I've never seen one like this before:

Mercedes 300CD Convertible

__________________
'82 300TD
'77 6.9
'75 280S
'74 280
'87 Porsche 944 turbo

I owned a brown coupe that same yr,sold it to a young man from California 7 yrs ago ,I wonder if this is it.It was a clean body and plenty of potential.

I've seen several like that advertised recently.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

owner why no shots with the top up. It must look horrible

Truly is one of a kind.

__________________
Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Maybe it is his idea of a convertible. Maybe it is just topless. No pictures and totally nothing said of the top. The material covering whatever is behind the rear seat looks rather empty, kind of like it is just covering a hole. Also, I see nothing in the piece running above the windshield that would secure the top, neither the posts as used by some, or the holes used by other builders. I think it is just a "topless" 300CD, which could be quite functional in many parts of California.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Im with you on all that. Lack of a top seems like it ought to be disclosed-- but hey-- its a classic!

There must be lots of 300ce convertibles, so wouldnt you just have to rebadge and change the engine and instruments?

Its also very nice, that they ruined all the door panels by installing speakers in them. The horse hair is also gone, on the drivers side. If you look about the visors, you will see a metal ring or something that I think secures the roof, there is also a seal up top, think if there wasn't a top, they wouldn't have a seal....

Price is very high for the color combo, non turbo and no information on the chop or engine shots....2500...I think sounds better...good luck locating new door panels...

__________________

Is the w123 chassis strong enough where the roof can be removed? i know when they make existing cars into convertible from the factory, they have to do a lot of stiffening of the lower frame so it doesn't bend and buckle the doors when you hit a dip in the road. and on a w123 coupe, the A and C pillars are extremely thick so they could definitely add some structural rigidity.

__________________
83 300CD- sanden, dual p/f condensers, 160a alternator, ect
91 300TD- 722.6, #22 head, 3.5L IP, w140 manifolds, ect

The windshield header does not look like it has any place for latches.

I recall coming across a few R107 SL / SLC that were roofless from factory, they had a usable rear seat rather than a place for the soft top and were targeted to the SO CAL market.

1979 was a time when most manufacturers had stopped producing convertibles. So some dealers would contract out to have professional shops do conversions. I think around 1980, I believe I saw one of these in an Arlington Virginia Mercedes dealer showroom (but minus the tacky speakers). Anyone here know if Mercedes dealers sold any of these back in the day?

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

I don't know of any convertible versions of sedans or two door coupes which are not reinforced to compensate for the loss of structural integrity when the tops are cut off. I did go look at a 280C which had been chopped and converted to convertible. In fact I drove it with the top up. It had condition issues unrelated to the soft top which caused me not to make an offer on it. It was done by a company which knew what they were doing it appeared though.

__________________
[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.

There were no W123 convertibles. I think that the W124 was the first "E-class" that came as a convertible.

Also, there was no W123 300CE... the gasser engines available in the W123 over here were a 2.3 and a 2.8.

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

I'd like it. I think everything should be built as a convertible. was in LA and saw a Datsun Z with the top off. I loved it. Unfortunately, most are not finished. Much customization has to be done to have an easily working top.

The frame also needs to be strengthened. Most of the frame reinforcement can be put under the car. Sometimes you have to tie into the B-Pillar diagonally to the floor. This can be intrusive and ruin a project.

I might pay that much for a well finished car but not something that needs to be worked on.

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I saw a W108 280SE for sale at the Carlisle PA import show a few years ago that had a small-block Ford engine swap and a 'parade-car' top-chop. Didn't mind the engine swap to much, but the chop-job left me doubtful. It's often uncertain whether the converter reinforced the unibody properly, or even at all.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW