).
I really like this colour on W123’s. It doesn’t really suit any other car from the era – possibly because of the Merc’s chrome – even if it seems an endless bunch of dull-box ’80’s Volvos got were painted so, but, you know, IKEA and all that.
Or perhaps it’s the chromology plus the generally old-fashioned styling of the car, especially by the time it grew a wagon. Whichever way, it just suited, and I understand it is (rightly) valued higher amongst the W123 Herrs and Her-esses of now.
I must ask our Esteemed Author why a Jap original would have LHD?
I’ve caught a few W123s in Tokyo already and they were both LHD and RHD, but more of the former. Period adverts seem to show them as LHD (see my reply to Paul below). This is consistent with other older Mercs I’ve seen about, and from what other CCommenters have said, namely that LHD is a prestige thing in Japan.
Beutiful car, and great writing. Don’t downplay your photographing prowess so hard. I think they are great.
“This one seems like a JDM model all right, with those extra back-up lights.” Wouldn’t a JDM be RHD?.
JDM would swap the red highway light with another backup light?
There’s something on the car (besides the steering wheel, which is the most obvious) that tells me this isn’t the earliest version. I have always have problems dating 123s, save perhaps for colors or options that I know weren’t added until some point in time, at least in those shipped to Uruguay. Also, as all sold here were for diplomats, they were pretty upscale, so non-AC cars are few. The only barebones were the 240D taxis.
Thanks again for such a nice writing on this, and thanks also for all the good material you always share.
Not sure if this was a JDM as it has leather seats. I read that the Japanese don’t like leather because of the summer heat and prefer velour. See current Toyota Crown, velour seats. Leather for export Lexus models. The interesting thing about the LHD in a RHD market is that the Japanese viewed it as prestigious and different in imported cars including British ones.. Japan has congested roads with low speed limits so I guess you wouldn’t have much of an opportunity to over take any way. Does the country still prefer LHD in their imports?.
I take the point about the Universals, Crayfords etc not being factory models but Mercedes-Benz (sort of) built a wagon before the S123s: the military W31 G4s were also available as wagons and used as baggage or comms vehicles. Given only a handful were built they certainly weren’t a mass-production thing like the S123 but they were a regular production Mercedes-Benz, albeit available only to OKH (army high command) and OKW (armed forces high command).
These were only sold as the 300TD turbo diesel in the US. And very pricey. But they sold very well, in CA anyway. They quickly became the ultimate Mommy-mobile in LA.
MB didn’t get into the wagon business because prior to the mid-late 70s, wagons in Germany had a decided downmarket image. That all started to change right about then, and really accelerated in the 80s.
The upholstery in this one was redone, as MB never had contrasting piping on any of its upholstery.
So why would the JDM version be LHD?
Yep you couldn’t get gas engined 123,s at the time. I read about one buyer had his 28TE order cancelled by the factory and replace with a 300 Turbo TD. He said the performance Was The same but with gas mileage in the twenties and not in the teens….
The gas engined wagons were never catalogued by US dealers but they were federalized and imported on the grey market. I bought a grey market ’85 in the mid 2000’s, at the time when the biodiesel conversion market had sent the prices of the diesels into nosebleed range. It was going to replace an Olds Cutlass Ciera wagon as my daily driver. I ended up selling the Benz and keeping the Olds. Even though I had a friend in the business who thought I had a cool find and could fix the various things that needed fixing without busting my budget, I realized that even with everything working fine, the Benz would be noisier, thirstier, and less comfortable than the Olds.
A lot of foreign cars are sold as LHD in Japan. Mercedes are particularly subject to this form of snobbery — so much so that their ads usually featured LHD cars.
Dear Paul, please forgive me for adding a bit of detail. These wagons were only sold as Diesels in the US, but the first models were naturally aspirated with painted wheel covers. The turbos started in 1981 I believe and had the alloy wheels.
Dear Matt, forgive me for making that mistake! I should have known better, as I remember seeing some of the non-turbo versions. But the turbo version seems to have dominated my overloaded memory banks.
Of course! I was just more surprised that you didn’t remember, given your incredible knowledge! I think I’ve mentioned before on this site that according to my mom, the naturally aspirated was “faster” than the turbo! She meant quicker off the line, as the turbo was definitely faster on the highway. I was not of driving age then, so I assumed she must be wrong and/or nostalgic, until I discovered that the naturally aspirated had both a higher numerical axle ratio and a first gear start in the 4 speed automatic, so the turbo required a lot more aggressive effort on the throttle around town. I still remember the turbo lag and then sudden rush toward redline, then shift, lag, rush to redline of the turbo. It was like waaaaaaaaa-AAAAAA, waaaaaaaaa-AAAAA, waaaaaaaaa-AAAAA. In his 1982 turbo sedan, Dad used to use the shifter lever to control the gears and keep the turbo on boil on curvy and hilly roads and in that mode, the car was surprisingly sporty, as the engine had 125 hp I believe and that wasn’t that low for 1982 and I believe on par with the 528e for example.
I also think the 1981 300TD turbo was the introduction of the of the turbo diesel in the 123 body, as the sedan didn’t get the turbo until 1982 if I remember correctly.
This is very well-kept car, maybe due to the restricted registration requirements in Japan. I am sure this 200 TE is still very close to its original mechanical specifications.
I always wonder how W123 compares against Toyota Crown S120 or newer S130. The Crown can last for long time too.
I notice the owner of that 280 TE uses T-shirts to cover the back of the front seats, the same method I have used on my vehicles for years. I adopted this to keep the dirts from children’s feet knicking the front seat fabrics, very practical way indeed.
The instrument needle centres were black on latest version. (Serie 3), chrome on Serie 1 and 2.
And steering wheel slightly dished.
The hazard light switch looks like the one on Series 2.
Looks like factory roof box.
But a 280TE ought to have square headlights and chrome air intake at the windshield.
Not an expert on the topic, but apparently having a european lhd car is not unusual. Some people import mint euro cars back to europe from Japan, and they tend to be lhd. Apprently some kind of fashion or prestige thing, to emphasize that yes, it is imported. Japanese society thing, not conforming. Common at least with sports and luxury cars. Not sure about a wagon, or when the fad started.
As people can check the vin/country or delivery codes and Japanese registrations, I’ve seen on forums that some old Japanese bubble era benz might have been first delivered to europe or middle east, but finding its way rather quickly to Japan… and finally 20 years later to Northern Europe. Why? Low km, no rust, pedantic former owners, rare when new.
Outstanding find!
Lucky for Chrysler, the W123 wagon was introduced in late 1977 / early 1978. If the wagon had been launched before the Volare and Aspen wagons, I could easily have seen Chrysler copying Ford’s earlier marketing attempt to compare their North America Granada to the Mercedes 450 SLC. Especially, given it worked so well for Granada sales. The faux Mercedes grille on the Volare, and the generally similar size and proportions between the W123 wagon and the Volare wagon, may have made the temptation very powerful to compare the two in Plymouth’s marketing.
Imagine the ultimate huge embarrassment avoided for Chrysler, given the Volare’s initially terrible reputation with reliability, rust and recall issues.
I love these cars! We had two of them back when I was a kid in the rarified environs of Greenwich CT. We had a 1979 300TD (naturally aspirated) and 1981 300TD (turbo). Dad also had a 1977 230 (gas/carbonated) and a 1982 300D (turbo). I always knew they were expensive, but at the time, I didn’t understand what that meant as one of my friends family had a 6.9 and a 300SD (first generation, can’t remember the year. Was the first generation S class a w116?).
Paul once posted an article about how Volvo introduced the first wagon in the US that cost more than $10,000. Within a year or two, these wagons were nearly $25,000. By way of comparison that’s $85,000 Cadillac Escalade territory today.
Incidentally, all four of our W123s were MB Tex, even though the 1981 and the 1982 were considered top of the line in the US and had a fair amount of wood and also the climate control in lieu of simple knobs.
What extra lights? Those are stock 123 wagon reversing lamps, one on each side, same as everywhere else in the world except Europe, where a red rear fog lamp was fitted instead of the driver-side reversing lamp.
“Everywhere in the world except Europe”…
It’s LHD, so it’s not a Thai, Indonesian or Australian/NZ car. It has the small bumpers, so it’s not a North American car. It has the two reversing lamps, so it’s not a European car. What’s left, aside from some parts of Africa, South America (both pretty unlikely for a 280 TE) and South Korea? It’s a Japanese-spec car.
No debate there—it’s a Japanese-spec car. But I can’t figure out what’s “extra” about the reversing lamps. I see only two of ’em.
(No surprise at US-spec engines; Japan brought in emissions regulations sooner than Europe or Australia or New Zealand.)
No mirrors on the front fenders or evidence of them being removed so unlikely delivered Japan new and LHD these cars sold in New Zealand and Australia in RHD you’d think a JDM version would piggyback on those market cars so no US spec engine either, Nice car though these were popular back in their time though very expensive.
Nope. Lots of Benzes here were LHD, especially back then. Still the case today for the higher-spec models. And the wing mirrors were not mandated for imports.
I did not dream up this notion that the W123s had US-spec engines but Euro-spec bumpers. Look it up. I know it would have made sense to “piggyback” on AUS/NZ, but that’s definitely not what happened in reality.
The raised push button switch for hazard signals denotes this model to be April 1978–July 1979 (Series 1). For the 1980 model year and onward (Series 2), the toggle switches have smoother edges, and the switch for hazard signals was changed to toggle unit.
W123 had two HVAC systems: manual and automatic. The manual system had a separate vertical thumb wheel (or rarely seen smaller dial) in the toggle switch row above climate control panel (see photos). The automatic system from W116 S-Class (based on Chrysler system) had vertical thumb wheel with vertical control buttons and labels in English consolidated into one unit. For 1981 model year, the automatic system with simplified icon and horizontal design from W126 S-Class was adopted.
Usually, the saloon with 2.8-litre engine and coupé with all engine options have more chrome inlays (full chrome bumpers, air intake cowls beneath front windscreen, and taillamp trim) as well as rectangular headlamps. 280 TE didn’t have that distinction, denoting it as more “utilitarian” vehicle.
For Series 3 from 1982 onward, the rectangular headlamps were sole option for all body variations and engine options. My feeling is that some owners changed the 280 TE headlamps to round as to give the “sporty appearance”. It is same with first-generation Volkswagen Scirocco: the embarrassed owners of Scirocco with smaller and less powerful “puny” engines often upgraded the rectangular headlamps to four round headlamps from the sporty versions with larger and more powerful engines.
The photos of automatic HVAC control panels. Left is 1976-1980, and right is 1981-1986.
Thanks for all this Oliver!
Guess that should make the car I found a 1979 then, given that this body colour was only available from that year onwards.
You’re welcome!
Speaking of the devil, there’s a lovely restored 1983 300 TD TURBODIESEL with same paint colour for sale at eye-watering $47,500.
https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1983/mercedes_benz/300td/101281763
If it iis a 280E, what about the single exhaust pipe?