1982 Mercedes 240D

[Bane]

Yep, I picked up another one of these old school gems.

I have a strange addiction to these cars. This is my 5th old Mercedes diesel and there is just something about them that keeps me coming back. The 240D is the "Lotus Elise" of the early diesel Benz cars as it's incredibly spartan and comes with a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder, a 4-speed manual transmission, and none of the fluff that the larger 300-series had.

The tiny engine looks funny in the HUGE engine bay but at least it'll be easy to work on. The car is a one-owner car and has been in Tucson it's entire life. It has absolutely no rust and EVERYTHING works on it (including the A/C). It was truly a great find and I could probably sell it to some hippie in California for a ridiculous sum of money.

See example here: For Sale

Here are some pictures:







Oh yeah... it has 63 horsepower and weighs 3300 lbs I've already "converted" it to run on B100 biodiesel and am filling it up with it's first tank of veggie fuel today

Any other old Benz enthusiasts here? It's like the polar opposite of the Elise in terms of driving dynamics.

[SteveLevin]

I always liked the 240, even though the performance is....limited. But as you mentioned these days nice ones generally go for too much money for them to make sense as a town car

Steve

[Andrikos]

That's a sweet @$$ car.
I love those vintage Mercedes.

Did you also buy that '91 S Class selling for $1,200 o Nogales Highway?
That was my first thought when I first saw it.

[slibo]

That car is sweet! One of my clients is a V.P. of a huge construction Co. He occasionally brings his kids by in a similar car. I said if he sells it... I want to be first in line. His wife's father brought it over from Germany brand new when they came over. So he says they will probably never get rid of it. OH... and his kids... they hate it... Just wait a few more years when they graduate high school and end up at Berkley... Dad do you think I could take that to school... pleaseeeeeeee!!!

Oh and veg oil... that is exactly what I would do.... Pretty soon you should be able to buy it right off of the shelf and not have to filter any, (although recycling is a good thing to do)... the WAY dino-diesel is going, price wise...

Congrats...

[Bane]

Today was my first day driving it to work I almost got run over on the freeway when I had the pedal buried in the floor and letting it go to redline before shifting. It's good times

Prices are out of control in certain areas (CALIFORNIA). If you look hard deals can still be found. I bought my old 300D for $800 and this 240D for $1200 (I didn't even haggle.. that was his asking price).

They are great cars when you can get them for cheap. It gets 35 mpg and can run on free old garbage (used veggie oil).

Originally Posted by Andrikos

That's a sweet @$$ car.
I love those vintage Mercedes.

Did you also buy that '91 S Class selling for $1,200 o Nogales Highway?
That was my first thought when I first saw it.

Nope, it's diesel only for me when it comes to the old Benz cars

[300hpMR2]

My father's first Benz was a 1978 300D. Though it was as slow as a tortoise, it ran forever. When he finally traded it in for a 300SD, it had over 250k miles on the original engine. Everything still worked and looked great. Never thought I'd miss it but I was wrong. I think I still have one of its hubcaps, though.

[Noble]

Those pictures bring back memories. We had an '84 (I think) 240D with the 4spd. back when I was in highschool and had just gotten my drivers license, it was tan with tan interior.

My father wasn't quite ready to let me get my first car yet, so whenever I had to go out the 240D was usually the vehicle I got to take. It had about 180k miles and although it was slow it ran like a top. It didn't have a single squeak or rattle and was put together as well as (or even better than) most new American autos today.

Those cars have a certain charm about them that makes them hard to dislike. Congrats.

Noble