I have never seen a W123 this low miles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8KYuvMNhkc

No affiliation but simply admiring this beautiful car. Thought you guys might enjoy as well.

__________________

There's no price or contact information given.

Dear gawd. Coming to BringATrailer. I guess $73,000.

Did they find this on a U-boat?

How??

-

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Beautiful car but what a waste.......the owner bought the car then missed the point of having it.....driving it! That's the reason it was built in the first place. Now it will go on BaT for a ridiculous price and the buyer will treat it like an investment and might show it but never drive it. Since it is most likely going to be treated like a museum piece.....do the right thing and donate it to a museum! Again, a beautiful car, but ultimately a waste.

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

Lame. This is the equivalent of an uneaten cake and I'll never understand why people get such a hard on for it. If it's all original then a lot of the parts are going to be junk from sitting around. If it's not all original then who cares anyway? You could make a zero miles restoration for less money I bet.

Wow, that's surely a time capsule .

The M-B Classic Center in Irvine, Ca. has a NA 300D some dealer used only for dyno testing, it too has absurdly low miles ad looks new .

I don't see the point but right folks are different from the rest of us .

They'll never have the enjoyment of driving a classic Mercedes full tilt boogie through the canyons, mountains or deserts, more's the pity they know not what they're missing .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Although I originally posted this thread with a tone of admiration I do also feel that it is a sad situation as well. It is what it is, someone didn't drive the thing at all, and ideally, I would never want to own something like that. I do think it is cool to see a video of it because I never got the chance to see a new W123.

It will fetch a huge price but I agree, what is the point? I think it should be put in a museum as well.

__________________

I understand the sorrow, but let me offer another philosophy.

These cars are legends, most having been driven into the ground for decades now.

We want this machine to survive to tell our story and passion - in form, design, function, and more.

The past three or four generations of humans have been able to enjoy them.

We want examples that will survive for much longer though, for our grandchildren's grandchildren.

Let them learn, appreciate, study, etc these brilliant machines.

And we'll need all sorts of examples and options and conditions for them to learn from.

There's 3 million of these in heavy grades of usage. That's amazing.

And I'm especially happy there's a handful that were never used and will remain largely perfect.

AC hose insulation is not correct, while it gets hard and comes apart, it’s there on all my cars…. Should be there on a 1500 mike example..

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

Yeah, I agree. Also what do you think, the hood pad is wrong too. The one on it is for a 240d or naturally aspirated 300d. The turbo model should have a heat shield to deflect the heat from the turbo charger.

__________________

I don’t recall original hood pads for turbo models to have the silver heat shield. Believe that’s for the trap oxidizer in CA models, not the regular ones.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

Only 1,500 original miles and you're picking it to shreds .

If I could get my hands on it I'd run op 12,0000 miles in a year at most .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

What a gem indeed. Good for the owner to have such a beauty, and it is the owner's call to drive it a little or next to none, or a lot. It is his property. It is interesting to see such a wide spread of opinions on what one should do with a stranger's car.

Not 100% convinced this is a true time capsule or a fully refurbished W123. My China Blue has the original hood pad so they will last. My car is just south of 100,000 miles. I have seen at the JYs impeccable dealer windshields for example. Re-plating trim is somewhat expensive but not difficult to find vendors who do this. Replacing rubber seals, and interiors, and finding NOS dashes is very doable, et cet.

I wonder if the VIN would survive a deep dive regarding mileage?

The original owners handbook for oil changes had best be in the glove box. The car is worth something. Just much less than expected with that booklet missing.

I looked at an old ford that had sat decades unused from new as well at one time. The list of things the owner did to get it ready for driving and sale was substantial.