In 1977 I bought a 68 Camaro with no engine. I wanted to install a diesel but couldn't find a used one so I put in a 250 Chevy and forgot about diesels.
Then in 1999 I was looking for a cheap way to tour Europe for a few summers and decided to buy a European motorhome. In looking at what used MH's were available over there, the only models that had anything in common with models in US were Mercedes. The Ford, GM, French and Italian chassis were never imported to the US. I wanted a model that had similar engines on both sides of the pond so I could gain some mechanical experience with it over here. Since diesel is a lot cheaper on the continent, I settled on a Mercedes diesel and bought a 1985 307d just outside London, from the internet, sight unseen for $1800. I flew over, picked it up, fell in love with the 616 5spd and decided I had to have one in the US too. If the 616 could power a 22' Class A motorhome for 125k miles and still be running strong, then it should run forever in a car. We used the motorhome for 3 yrs in Europe, sold it via the net, but diesel has been in my blood ever since.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13