Mercedes-Benz 300TD

THIS CAR HAS NOW BEEN WITHDRAWN

CATALOGUE AMENDMENT: This car has just suffered some minor front end damage which has caused it to be classed as a Category C insurance write off (damaged, repairable). The owner is planning to fix this damage before the auction.

The W123 Series Mercedes was launched in 1976 and remained in production until 1985. Along the way it earned a reputation as one of the most finely engineered cars of all time – just visit any developing country and you will be amazed at the number that are still in daily use, especially as taxis, where their ability to notch up intergalactic mileages, often with minimal maintenance, has made them indispensable to the conduct of daily life. Particularly popular in this regard is the 300D, powered by Mercedes’ legendary 3-litre 5-cylinder diesel engine, which is a seemingly unburstable power plant. 

This particular 300TD estate was acquired by the current vendor brand new in August 1984 and has remained in almost daily use ever since. A relatively rare 5-speed manual model, it has now clocked up some 254,000 miles but is said to have proved totally reliable throughout that time. Indeed the vendor has a friend who has now clocked up over 900,000 miles in a similar car with no engine issues whatsoever.

Always home serviced by the vendor, the car has been religiously maintained and was fitted with new sills about three years ago. A new clutch was fitted about 1,000 miles ago along with new slave and master cylinders, while new Michelin tyres were also recently fitted. The car also benefits from a stainless steel exhaust, a sunroof, built-in roof rack, an alarm and still retains the original Blaupunkt Melbourne radio cassette.

The cream bodywork is still in remarkably good condition all round while the dark brown cloth interior is said to be virtually unmarked, having being protected from new by tailor-made seat covers which have never been removed. Currently taxed and with an MOT until September 2012, the car is only reluctantly being sold due to the advancing years of the vendor and his wife who now require a smaller vehicle.

It comes with two sets of keys, all its original handbooks, a Haynes workshop manual and the aforementioned seat covers. With acceptable performance, decent economy and decades of useful life ahead of it, this is possibly the ideal car for austerity Britain. Especially if you are thinking of fleeing the credit crunch to become a cabbie in Tanzania…