I bought a W123 300D in 2005. It needed work, and got it, some of it done by me and some hired out. The car was my weekend/occasional ride for much of that time. I had a beater Suzuki Samurai followed by a beater 240D, followed by a Ninja 650 and a Street Triple as my dailies. Now I have a new job with such a short commute that it's not worth getting geared up to ride the bike. The W123 is back to daily driver duty (5 miles round trip). For how long, I don't know. I know how to do all the major stuff, but don't generally have the time or motivation. Little stuff I take care of myself. The thing is I don't know of any cars that I'd rather drive in anywhere close to the same price range as keeping this one going. Your experience may vary.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.