a 123 with a 5 speed now theres a nice animal..

w123 coupes are better. Pillarless windows, 2 inch lower stance than the sedan, lower roof, great chrome around the windows, they just look better. Rarer, and possibly worth more too. Mine is non-turbo and I don't experience any of the "oh god its way too slow" that people tell about, it keeps up just fine with traffic. Merging onto highways, you just have to floor it when you get on, with many of St. Louis' highways designed for 35mph, and are now at 60.

Anyway, get the coupe for the turbo, looks and value, you can convert it to a 4 speed later, it isn't a very difficult swap.

... is the manual a 4 or a 5 speed?
if it's a 5 speed, get the car at any cost. well don't spend 20K on it, but they are very very very very very rare and very very very very sought after.
a non turbo is NOT slow.
it has problems in high altitudes due to the thin air, and it has problems with steep grades at high speeds at altitude... other than that they are sweet. also, the euro may have the VERY sought after MYNA pump... mucho value there!@
and please if you do decide not to get the manual, Please list where it is here on the forum so a member can go get the car!
personally, unless it's a 5 speed, I would go for the coupe!

The M pump is only of value if you have it tweaked by Myna in Finland and install it on a modified turbo engine, otherwise it is just another injection pump.

The M-Pump supposedly makes the engine run better than the MW-pump. Might be something to do with the cam profile or its governor control.

Stricter emissions may be a reason why the US got the MW and the world got the M.

Interesting. I did not know that.

How deep are your pockets?
The coupes will run into more money if you
try saving a few bucks with junk yard parts.
It is all supply and demand and the supply of
coupe parts cars leaves a lot to be desired.

That said.......Buy the coupe;).