What makes this 1982 MERCEDES-BENZ 300 DT so desirable?

[GON]

This 1982 MERCEDES-BENZ 300 DT just completed at auction. High bid was over $4800, which equals somewhere in the 6-7k out the auction lot figure.
Looking at its condition- I am amazed this would MB would generate this kind of price. Maybe it was just two people that had to have it--- but wow. Maybe there is a cult following for these..... I am blown away at the price based on the collision condition. No key, bill of sale (no clear title). hmmmmm. Yes the interior looks very nice for its age, and under the hood looks nice. But wow, I imagine the buyer if wanting to restore will be well over 10k, in best case scenario.

DetailsNotFoundView

And for fun- here is another older MB that is on the auction block in Seattle for later this morning

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[joekingcorvette]

Jeez that thing is 30 years old and still has what $5 to $7000 damage to the quarter panel and rear end. Maybe someone bought it for the parts but surely I would not pay that much money to resurrect that car. Not sure about a cult following,

 

[drtyler]

I could see it being purchased for parting out. The original MB interior looks to be in good condition, and it could be used to restore another classic MB or two. While you could purchase new materials to restore with, it wouldn’t be the same.

If miles are correct, same for all the mechanicals.

And some just won’t understand the $$ not adding up, but it doesn’t always have to add up.

 

[ecotourist]

These old 300Ds are very desirable cars. The power train will go for hundreds of thousands of miles. They get good mileage, they aren't total dogs for acceleration and they run easily at high speed. They do rust though so that can be an issue.

My wife's cousin had one (since replaced with a newer model because of rust). He had alternator trouble on a long trip, but not to worry, he just kept the engine running until he got home.

 

[Joel_MD]

Those 5-cylinder MB diesels of that vintage are very desirable. The engine is very simple and robust. It's not unheard of to get 1,000,000 miles out of them.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

In Kansas, either vehicle is considered an antique (over 35 yrs old), so it can be titled and registered using a bill of sale without the title.

 

[Chris142]

The guys here run alternative fuels in them

 

[Astro14]

The guys here run alternative fuels in them

They're very popular with the "waste vegetable oil" crowd.

For example:

Mercedes conversion

 

[GON]

In Kansas, either vehicle is considered an antique (over 35 yrs old), so it can be titled and registered using a bill of sale without the title.

Jhr,

For this particular vehicle, the bill of sale was in line with the state of Washington for salvage vehicles, not for age. 90 percent of the vehicles sold today at this Seattle auction, primarily years 2022-2003, sold with bill of sales. This is not common in most states, but it is the norm in Washington.

 

[Egg_Head]

My MIL had a wagon similar to the one pictured. Most solid feeling car to drive I have ever experienced. Doors were hand hung and felt like a bank vault when closing.

 

[wag123]

The W123 is the most highly regarded series by Mercedes aficionados and one of the best built cars ever manufactured. They remain in very high demand so I'm not surprised that it brought that kind of money.

 

[edyvw]

This 1982 MERCEDES-BENZ 300 DT just completed at auction. High bid was over $4800, which equals somewhere in the 6-7k out the auction lot figure.
Looking at its condition- I am amazed this would MB would generate this kind of price. Maybe it was just two people that had to have it--- but wow. Maybe there is a cult following for these..... I am blown away at the price based on the collision condition. No key, bill of sale (no clear title). hmmmmm. Yes the interior looks very nice for its age, and under the hood looks nice. But wow, I imagine the buyer if wanting to restore will be well over 10k, in best case scenario.

DetailsNotFoundView

And for fun- here is another older MB that is on the auction block in Seattle for later this morning

DetailsNotFoundView

Honestly, I was expecting it to be much more expensive.

 

[Rmay635703]

Jhr,

For this particular vehicle, the bill of sale was in line with the state of Washington for salvage vehicles, not for age. 90 percent of the vehicles sold today at this Seattle auction, primarily years 2022-2003, sold with bill of sales. This is not common in most states, but it is the norm in Washington.

Titles aren’t required if the cars are being exported which is common on the west coast

Jeez that thing is 30 years old and still has what $5 to $7000 damage to the quarter panel and rear end. Maybe someone bought it for the parts but surely I would not pay that much money to resurrect that car. Not sure about a cult following,

That damage may only cost $500 to repair overseas

 

[Cujet]

The W123 is the most highly regarded series by Mercedes aficionados and one of the best built cars ever manufactured.

I beg to differ. They were problematic and maintenance intensive. Bushings would rot out of the suspension control arms, timing chains would kink, zinc window control mechanisms would distort and windows would fail to work, rust would set in and destroy the bodywork, etc. Then they'd start burning oil and fail to shut off, dieseling on the engine oil, at 200 RPM.

 

[dishdude]

One of the top 5 hipster vehicles.

 

[turboseize]

They're very popular with the "waste vegetable oil" crowd.

For example:

Mercedes conversion

This seems unnecessarily overengineered. My vegetable oil conversion was as easy as this:

- get vegetable oil. rapeseed/Canola works best, olive will work, but is sensitive to low temperatures, and high quality (cold-pressed) oils will clog the fuel filter in no time. If you can get your hands on used oil, filter it (easiest is to heat it up a bit und pour it through two cotton waschcloths.) If you have to buy fresh, as a rule of thumb, the cheaper the better. Refined is better than cold pressed... buy opposite to what you would buy for food.
- buy a funnel, preferrably with a curved spout.
- open tank flap
- open fuel filler cap
- insert funnel
- pour oil into funnel
- when full, screw on fuel filler cap and close tank flap.
- ignore the mess you made
- get some spare fuel filters and change according to feel (you will notoce when they clog up. Change can be done on the side of the road, should take less than 10 minutes including priming the fuel system by hand pump).

Keep your oil change intervals short - you don't want to run any risk of polymerisation. Free fuel easily pays for 5000km oil and fuel filter changes.

 

[Astro14]

This seems unnecessarily overengineered. My vegetable oil conversion was as easy as this:

- get vegetable oil. rapeseed/Canola works best, olive will work, but is sensitive to low temperatures, and high quality (cold-pressed) oils will clog the fuel filter in no time. If you can get your hands on used oil, filter it (easiest is to heat it up a bit und pour it through two cotton waschcloths.) If you have to buy fresh, as a rule of thumb, the cheaper the better. Refined is better than cold pressed... buy opposite to what you would buy for food.
- buy a funnel, preferrably with a curved spout.
- open tank flap
- open fuel filler cap
- insert funnel
- pour oil into funnel
- when full, screw on fuel filler cap and close tank flap.
- ignore the mess you made
- get some spare fuel filters and change according to feel (you will notoce when they clog up. Change can be done on the side of the road, should take less than 10 minutes including priming the fuel system by hand pump).

Keep your oil change intervals short - you don't want to run any risk of polymerisation. Free fuel easily pays for 5000km oil and fuel filter changes.

Works in a warm climate.

Gels up and won’t work in a cold one.

 

[turboseize]

Works in a warm climate.

Gels up and won’t work in a cold one.

True! Rapeseed would stay driveable below slightly below freezing (provided you managed to somehow start the engine - return fuel would then slowly heat up the tank and keep the fuel warm enough). But Soy, olive, walnut etc - no chance.

I remember once passing through some hilly remote area at night where temperatures dropped further than I expected. Lost most of my power, speed dropped to less than 30km/h, and then I needed to improvise a radiator block from ripping apart a cardbord box that served as a trunk organizer and then had to wait idling for a good half an hour near the side of the road to get the fuel filter "free" again enough so that the car became somewhat driveable again. Hobbled to the next gas station that was still open and diluted with dino diesel. From then on I could remove the radiator block and continue somewhat normally.

Once in what is currently under polish administration I got caught by an overnight frost so severe that even so I had filled up an almost empty tank with dino sauce just after crossing the border, the trace amounts of vegetable oil still there gelled up enough to prevent a start the next morning.
Had to start a fire under the oil pan to warm the engine compartment up a bit...
Ah, those were the days.

 

[JHZR2]

Works in a warm climate.

Gels up and won’t work in a cold one.

Some older Mercedes diesels allowed a blend of gasoline or kerosine in them in frigid conditions, and palm or other oils in tropical ones.

In the past decade lots of idiots have destroyed otherwise desirable 123/126 cars by doing poor conversions. It is viable to do a conversion, with a dual tank setup and a very deliberate operational condition and changeover back and forth on a hot engine.

Most didn’t take the pains.