Equipped with the automatic transmission, a 240D Mercedes is about the slowest car you can drive around without people looking at you funny. Well...maybe people will still look funny at you, but I've logged many miles behind the wheel of both manual and automatic transmission equipped W123s and I can tell you the slushbox is serene but it is dragging boat anchor while 22 year old burro pulls an oxcart up Pikes Peak slow. Find this 1981 Mercedes-Benz 240D offered for $2,000 in Pomona, CA via craiglist.
The 240D is powered by an inline-4 cylinder 2.4 liter version of the OM616 diesel engine, which is good for 64 horsepower and 101 ft-lbs of torque. Great fuel economy (30+ mpg all day long) and will last 500k miles without a fuss...but...remember the whole burro thing...yah...
The interior of the W123 needs little because it is built from MBTex- which is Kevlar-like in its ability to be bulletproof.
See another oil burning classic? tips@dailyturismo.com
You'll be at WOT keeping up with the motor scooter next to you at the stoplight. Freeway merges will take careful planning. Any of the mountain passes (Sepulveda, Tejon, Cahuenga, etc) in the LA area will see you being passed by 18 wheelers on the uphill side.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a primer for what it is like to drive one of these daily in LA, go out and borrow your friend's tired 70's Beetle (everyone in LA knows a guy with a Beetle). Then drive to Home Depot, fill the frunk with gravel, the rear seat with cinder blocks, and the front seat with the fattest co-pilot you know. Then drive to Vegas. That'll give you an idea.
This doesn't have a gas pedal. Its a switch...either off or on at WOT.
ReplyDeleteI had the manual transmission twin of this car, same color combo and everything.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually fun to drive in NYC traffic. You can drive it flat out without anyone noticing.
Also it has a mighty big flywheel and ok torque, so if you rev the engine as fast as it will go and slide your foot off the clutch pedal you can get lots of wheelspin and about as good of zero to eight MPH as you would if you stuck a LS engine in one.
These cars have all the door and trunk locks operated by the vacuum system along with the brakes and the compression release. There is no spark and no throttle on a diesel so the compression release is the only way to turn off the engine other than setting the brake and letting the clutch out in fourth gear. Also since there is no throttle , there is no vacuum in the intake manifold so there is an auxiliary vacuum pump. What with vacuum leaks in the 100 yards of hoses and just wearing out eventually the vacuum drops below the threshold that will make the engine shut down. Great fun with valet parking, although the older Mercedes-Benz 240D with the glowplug-starter-shutoff knob were just as valet confounding.
I have no idea how you would shut off an 240D with an auto. That and the lack of clutch sidestepping fun would keep me away from an auto 240D. This car with a stick on the other hand...
Hugh,
DeleteI know how to shut off a 240D with an auto - you pop the hood and press the red stop button on the rack. I too had vacuum leak issues on both 240Ds (auto and manual) and for the auto you would need to pop the hood to shut off the engine everywhere you went. Putting it in gear with the brake on would only lead to a hilarious amount of suspension compression in the back, but no engine stopping. You could simulate hydraulics with the right timing on neutral-drive-neutral-drive when stopped. Great car - and you are correct about driving WOT all-the-time.
Vince
Dad had the exact twin to this when I was a kid. I can speak to the lack of speed, my bike was faster to 20. But it was the Seats: On a cold winter morning, there was nothing more uncomfortable than sitting on those ice cold hard seats. After Dad unplugged the car and got it started, they took what seemed like an hour to finally warm up. By that time, my ass was completely numb and my complaints had been drowned out by Neil Diamond blaring on the Blaupunkt.
ReplyDeleteI had one for years as a back and forth to work beater. The odometer is an easy fix with a drop of Super Glue where the plastic gear meets the metal shaft it is on. You can push out the speedometer from behind the dashboard in about 20 seconds. The secret to a good running 240 is a clean fuel system and valve adjustments which are both easy to do. You need special wrenches for the valve adjustment but they are all over eBay. I sold mine for 2 grand with 309,000 miles on it. Ran great but had some minor rust issues on the quarter panels as most of them do. Not for people who live in hill country.
ReplyDeleteIt might be slow, but it sure does look pretty. The 240D is a legendary bullet-proof vehicle, with style and class to boot. I have a 300 Turbo Diesel as hobby car. Same chassis, just a little faster. I mean, the turbo diesel is still slow, but at least merging is a little easier...
ReplyDelete