When I walked to my car today (the black 84 300D) a young guy who was getting ready for a basketball game in the parking lot came over to talk to me about my car. He said that his father had a Benz when he was growing up. I asked him what model and he didn't know, but said it was a 2 door, had a shifter on the steering column (not sure if it was a manual or automatic) and he remembers that it had a speedometer that changed color as the speed increased. He also said it was a diesel. Given the era, I suspected that it was a 240D, but I am not that familiar with them. Any guesses what model this might have been? I am sure I will see him again and talk about it. He said he would also ask his dad about it.

He likes to work on cars and I told him how accessible these cars are, and easy to work on. I think he had the impression that they are very expensive to own and operate. Maybe we'll see him on the forum.

Richard

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

I love it when that happens. Sounds like his father had a W110 fintail, 200D or something

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

Yeah, the speedo sounds like a finney.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I had this dime come up to me once at the office building (modeling agency was on one of the upper floors) and told me she really digged my car.

My hear fluttered and I walked on air for a week.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

This sort of stuff used to happen from time to time when I had my ice blue w116 300sd. The euro headlamps and Mille Miglia alloys I had on it helped, I think.

Carmakers take note: chicks dig chrome. Regardless of what the pencilnecks in your research department tell ya....

I've been fixing up my newly acquired 300d. This means it has an off-colour front fender and off-colour and slightly rusty door on the RHS. Not attractive, you say?

It was also missing its hood star. Until Friday night, at least. Then, from Saturday morning onward, I started getting noticed. Teenagers gave me the thumbs-up in the McDonalds drive thru. Twice.

People gave the car long looks when the crossed in front of me at stoplights.

Wow. That star means more than I imagined

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

There's a reason people used to rip the hood stars off in the eighties (which is also the reason they started making a removable hood star!)

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RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

I have always been supprised at the amount of 20 sumthin yr olds that are into these cars.

It is refreshing to see when a young adult recognizes quality. There is such a lack of it in today's culture. I find that many people I interact with in a business transaction know little to nothing about the product they are selling. I was in a Radio Shack a week or so ago and needed to buy some thermal grease to put between the processor and heat sink in my computer, which was getting a new mother board. There were three types on the display so I asked the guy in the store if he could tell me about the differences between the products. He said he didn't know anything about them and walked away. I didn't expect him to know about everything in the store, but at least he could have said, "No, but let me make a call and find out." Ironically, the Radio Shack motto printed on the package said something like, "The technology you need plus the knowledge to help you use it." Yea, right. Now when it was time to check out, I found that the clerk was exquisitely trained in how to process my credit card, get the three little numbers on the back of my card, have me sign in the right place and complete the transaction.

Good service is rare these days and when I get it, I make sure I thank the person and complement them on how good a job they did.

OK. I guess this was a bit of an off topic rant. Kind of related though.

__________________
85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60