Mercedes-Benz 200 Saloon

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Functional, rational, beautifully built and expensive, the W123 was the essence of the Mercedes brand in the ‘70s.
To have a W123 on your drive signalled to the world that you were a person of substance, a person who had the means and the good judgement to invest in a machine developed by the largest research and development budget on the planet, from a firm that was at the top of its game.

Factory brochures showed a world of healthy, square-jawed Teutons in beige flares with beautiful wives driving responsibly through Alpine passes and along deserted sun-kissed autobahns, man and machine exuding quiet superiority. Meanwhile, back in Croydon, sallow-faced Mr Jones slammed the door on his Marina as it failed to start for the umpteenth time that month, cursing his wife as she stood uselessly by in her curlers while he grovelled in the oil-streaked rainwater to retrieve the door handle from the gutter.

Dating from August 1979, this 200 has the 93bhp four-cylinder petrol engine. It has had just three owners from new, the first a Mercedes dealer in Wolverhampton and the last keeping it from 1989 until his death earlier this year. The service book shows five stamps up to 42,225 miles in July 1994 and the odometer still shows only 75,300 miles which is believed to be correct.

Finished in China Blue with a beige cloth/vinyl interior it is said to be mechanically sound with an MOT until January 2020 and was in regular use until recently. It would make an ideal classic daily driver for the new owner.