They spent some serious R&D on these also, when they first came out they had failed an 'elk test' (nordic test designed to swerve around an elk on the road). This caused the car to roll and it quickly became considered unsafe. In order to bring it to market, MB had to spend millions and put in the most high tech braking and stability control technology for it to pass.

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With best regards

Al

I agree about the a-class, but I think the smart is sorta cute in person. I was threatening to buy a smart for my daughter, she wasn't amused.

It's not on the list but it's up there on the ugliness scale.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I'm surprised at all the W210 hate. I think the W201 looks squashed, personally, but the W210 is distinctive and interesting. Put in the context of when it came out, it was a standout in a field of very boring cars, and I think it holds up.

Of course, I spent my own money on a W210 after looking at all the other models, so I'm obviously biased.

Actually, I kind of like this. The styling looks very clean, boxy and space-efficient, like an old Volvo, without the excessively curvy 'organic' styling, huge pillars and bizzare slash/wedge-shaped glass that compromises interior room and makes visibilty a serious problem on so many new designs. Though with it's short van-front it doesn't look very crashworthy.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

All the models listed are either classic and stylish, modern and clean, or a w123. The only exception is the one that is ugly - the early w126 300sd. I had one before, and I also had a late w126 560sel. The 560 is how the w126 should have always looked, the 300sd was "ugly". And by ugly I mean it was a nice looking benz all around except it had bad headlights that's all. All the truly ugly benzes are SUVs and the new lot of junk rolling out.

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'82 300TD
'77 6.9
'75 280S
'74 280
'87 Porsche 944 turbo

It's actually a Korean-made car, with an MB diesel engine. It's not up to the standards of MB interior-wise but the space is very large for a van, I've ridden in many of these and the handling leaves a lot to be desired. I think it's FWD too but not sure on that.

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Is this actually considered a Mercedes? I suppose it's not availible in the US. Reliability of Korean vehicles has been improving. I may even consider today's Hyundai Sonata as a replacement for my Altima in a few years. If I could find a used one of those Mercedes vans cheap, it could be a replacement for my 20-year-old Isuzu Pickup.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Mark,

No it's technically not an official MB chassis. It's a Ssangyong van, made in Korea, with a license to use an MB diesel engine (similar to their other MB chassis - the w124 in particular - still being used today but with a different body, also in Korea and not called an MB).

I don't think it sold in the US, the driver sits atop the left wheel. I think vans like that are not common in the US anymore (at least after the time of the Toyota vans of the mid 90's). Anyway it's very spartan if you ask me, and it's made in the mid 90's too I think, or late 90's. From our recent trip too, I remember it has difficulty going over 100kph since I think the diesel is geared for low speed driving. There's only a plastic/metal cover that goes over the engine accessible from the cabin so it gets really noisy too. By the way it's called the MB100 see if you can find info on it.

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None of the original vote list to this post match the ugliness of the current R-Class, diesel or not. Mercedes-Benz should never have let Chrysler influence its designs.

Jim W.

I've mentally blocked out the whole Chrysler fiasco, like a bad dream.