Mercedes Benz R 500: Family Reunion

Over forty years old and still looking that good (aside from the color, of course), may the R500 fare so well. Thank you, this picture reminded me of why I love Mercedes-Benz so much, they simlpy last forever.

Forty Years Old!?!?!? What model do you think that is? W123's didn't come out until ~'77, and I think wagons didn't appear until about '79. It's kind of hard to tell it's condition, what with those fluorescent lights, but it looks to be pretty well taken care of (rare for those old wagons). Too bad the same can't be said of the R-Class. I don't think the words 'good' and 'looking' can co-exist happily in a sentence describing the R-Class. But we are agreed on our appreciation of a classic Mercedes :)

I wasn't kidding when I said "love the color" I really do think it's cool. Even the few other cars visible in the picture are white or silver or black - boring. My camera/phone doesn't do it justice b/c it has the battery draining power of a digital camera combined with the picture taking ability of a telephone.
 
And yes, the 300TD is in very good condition - no black soot on the rear bumper - interior is great too. If only the R-Class had half this much curb appeal.

No soot on the back bumper of a diesel? Where's the fun in that? ;)

I think we need to see a round of instrumented testing of this 300TD. Questions such as "Can it beat the R500 through the 600 ft slalom?" are burning in my mind.

Now that is a brilliant idea. We should really get on that.

* videographer chiming in*
 
It's an 82 300 TD, and driving into work today, it hit 216,000.
 
Before buying it, I ran a carfax and it told me that the car had spent time in the pacific northwest.....uh oh...rust bomb.
Usually i wouldn't even waste my time, but i figured it might be good to see how bad it could get. (and to use as a yard stick when viewing other w123's down the road.)
I showed up in coveralls and with flashlight in hand. I figured there would be some rust, but i was amazed to find none at all. Under the hood, it had a sticker dated 1988 from an A/C shop in Pasadena. My guess it was a local garage queen that probably went to college and back.
 
So far, it's been solid except for a seized up A/C compressor, and i'm getting about 23 mpg on average.
 
thumbs up on the 25-year-span comparison test.

Congrats. My grandfather was a Mercedes-only man from way back and owned a number of them (all diesel), beginning with a W120 180D in the '50s.
 
His last Mercedes was a 1985 300D sedan, same colour as shown in the picture. A solid car and great on fuel. When driving it I remember doing battle with the incomprehensible Becker stereo while coping with plenty of turbo lag and the massive steering wheel.
 
Both of them are now gone, but the picture above brings back memories.

By the by, I realized I typed in the wrong age the second I hit "post." I guess I got a little excited :) Regardless, it always makes me happy to see a well-cared for Mercedes. And just because it came from the Northwest doesn't mean it is necessarily a rust bomb, I see more well-cared for old Mercedes up here than anywhere else in this country I have ever been.

My uncle has a 1989 300TE wagon (silver/navy and that thing is SOLID! I drove it a few weeks ago and was suprised by how well the car has held up as there are NO rattles, squeaks or anything out of the ordinary. The inline six had more than adequate punch above 60 but I couldnt get used to the near DEAD throttle tip in from a stop.
 
It still has that "German car feel" even with 298,XXX miles. Germans still have the edge in solidity and this car is proof. I guess it comes from the Autobahn breeding.

near dead throttle tip in from a stop?
 
Hmmm, good thing they fixed that with the R...., oh wait, it does the same thing.

Must be a German thing as my mothers old Audi 5000 CS Turbo had the same throttle modulation as does my best friends 2005 Mercedes C230 Sport 6MT. Even though the Audi gave her years of problems we still loved that car. Once up to speed watch out as that inline 5 turbo could really get you in trouble.