OK, so just what it is that's so doggone appealing about manual 240Ds?
 

Let's hear it. Why do we LOVE these enigmatic vehicles so much?

Here's my list:
1) Bragging about only having 67 hp.
2) Smokin' tailgaters
3) What other 29 year-old car would you send your daughter off to school in (W115)?
4) Klatta, klatta, klatta...

Because you are confidant that there is ONE other vehicle out there that you are faster than..... a 240 Automatic....

Re: OK, so just what it is that's so doggone appealing about manual 240Ds?
 

I believe you have just about said it all.:cool: :D

PS: My 240D & VW TDI doesn't smoke, so I have never had that delight.:p

"'83 Metallic Anthracite Grey 240D automatic,"
Sorry about that.....

I'm an engineer. If you're not an engineer, you may have never heard of the "KISS" principle. This is "Keep It Simple, Stupid." The 240D with manual everything is the total embodiment of the KISS principle.

The only other car that comes to mind that matches up is a Model A Ford. Both of these cars are probably the best car built in the world for their time. When I say BEST I mean the most reliable, trouble free and simple to maintain.

Have a great day,

Why would you say that? I wanted an automatic, and all the options. I got that and a car with only 144,000 miles, all service papers, and even got the original window sticker. It uses or leaks no oil, and the only thing that doesn't work on the car is the a/c and C/C and those two can be easly fixed, just requires a few $$$$.

I have been rowing my own in all my cars for most of 40 + years, I love the autoloader. I was just wanting something different. My wife learned to drive on a '64 Chevy Corvair (sp?) 4 sp and she has generally always driven automatic's since. I learned on a 53' Ford automatic, then bought my first car '52 Ford "three on the tree" with overdrive and flathead V8 for $200 while a Jr in HS and as I said most after that were sticks.

Sorry about my first post using the auto as a joke..

I suppose that there must be an inside issue here that I just didn't pick up on. Leathermang only made comment to the fact that an automatic 240D is slower than a manual 240D. That is merely a statement of fact. I don't think he meant any insult by it.

Although I stay as far away from automatics as I possibly can, I realize that 95% of the people in the USA have an opposite opinion. There's no insult or implication involved because I don't prefer what others do prefer.

That's why they make both transmissions, because not everyone is happy with the same thing.

Have a great day,

I was taken as a Joke, forgot smilie faces. And this software won't let you go back and add them in like in it does at the TDI Forum. This is my second try to post this message and I am rather POed at the moment.
:mad: It seems I used too many smilies.:eek:

You sould see the reaction I got from a friend when I bought the car, he will not let me take him out on the highway or ride out of town in the car.:( This from a guy with 120,000 + miles on a '96 Toyota Avalon, that has never serviced the trans, replaced a heater or radiator hose, engine belts with 60,000 miles on them, and if you remove the oil filler cap you can scrape out the sludge with a spoon. He left yesterday on a trip to Florida with his wife in the Avolon and I've been kind of hoping he would brake down on the way back so I could pick them up in a 21 year old MB 240D.:D

My sixteen year old son says, "There's just something about being able to floor it all the time and not get a ticket." We all love to shift in our family.

I wish my SD was a "bolt-action."

The more I read threads like these the more I want a 240D. I totally agree with the philosophy of "Keep It Simple Stupid" and there is probably no other car as "modern" as a 240D that you can apply that to. The only other vehicle that is as simple as the 240D was the 820 model of the Datsun pick up with an all iron 2.2L diesel engine built in the early 80's. It had only about 60 HP, it was a push rod engine with no timing chain (gear driven cam) and it used a Bosch licensed IP system. It was slow to get going but it had a 5 speed manual transmission so it could get up into the 90's. IMO it was probably the most reliable and long lasting Japanese vehicle ever built that was exported to the US. My dad still owns it.:)

My son's '98 Jetta TDI is soooo much faster than my "new" 240D.

and he can't understand why I keep the faster 300d for his mother and the fastest 350sdl in the garage most of the time

I explained that in hilly Penna where we live any Bozo can get a a vehicle that takes no brains to drive. It takes a real driver to gauge what power is needed to get up hills, around curves and generally meld the car to the road. And to accomplish that with a non-tubo 4 cyl heavy, well built car, you gotta have brains.

I LOVE the 240D:)

Dont you think the original VW Beetle embodied KISS very well also?

Perhaps the VW Beetle had KISS but it also seemed to require frequent engine rebuilds.

The 240D was for people who had money to put into a vehicle up front - who then went on to enjoy a long service life without a lot of maintenance costs (that's a rather sweeping generalization).

The VW Beetle was for people who could not put much money into a vehicle up front, and then proceeded to be tortured with constant maintenance issues and engine rebuilds (that's a nearly certain generalization).

I couldn't deal with rebuilding a car's engine twice a year at my annual mileage accumulation.

:)

Ken300D

I find driving my 115 240 gives me a very similar feeling that my beloved 53 356 coupe gave me many years ago. I would add that car to the 240 and model A list.I've sure had a pile of iron that did not belong on the kiss list............

William Rogers........