What is this car?

[m4ff3w]

The for sale ad says '71 240 6 cylinder, but that is incongruous.

I called the seller and they said they took it on trade and they don't really know anything about it. The dealership is closing down. He said it is a 6cyl, gas, carb car.

I'm going to try to get off work early and make the 110 mile trip to go see it.

Can yall visually identify it better?















Oh, two more questions.

Is the steering wheel boss the same as my wife's W123? It has a nice Nardi wheel we'd like to transfer over if we get it.

And, the sales guy I spoke with said the compressor comes on, but they don't know how to operate the temperature adjusters. Is there a manual online for it so I know what I am looking at, or is it really fairly obvious?

[cth350]

If there a six cylinder motor under the hood, then that's a very nice looking 230/8, 250/8 or 280/8. Given the year, it's probably the 250/8. Just to be confusing, midway into 1971, MB decided to put the 2.8l motor into the 250, so the car might be one or the other (knowing the VIN, we could tell you which it should be).

The owner's manual on paper is available often on ebay. The service CD is available cheaply from the mercedes classic center. It has the manual online.

The brief answer to the climate control question is that the pictures on the switches explain it all.
- The two red arrows are pushed towards the narrow end to turn off heat.
- The blue arrows point in the direction of air flow (up or down) as you push them to their fatter side. Think of those controls as "more up" and "more down".
- The rotating knob does fan speed.

A Nardi wheel can be put in place. You might need an adapter. It might be the same adapter as the W123 car.

Lastly, be sure to check the underside of the car for rust. It is a unibody. Just because it looks great, doesn't mean the floors aren't falling out.

-CTH

[Pooka]

It is for sure not a diesel. There is no glow plug indicator on the dash behind the steering wheel.

Check the floors for rust or rusting through! Stomp on them and see if your foot goes through. Also check the steering for 'play' as these cars are prone to snapping their steering box mounting bolts.

[JimFreeh]

The knob above and to the left of the radio changes over from A/C to heat.

You should hear the vacuum flaps move.

Fan is also controlled by the rotary switch between the four sliders above the console.

Car also has rear defrost.

Looks like a decent car from the pictures.

Also has the rare twin exhaust, NLA....

I suspect it's a 250, double front bumper was a 6 cylinder feature, as was twin exhaust. '71 looks right, has amber rear signals.

Jim

Jim

[tonkovich]

yeah, looks like a nice w114? or w115? i don't like the headlights, but it has a better rear suspension than the w108 and w109.

[Wodnek]

Originally Posted by tonkovich

yeah, looks like a nice w114? or w115? i don't like the headlights, but it has a better rear suspension than the w108 and w109.

6 cylinder would make it a 114. It would be a 115 with a diesel or 4 cyl, but then I believe it would have a single bumper.

[JimFreeh]

Originally Posted by tonkovich

yeah, looks like a nice w114? or w115? i don't like the headlights, but it has a better rear suspension than the w108 and w109.

Much better.

And a better front suspension, too.

Jim

[alabbasi]

Yep, I saw that car on CL, it's a looker. I suspect that it's a 250 or 280 gas car. If it's a 71, then probably a 250.

[Pooka]

The fact that it has no badges on the trunk lid likely means it was re-painted at sometime. Nothing wrong with that, of course.

There was a time when it was considered nice to have all the ID badges removed from a car for a 'smoother' look. This was known as 'shaving'.

Looks like this car got shaved when it was repainted.

[daw_two]

If it is a 250SE, I have trunk badges for it.

[junqueyardjim]

It is to bad that there is no picture of the engine. That would have given all of us the info needed. I had one just like that in the early 70's which was a 220D. The engine had been over heated and it needed a complete rebuild, but I bought a good running but rusted out 67 220 SB in Milwaukee, towed it back to Phoenix, and Mark T. the Indy on Indian School Road, did the engine switch for the 220D. It was a great running little car with that 220 SB dual carb engine in it and a four speed transmission.

[JMURiz]

Finally saw the pictures, stupid filter at work, great car. Love the small bumpers and taillights of the early w114/115 cars.

Let me know if you want to get rid of the steering wheel, it would look better than the one on my '74.

I'd guess it's a 250