Outside of some Middle Eastern countries, Cape Town might have the largest population of functional 114/115/123s. Since arriving, I've seen literally dozens of W123s used both as personal transportation and as taxis. A lot are taxis!!!

Plenty of 124s but not so many W126 chassis arround to be seen.

Many 114/115 chassis cars are here and in good shape too...man oh man do they ever look good with those Euro bumpers!!!

More later!

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Awesome! Portugal has a big population of W123/W124 taxis too, my wife saw them all the time when she was traveling there.

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'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Pictures!?

I didn't spend much time shooting cars because most of the vintage cars I saw during the evening, driving by when we were sitting at a restaurant. Did manage to catch this sweet 200E in taxi service...anybody know what the little light in between the headlamp and fogs is for?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I think one reason that there is so many is that there was an assembly plant in South Africa for these RHD vehicles.

(did you know for example, that after the last 1991 Mercedes Benz W126 cars ceased production in April 1992, that the South African plant continued to produce them into 1994?)

One reason so many survived is that there is no conditions conducive to rust, to do in these (relatively -- compared to newer Benzes) rust prone cars.


BTW: There was *never* a W`123 series 200E. They were simply the "200", the base bottom of the line, un-fuel injected W123 gasser cars. Lowest displacement einspritzer car was the 230E, that you could get.

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2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Correct, in East London. MBSA (that's Mercedes Benz South Africa) also had a huge parts warehouse in Pinetown, near Durban, where I'm from that I had occasion to visit when looking for parts for my 108 and 116.

Not sure that the production run in SA was that late. Though it's correct that they were continued after production ceased elsewhere.

That I'm afraid is not true. Cars that spent their lives in the dry interior away from the coastal areas were often completely rust free. From cities in the highveld areas like Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Pretoria etc. But if cars were in places near the coast they would rust thru in no time at all. Durban itself has one of the worlds worst climates in relation to vehicular corrosion. Anybody trying to buy a used car in Durban tried their dammdest to get one from Johnannesburg or some other interior city. All three of my Mercedes which were all Durban cars all their lives 71 108 280S, 79 116 280S and 84 123 200 had severe rust issues. My 116 and 123 in particular leaked like sieves.

Correct. The 200 was the entry level Benz in SA for many years. Until the 190 came along. Actually the base spec was a manual tranny with no cruise, sunroof, a/c or power windows. Mine had an aftermarket a/c fitted to make the thing habitable in the awful Durban summers.

There were always far fewer S-Classes of any model around than 114's 123's etc as the economy simply didn't support that expensive a vehicle in any quantity.

Oh. And in relation to the OP's question regarding the small light between the two front lights. Local regulations. The SA equivalent of the DOT which required reflectors front and rear in addition to the lights the vehicle came with. The rear reflectors were red. If I remember correctly the light clusters used in SA might have had those reflectors built in to them in later years. On the earlier cars, such as my 116 and 108 they were external additions.

- Peter.

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Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
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1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

That was a 230E then (here's the back of that same car)...I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of them (200s and 230Es, C180s, C240s et al...) on the road in CT.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Southern Africa is crawling with them. We left our 300D there and I wouldn't be surprised if it were still going.

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1984 300TD